List of Wuthering Heights Adaptations - Opera and Theatre

Opera and Theatre

• Bernard Herrmann wrote an opera based on the novel between 1943 and 1951. The libretto was by radio play writer Lucille Fletcher, who was Herrmann's wife when he started writing the opera but was no longer his wife by the time he finished. The opera was recorded in full in London in 1966, with the composer conducting the Pro Arte Orchestra. It featured the soprano Morag Beaton in the role of Cathy, and baritone Donald Bell as Heathcliff. The recording was re-released in 1972 by Unicorn-Kanchana records, and later transferred to CD. However, the opera was not produced in an operatic venue until 1982, by Portland Opera (and even this was an abridged version that omitted 30–40 minutes of the music and changed the ending). Renée Fleming recorded the aria I have dreamt in 1998.
• On 16 July 1958 Carlisle Floyd's opera Wuthering Heights premiered at the Santa Fe Opera with Phyllis Curtin as Catherine Earnshaw and Robert Trehy as Heathcliff. A revised version of the work is performed the following year at the New York City Opera with Curtin, Patricia Neway, and Richard Cassilly.
• In 1966 a musical Hindi-language film adaptation was released in India entitled Dil Diya Dard Liya. Its story and characters were clearly based upon Wuthering Heights. It starred Dilip Kumar (Heathcliff), Waheeda Rehman (Cathy), Pran (Hindley), Rehman (Edgar) and Shyama (Isabella). Names, locations and many plot developments were adapted to suit Indian audiences.
• 1987: Austrian drama adaptation Krankheit oder Moderne Frauen by Elfriede Jelinek.
• Bernard J. Taylor wrote a musical Wuthering Heights, recorded in 1992 as a concept album starring Lesley Garrett, Dave Willetts, Bonnie Langford and Clive Carter, and first performed in 1994. It has been translated into German, Romanian and Polish.
• 1992: "Heights" by Vince Foxall, La Mama Theatre, Melbourne, Australia
• The all-female Japanese opera company, Takarazuka Revue, has their own interpretation of the story, the musical drama is first performed in the 1970s and the most recently production is in 1998, starring Yōka Wao.
• Sir Cliff Richard starred in the self commissioned "Heathcliff in the 1990s. Not well received by many older fans of the singer it portrayed the very brutal side of the character. The album of the libretto was recorded by Cliff Richard and Olivia Newton-John.
• 2001 saw the composition of Claude-Michel Schönberg's first ballet score, "Wuthering Heights". This production was performed by the United Kingdom's Northern Ballet Theatre Company in September 2002. A 2-CD soundtrack was released under the First Night label in 2004.
• In the fall of 2008, Mark Ryan launched a dramatic musical adaptation of the gothic love-story: "Wuthering Heights" by Emily Brontë, narrated by "Beowulf" and "Sexy Beast" star: Ray Winstone. He composed, sang and produced the tracks with Robb Vallier who also worked on Spamalot. He also directed the video for the song "Women" filmed especially for the website and featuring Jennifer Korbee, Jessical Keenan Wynn and Katie Boerk.