One-Act Operas

[False_Dmitry]

"Much can be said in little space, given sufficient wit"

Which are your favourite one-act operas?  Which composers and librettists have turned the brevity of the form to best advantage - and how?   

[karlhenning]

Mavra.

[bhodges]

My favorite one-act is also my favorite opera, period: Bartók's Bluebeard's Castle.

--Bruce

[mamascarlatti]

Purcell's Dido and Aenaeas, and Handel's Acis and Galatea.

[Franco]

Several are for me very interesting one-act operas that I often enjoy revisiting:

Il prigioniero (Dallapiccola)
Renard (Stravinsky)
Erwartung (Schoenberg)
Curlew River (Britten)

But, who does not love Cavalleria rusticana?

[knight66]

Savitri by Holst is a very beautiful chamber opera. I have seen it in a double bill with Dido and Aneas, it worked very well.

Can it be denied that Pag and Cav are superbly effective?

I DON'T LIKE GIANNI SCHICCHI.

Mike

[The new erato]

Poulenc's Mameilles de Tiresia is tuneful and great fun.

[karlhenning]

My favorite one-act is also my favorite opera, period: Bartók's Bluebeard's Castle.

--Bruce

(* pounds the table *)

[Guido]

Bluebeard, Savitri, A Hand of Bridge. Capriccio is technically a one acter.

Must listen to the Stravinsky.

[False_Dmitry]

Capriccio is technically a one acter.

And so is ELEKTRA, surprisingly!   According to the title-page of the score, anyhow

[knight66]

I think there are a whole bunch of acts in that opera, most of them illegal.

Mike

[Drasko]

Poulenc's Mamelles de Tiresias is tuneful and great fun.

I love it, but it's Opera-Bouffe en deux actes et un prologue.

[Luke]

Ravel's two lttle beauties, surely.........

[kishnevi]

And so is ELEKTRA, surprisingly!   According to the title-page of the score, anyhow

And technically, so is Ariadne auf Naxos (divided into "Prologue" and "The Opera")

My favorite one-acter is Il Signor Bruschino.

[Dancing Divertimentian]

There was a nice thread on this on the old board.

I'd add any of Martinu's one-acters, such as Comedy On The Bridge, Voice Of The Forest, and Ariane.

None of these however seem to be readily available but are worth seeking out on the Supraphon label.

[knight66]

An item about Savitri...

http://www.gramophone.co.uk/classical-music-news/savitri-staged-in-the-berghain-techno-club

However, informative as it is, it is silent about audience reaction.

Mike

[val]

Some of my favorites:

SCHOECK:   Penthesilea

PUCCINI: Gianni Schichi

BARTOK:  Bluebeard Castle

WEBER:  Abu Hassan

ZEMLINSKY:   Der Zwerg

RAVEL:  L'Heure Espagnole

ROSSINI:  Il Viaggio a Reims

[Papageno]

I'm thinking of my graduation film project to be an opera, but since I only have 30 minutes to my disposal it must probably be a one-act opera.  I am thinking about Stravinsky's Mavra but it's too provincial for my taste.  Do you have any short operas in mind?

[False_Dmitry]

Actually we already have a "one-act opera" discussion only recently kicked into touch,  so all the answers there are fresh - you might want to take a squint at it? 

http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,16358.0.html

What do you feel is "provincial" about Mavra?

There are not too many operas, even one-acters, that would boil down to 30 minutes uncut, though.  There are Milhaud's three mini-operas, which run for just 10 minutes each - you might be able to shoehorn those into 30 mins? 

People will tut and pooh and roll their eyes, but Menotti's perky little two-hander THE TELEPHONE runs for 28 minutes, and he's only thought of as "old hat" because "familiarity breeds contempt" 

[Papageno]

I've found Schoenberg's Erwartung quite interesting.  Does anyone know where I can find the score and libretto?