Performance History
The first performance was at the Staatsoper, Dresden on 9 November 1926. It was promptly performed throughout Germany. Although Britain had to wait until 1970 for a staged performance, a concert performance was presented at the Queen's Hall, London, on 18 December 1936, with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and starring Miriam Licette as Cardillac's daughter.
Hindemith revised both the score and the text, for the reason that, according to Ian Kemp, the musical idiom "seemed crude and undisciplined". This second version was first performed at the Zurich Stadttheater on 20 June 1952. Hans-Ludwig Schilling has published a comparison of the two versions. After 1953, Hindemith sanctioned only the 1952 revised version for theatrical performances. However, after the composer's death in 1963, the original version became available again for production.
The opera's Italian premiere took place in 1948 at the Venice Biennale as part of the Venice Festival of Contemporary Music XI. The American premiere took place at The Santa Fe Opera in 1967. The New Opera Company presented the first staged UK performances in March 1970 at Sadler's Wells.
Read more about this topic: Cardillac
Famous quotes containing the words performance and/or history:
“Nobody can misunderstand a boy like his own mother.... Mothers at present can bring children into the world, but this performance is apt to mark the end of their capacities. They can’t even attend to the elementary animal requirements of their offspring. It is quite surprising how many children survive in spite of their mothers.”
—Norman Douglas (1868–1952)
“The second day of July 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more”
—John Adams (1735–1826)