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''Koanga'' is an opera with music by Frederick Delius, his third opera, written between 1896 and 1897, and a libretto by Charles F. Keary, inspired partly by ''The Grandissimes: A Story of Creole Life'' of George Washington Cable. Inspiration also came from Delius's own experiences as a young man when his family sent him to work in Florida. Delius himself thought well of the opera compared to its predecessors, ''Irmelin'' and ''The Magic Fountain'', because of the incorporation of dance scenes and his treatment of the choruses.〔Redwood, Christopher, "Delius in the Opera House" (June 1984). ''The Musical Times'', 12 (1696): 319, 321.〕 ''Koanga'' is reputed to be the first opera in the European tradition to base much of its melodic material on African-American music. ==Performance history== ''Koanga'' was the first of Delius's operas to be performed. It was also the most labor-intensive with regard to the libretto, which was continually being revised. The opera was posthumously published in 1935. It was performed privately in March 1899 in Paris, at the residence of Adela Maddison. Gabriel Fauré was among the performers, and the audience included Prince Edmond de Polignac and the Princesse de Polignac. Selections from the opera were performed in London on 30 May 1899 at St James's Hall, in a concert of his own music organised by Delius. The first public staging of the opera was in the Stadttheater, Elberfeld, Germany on 30 March 1904. It was sung in German, using a translation by Jelka Delius, and conducted by Fritz Cassirer. Sir Thomas Beecham directed the British premiere for the full opera on 23 September 1935 at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden. John Brownlee sang the title role, with Oda Slobodskaya as Palmyra. A later revival was in 1972 for the Camden Festival at the Sadler's Wells Theatre, London, conducted by Sir Charles Groves. Douglas Craig and Andrew Page had worked extensively on revisions to a performing edition, which was used for the first complete commercial recording conducted by Groves. Robert Threlfall has examined revisions to the text of ''Koanga'' in its various editions.〔Threlfall, Robert, "The Early History of 'Koanga'" (September 1974). ''Tempo'' (New Ser.), 110: 8-11.〕 More recent revisions to the libretto have been by Olwen Wymark. The single most famous musical passage from the opera contains the melody known as ''La Calinda'', which is the only part of the score that has remained famous in the concert hall. Eric Fenby, Delius's amanuensis, has spoken of the opera as follows: "''Koanga'' is one of those singular works that attract attention in Delius's development but which stand apart from the rest of his music. Usually, once a work was written, Delius's interest in it would wane. It would then be renewed and be relived temporarily every time he heard it again. For ''Koanga'', however, he showed concern as though it held some secret bond that bound him to his youth in Florida. It was the one work he deplored in old age he was never likely to hear again. And so it proved. A dark grandeur pervades the score which, whilst yielding to hankerings after Wagner, recalls the tragic gusto of Verdi. The elements of time, place and plot allowed him a range of textures and moods wider than in his other operas." The first US staging of ''Koanga'', or of any Delius opera, was by the Opera Society of Washington in late 1970 and early 1971. 〔Loewens, Irving, "Reports: Washington" (1971). ''Musical Times'', 112 (1537): 265.〕 London's Pegasus Opera Company staged ''Koanga'' in April 2007 at Sadler's Wells Theatre. William Randel has studied the relationship of the opera and its libretto to the original story of Cable. 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「Koanga」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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