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''Béatrice et Bénédict'' (''Beatrice and Benedick'') is an opéra comique in two acts by Hector Berlioz.〔''Berlioz and the Romantic Imagination.'' Catalogue for exhibition at Victoria and Albert Museum for Berlioz centenary. Art Council, London, 1969, p46, exhibit 131 (orchestral manuscript score).〕 Berlioz wrote the French libretto himself, based closely on Shakespeare's ''Much Ado About Nothing''. Berlioz had been interested in setting Shakespeare's comedy since his return from Italy in 1833, but only composed the score of ''Béatrice et Bénédict'' following the completion of ''Les Troyens'' in 1858. It was first performed at the Theater der Stadt, Baden-Baden on 9 August 1862.〔Holoman DK. Béatrice et Bénédict. In: ''The New Grove Dictonary of Opera.'' Macmillan, London and New York, 1997.〕 Berlioz conducted the first two performances of a German version in Weimar in 1863, where, as he wrote in his memoirs, he was "overwhelmed by all sorts of kind attention." It is the first notable version of Shakespeare's play in operatic form, and was followed by works by among others Árpád Doppler, Paul Puget and Reynaldo Hahn.〔Wilson CR. Shakespeare. In: ''The New Grove Dictonary of Opera.'' Macmillan, London and New York, 1997.〕 Berlioz biographer David Cairns has written "Listening to the score's exuberant gaiety, only momentarily touched by sadness, one would never guess that its composer was in pain when he wrote it and impatient for death".〔Cairns, D. ''Berlioz: Servitude and Greatness 1832-1869.'' Allen Lane, London, 1999, p670.〕 ==Performance history== Berlioz described the premiere of ''Béatrice et Bénédict'' as a "great success" in a letter to his son Louis; he was particularly taken with the performance of Charton-Demeur (who would create the role of Didon in Paris a year later) and noted that the duo which closes the first half elicited an 'astonishing impact'.〔MacDonald, Hugh (Ed). ''Selected Letters of Berlioz (translated by Roger Nichols)''. Faber & Faber, London, 1995, letter 407.〕 Although it continued to be staged occasionally in German cities in the years after the premiere, the first performance in France only took place on 5 June 1890 at the Théâtre de l’Odéon, promoted by the Société des Grandes auditions musicales de France, conducted by Charles Lamoureux, and with Juliette Bilbaut-Vauchelet and Émile Engel in the lead roles.〔Noel E & Stoullig E. ''Les Annales du Théâtre et de la Musique, 16eme edition, 1890.'' G Charpentier et Cie, Paris, 1891, pp.139-145.〕 Paul Bastide conducted a notable production of ''Béatrice et Bénédict'' in Strasbourg in the late 1940s.〔Pitt C. Strasbourg. In: ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera.'' Macmillan, London & New York, 1997.〕 It was produced at the Paris Opéra-Comique in 1966 conducted by Pierre Dervaux but with recitatives by Tony Aubin,〔(BnF archives et manuscrits ), accessed 6 June 2013.〕 and in February 2010 under Emmanuel Krivine.〔(Article on ''Béatrice et Bénédict'' ) at the Opéra-Comique in 2010, ''Artistik Rezo'', Marie Torrès, 25 February 2010.〕 The UK premiere was on 24 March 1936 in Glasgow under Erik Chisholm.〔(Erik Chisholm biography. ) retrieved 14 July 2013.〕 English National Opera opened a production on 25 January 1990, with wife and husband Ann Murray and Philip Langridge in the title roles.〔Programme book. Béatrice et Bénédict, English National Opera, 1990.〕 Although rather infrequently performed and not part of the standard operatic repertoire, recent productions have included Amsterdam and Welsh National Opera tour in 2001, Prague State Opera (Státní opera Praha) in 2003, Santa Fe Opera in 2004, Strasbourg in 2005, Lyric Opera of Chicago in 2007, Houston Grand Opera in 2008 (in English), Opera Boston in 2011, and Theater an der Wien in 2013. The first Swedish production of the opera was at Läckö Castle in 2015. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Béatrice et Bénédict」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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