Les Troyens
Hector Berlioz' towering masterpiece opera clocks in at four and a half hours and is worth every second of your time.
Note special performance schedule
This is one of the longest works in the operatic canon. We will present this over two nights. Everyone will have the option of seeing the entire 4 1/2 hours in a single sitting -- that sitting begins at 3pm on Friday afternoon, June 12 . Those who have difficulty sitting for that long have the option of exiting at the disc change Friday night and then to return Saturday night (6pm June 13) to see the second disc.
Berlioz intended for it to be seen in a single sitting and it is now the popular way for opera directors to do it. However, in the 163 years since its creation, only 12 such productions have been staged.
Les Troyens 5-act Opera - Royal Opera/Covent Garden
DVD version to be presented. 4.5 hrs runtime.
Our presentation will start early at 3:00pm, pre-empting the afternoon HOA movie. We will have a pre-opera talk and a half-hour intermission after the first act. Please bring a sandwich or other shelf-stable food item.
I also hope to have arranged for a quick coffee service from the Bistro, but no promises yet.
Berlioz did not live to see his opera performed. In fact, while he was still alive, only the first part was staged -- in a sub-standard manner. He was too frail to attend and sent a proxy in his stead. It was only ever shown in its entirety in 1890, 21 years after his death. This took place a the Grossherzoglichen Hoftheater in Karlsruhe (central amid Strasbourg-FR, Stuttgart and Frankfurt). The first single night performance in France (Rouen) had to wait until 1920. In 1957 Raphel Kubelik staged the complete work at Covent Garden in English. The full production has only been presented at half a dozen venues ever, so the opportunities to see this monumental work are few and far between.
Synopsys
Synopsis for the 5-acts of Les Troyens
This is the shortest read to prepare for experiencing the opera. Other alternatives are the libretto (in French), below; and reading the 10,000 lines of Virgil's "Aeneid".
Libretto
Libretto in French. Unfortunately, no English translation is available.
Lecture by the modern-day Renaissance man, Stephen Fry, on the mythology of Troy, from his third book in a series on Greek and Roman mythology. Fry has made ancient mythology a pleasant reading experience and his lecture on Troy will help place the characters and events of "Les Troyens" in brighter and more vivid contrast.
TROY book
TROY. Book written by Stephen Fry written in an accessible narrative style. Fry does an amazing job of organizing the complex inter-relatedness of the stories of the Greek gods. And then he irons it flat and explains it all in simple prose.
Warning: Clear your schedule in advance. I wasn't able to put the book down. This is a single sitting read.
Third in a series of three books on Greek Mythology. The fist is MYTHOS, followed by HEROES.
Virgil's Aeneid
English translation of Virgil's epic poem. Low price, but easily available at a public library for free. But may take more than two weeks to read.