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''Entente Cordiale'' is a comic opera in one act by Ethel Smyth with an English-language libretto by Smyth, who describes the work as "a post-war comedy in one act (founded on fact)".〔Smyth, Ethel (1925). ''Entente Cordiale''. J. Curwen and Sons〕 It was first performed by students at the Royal College of Music in London on 22 July 1925. ==Background and performance history== ''Entente Cordiale'' was Smyth's sixth and last opera. The title is a reference to the Entente Cordiale, a series of 1904 cooperation agreements between Britain and France, although the opera itself is set at the end of World War I. The plot revolves around the farcical consequences of a British soldier's imperfect understanding of French. The idea came from a story recounted to her over dinner by Oscar Wilde's friend and mentor Robert Ross.〔Parker, Derek and Parker, Julia (1979). ''The Story and the Song: A Survey of English Musical Plays, 1916-78''. p. 114. Chappell. ISBN 0903443252〕 The opera was composed between 1923 and 1924 and was first performed by students at the Royal College of Music on 22 July 1925. The performance, conducted by the composer, was also broadcast on BBC Radio.〔Doctor, Jennifer Ruth (1999). (''The BBC and Ultra-Modern Music, 1922-1936: Shaping a Nation's Tastes'' ). p. 79. Cambridge University Press〕 Smyth's earlier opera ''Fête Galante'' was also performed.〔"Royal College Of Music. New Opera by Dame Ethel Smyth." ''The Times'', 23 July 1925. p. 12.〕 Its first fully staged public performance was at the Theatre Royal, Bristol on 20 October 1926,〔Smyth, Ethel (1987). ''The Memoirs of Ethel Smyth'' (abridged, edited and annotated by Richard Crichton), p. 290. Viking. ISBN 0670806552〕〔Griffel, Margaret Ross and Block, Adrienne Fried (1999). ''Operas in English: A Dictionary'', p. 190. Greenwood Press. ISBN 0313253102〕 with the City of Birmingham Orchestra conducted by Smyth. This took place during a one-off festival of opera at the Theatre Royal, organised by Philip Napier Miles. For the Bristol run, Smyth made some minor cuts to the opera. The audience gave it a warm reception.〔"Entente Cordiale. Dame Ethel Smyth's Work at Bristol." ''The Times'', 21 October 1926. p. 12.〕 The work is laced with First World War military slang and numerous bugle calls. Reviews in ''The Times'' criticised much in the opera for being reminiscent of a military concert party. However, they praised the instrumental music, especially the intermezzo,〔"Dame Ethel Smyth. A Post-War Opera." ''The Times'', 25 July 1925. p. 10.〕 and also the choruses at the wives' arrival and at the final dramatic climax.〔 The intermezzo and overture from the opera were given their first concert performances on 3 October 1925 in the Proms at the Queen's Hall, London, and the intermezzo was performed again in the 1926 Proms. An orchestral suite adapted by Smyth from the opera was premiered in early 1935, during the 1934 Proms winter season.〔BBC Proms Archives. (Entente Cordiale ) and (Entente Cordiale, Suite ). Retrieved 31 March 2013.〕 Smyth also made several arrangements of the intermezzo, for various instrumental combinations, as ''Two Interlinked French Folk Melodies''. Under this title, it featured in the 1958 Last Night of the Proms.〔BBC Proms Archives. (Last Night of the Proms 1958 ). Retrieved 17 April 2013.〕 Writing in 1959, Kathleen Dale described it as a very popular concert piece.〔 It was also recorded in 2003 by the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra for the album ''Entente Cordiale: Light Classics'' (White Line #2147). 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「Entente Cordiale (opera)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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