Our Man in Havana (opera)

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Our Man in Havana is an opera in three acts composed by Malcolm Williamson to a libretto by Sidney Gilliat based on Graham Greene's 1958 novel Our Man in Havana. Williamson's first full-scale opera, it was premiered on 2 July 1963 at Sadler's Wells Theatre in London.

Its first performance in East Germany was in Karl-Marx-Stadt (today Chemnitz) in May 1966, with Renate Härtel, Eva Lehoczky, Elisabeth Fuchs, Peter Slawow, Konrad Rupf, Egon Schulz, Gerhard Scherfling, Manfred Drescher, conducted by Gerhard Rolf Bauer.[1] The opera was presented at the Csokonai Theatre in Debrecen, Hungary, in May 1967, with Jozsef Csongor, Gyorgy Trefas, Magda Marsay, Janos Gazso, Gyorgy Siklos, Zsuzsa Marczaly, Kriszta Tibay, Miklos Albert, Jozsef Toth, Mihaly Viragos, conducted by Vilmos Rubányi [hu].[2]

After years of neglect it was revived in 2016 by Lyric Opera of Melbourne at the Melbourne Athenaeum theatre.[3][4]

Roles[edit]

Roles, voice types, premiere cast
Role Voice type Premiere cast, 2 July 1963[5]
Conductor: James Loughran
Dr Hasselbacher bass Owen Brannigan
Bramble tenor Raymond Nilsson
Lopez tenor Stanley Bevan
Milly soprano Joyce Millward
Segura baritone Raimund Herincx
Hawthorne baritone Eric Shilling
Beatrice (Mrs Weston) soprano April Cantelo
Carter baritone David Bowman
Chorus

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Brief Chronicles. Germany (East)". Opera, July 1966, vol. 17, no. 7, p. 580.
  2. ^ "Brief Chronicles. Hungary". Opera, vol. 18, no. 8, p. 684.
  3. ^ Shmith, Michael (18 September 2016). "Our Man in Havana Review: swaying and singing with élan". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
  4. ^ Stephen Plaistow (Summer 1963). "Our Man in Havana". Tempo (65): 16–17. JSTOR 944155.
  5. ^ Jacobs, Arthur. "London Opera Diary – Our Man in Havana. Sadler's Wells". Opera, August 1963, pp. 564-567.


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