Talk:Greek (opera)

First British theatrical production

The televised performance - was that a staged production? If not, what was the first production in UK? Or does the Edinburgh Festival performance count?

And what other UK pro productions were there of it between 1988 and 2011? FWIW IMO If a well-received opera goes the first twenty years of its life without a pro theatrical presentation of it in its home country, then the student production in 2000 becomes notable (cf Onegin) almost-instinct 18:35, 8 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

The Edinburgh Festival peformances were a coproduction with the (staged) world premiere in Munich, and were in the same year so the expectation would be that that was staged. It can't be hard to check this. According to the publisher Schott, there were also three performances at the London Coliseum on Sept/Oct 1990; two at the QEH with the London Sinfonietta in 1998; the RNCM performances in spring 2000; a London Sinfonietta tour in late 2000; the concert performance at the Barbican in 2003; two "performances" at the National Opera Studio in November 2010 (of which more in a second); and the two tours by Music Theatre Wales, in 2011 and in 2013. I was at one of the two "performances" in November 2010 at the National Opera Studio, which in fact was part of a contemporary opera scenes presentation, and the students only played one extended scene. This reduces the value of the Schott listing somewhat. Scarabocchio (talk) 21:12, 8 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I cannot find any suggestion that any of the professional productions predating the RNCM performances were in concert. This [1] from Music Web International (as a preamble to their RNCM review):

Hans Werner Henze commissioned Greek - from a twenty-five year old Turnage - for the first Munich Biennale Festival in 1988. In the intervening twelve years, it has won three awards and has progressed from Munich to the Edinburgh Festival, The English National Opera and BBC television. It will continue to attract attention as new productions are planned in three continents.

This [2] from answers.com (source not made explicit):

Following its debut, Greek traveled to the Edinburgh International Festival in Scotland and was performed by the English National Opera (ENO) in 1990. Also that year, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) commissioned and screened a film version for television, and in 1994, the Argo record label released Greek on CD. Since then, the opera has been performed on a regular basis throughout Europe and twice in Australia. In July of 1998, Greek debuted in the United States at the Aspen Music Festival, and in 2000, the London Sinfonietta’s 1998 production embarked on an international tour.

From the above, I would not include the later RNCM performances. Scarabocchio (talk) 21:41, 8 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I'll see if I can find out more about the performances at ENO in 1990 almost-instinct 09:18, 9 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

It seems the ENO performances were fully-staged, and the same production that had been seen in Munich and Edinburgh costume directors page. I'll try to find out if the London Symphonietta performances in 2000 were staged or not almost-instinct 10:46, 9 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Apparently the Operabase Professional databases give Clare Venables as director and Conor Murphy as designer (and Diego Masson as conductor) for the London Sinfonietta performances in 2000. Scarabocchio (talk) 12:59, 9 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I found Masson info for 2000 Murphy info 1998 and 2000 and perhaps rather more usefully, this list of venues for the tour, most of which are theatres almost-instinct 13:24, 9 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Trying to find better sources. Best so far: record of studio theatre performance in Norwich almost-instinct 13:28, 9 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

And another: record of Oxford Playhouse performance almost-instinct 13:31, 9 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]