Scoring A Century
Scoring A Century is an opera with music by English composer David Blake.[1] The libretto was written by Opera Director Keith Warner. It is described as a 'low entertainment for highbrows, or vice versa'.
It tells the history of Mr and Mrs Jedermann, a couple of song and dance merchants, and incidentally of the twentieth century too.
The Jedermanns stumble through the momentous events, politics and social change of the last one hundred years, never ageing and only begrudgingly developing. Their sole aim is to provide some songs and snatches, to raise a laugh or provoke a tear. The form the piece adopts is more that of musical comedy than opera. It is a modern Singspiel, a review of a century in nineteen panels. There is dialogue and songs, but from time to time the action is interrupted by through-composed mini-operas which contain the serious, imaginative heart of the show.
Performance history
Scoring a Century was originally conceived as part of the millennium celebrations. Scenes from the work were premiered by the University of York Music Department in November 1999 whilst the complete work was being lined up to debut at Portland Opera, Oregon. Just as plans were beginning to finalise, however, the US] suffered the 9/11 terrorist attacks. “After 9/11, American opera houses immediately lost their budgets and Portland Opera decided to do Bohèmes and Magic Flutes instead,” Blake says. “It was a big disappointment.”[2]
On March 4, 2010 the Opera received its World Premiere at the Crescent Theatre, Birmingham, by students from the Birmingham Conservatoire vocal department, directed by Warner and conducted by Lionel Friend.
Roles
| Role | Voice Type | Premiere Cast, 4 March 2010 (Conductor: Lionel Friend) |
|---|---|---|
| Ernest Jedermann | Baritone | Matthew Cooper |
| Edith Jedermann | Mezzo | Lucie Louvrier |
| Private | Tenor | Benjamin Gillham |
| Sergeant | Baritone | Joseph Kennedy |
| Nurse | Mezzo | Anna Jeffers |
| Woodrow Wilson | Tenor | Kristian Cleworth |
| Clemenceau | Tenor | Mikael Onelius |
| Lloyd George | Bass | James Davies |
| Lenin | Bass | Ian McFarlane |
| Manager | Spoken | Debbie Oliver |
| Jedermann's Son | Spoken | Dale Harris |
| Berthold | Tenor | Henrik Lagercrantz |
| Studio Assistant | Spoken | Hannah Nye |
| Young Man | Spoken | Ben Gillham |
| Violinist | Spoken | Joshua Takacs |
| Tartine | Soprano | Francesca Saracino |
| Man in Nazi Uniform | Spoken | Thomas Arnold-Haynes |
| Gestapo Officer | Spoken | Craig Jackson |
| Father | Baritone | Hedd Owen Griffiths |
| Mother | Mezzo | Fiona Krober/Shira Lang |
| Station Master | Bass | Timothy Elliot |
| Voice Of Son | Spoken | Dale Harris |
| Kommissar | Spoken | Andrea Tjader |
| American Chairman | Tenor | Lee Beaumont |
| Soviet Prosecutor | Bass | Matthew Durkan |
| Girl in Jeans | Soprano | Penny Appleyard |
| Old Man | Tenor | Mitesh Khatri |
| Woman 1 | Mezzo | Olivia Barry /Harriet Campbell(alternating) |
| Woman 2 | Soprano | Lianne Birkett/Georgina Stalbow(alternating) |
| Woman 3 | Soprano | Claire Lees/Roma Loukes(alternating) |
| Woman in Black | Spoken | Andrea Pfenninger |
| Hippy 1 | Spoken | Joe Kennedy |
| Hippy 2 | Spoken | Stephanie Darkins |
| Hippy 3 | Spoken | Yukimi Muta |
| Hippy 4 | Spoken | Rosie Secker |
| Mary Lou | Spoken | Rachel Farr |
| Stage Manager | Spoken | Rose Mitchell |
| Police Officer | Spoken | Kay Standen |
| African-American | Spoken | Roberta Turner |
| Nurse(Act 2) | Spoken | Amelia Burns |
| Yuppie | Tenor | Craig Jackson |
| Bennie Blumenkohl | Spoken | Joe Kennedy |
| Evita | Spoken | Rosie Secker |
| Studio Producer | Spoken | Austine Broad |
| Engineer | Spoken | Timothy Elliott |
| Chorus | All of the above plus Phillippa Cairns, Rachel Bowden, Claire Barnett Jones and Stephanie McClean |
References
- Amanda Holden (2001). The New Penguin Opera Guide. Penguin. ISBN 978-0-14-051475-9.
- Interview and Article with David Blake and Keith Warner, Financial Times website, (subscription required)