In the 200th anniversary of Weber’s death, the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique performed his final work, Oberon, with renowned English conductor Sir Mark Elder who made his MCO debut at the BBC Proms in London.
Weber Oberon
Monteverdi Choir
Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique
Sir Mark Elder conductor
Emma Doherty director
Rehearsals the the Royal Albert Hall
Audience reviews and reactions
Nicky Spence on working with MCO
Anneke Scott explores Weber's horn writing
Sir Mark Elder on bringing Oberon to life
"The chance to hear such a stylish complete performance won’t come round often."
"The period instrumentalists of the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique revelled in the nascent romanticism of Weber’s score."
The Times ★★★★
"The fine Monteverdi Choir brought plenty of energy."
"Wonderfully inventive."
The Telegraph ★★★★
This seminal opera was premiered in April 1826 at Covent Garden Theatre with Weber conducting. Weeks later the composer died of tuberculosis, at the age of just 39, leaving an operatic legacy – Der Freischütz, Euryanthe, and finally Oberon – that shaped the future of German Romantic opera.
Oberon is a work of magic and chivalry: enchanted horns, glittering fairy choruses, ocean storms and ardent love duets combining in a narrative that leaps from Bordeaux to Baghdad. Encompassing this fanciful plot is a score of radiant beauty: presaging Wagner and his leitmotif whilst drawing on wide-ranging traditions – the German Singspiel of Mozart, the English semi-opera of Purcell, and Weber’s longstanding interest in the music of non-Western cultures.
Alongside a distinguished cast including Nicky Spence and Tamsin Greig, dramatic concert staging by director Emma Doherty and a newly-commissioned narration written by Timothy Knapman, the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique illuminated anew this English-language cornerstone of Romantic opera, two centuries after its London premiere.
Clockwise from left: Jannick Debus, Tamsin Greig, Sir Mark Elder, Rachael Wilson, Jennifer Davis, John Findon, Nicky Spence, J'Nai Bridges
Related pages:
Weber Oberon: Reviews and Reactions
© Chris Christodoulou
