Par GILBERT WILLIAM SCHWENCK / SULLIVAN ARTHUR. Having a rather idealistic view of England and the English people, King Paramount of the south sea island of Utopia decides that his people should adopt all English customs and fashions, and that the kingdom should become a company limited . Utopia Limited , or The Flowers Of Progress , is a Savoy Opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and Libretto by W.S. Gilbert. It was the second-to-last of Gilbert and Sullivan's fourteen collaborations, premiering on October 7, 1893 for a run of 245 performances. Available here is the vocal score of the Opera. / Niveau : Elémentaire / TV, Film, Comédie musicale / Recueil / Chant et Piano

Par HINDEMITH PAUL. The opera is set in a variety of locations between the years 1608 and 1630 and throws a spotlight on individual scenes, sometimes presented simultaneously, from the life of the astronomer Johannes Kepler (1571-1630); the opera takes its name from Kepler’s theoretical work ‘Harmonices mundi’. Hindemith utilises substantial historical studies as the basis for his sketches of individuals within Kepler’s circle who each accompany the astronomer’s scientific endeavours with a variety of personal ambitions. The military commander Wallenstein attempts to utilise Kepler’s astrological abilities to realise his own pretensions to power while Kepler’s assistant Ulrich aspires to scientific fame and recognition. Kepler’s mother urges her son to apply his scientific abilities to the services of her black magic and the Lutheran minister Hizler forbids the astronomer to receive communion because Kepler questions the doctrine of Holy Communion in the Lutheran church and expresses sympathy for Calvinist doctrine. The few figures shed in a positive light include Kepler’s wife Susanna who supports her husband’s pursuit of truth and knowledge and the child Susanna who listens to the voices of nature and the moon in her childish naivety, thereby gaining revelatory knowledge. At the end of his life, Kepler takes stock of his situation, succumbs to a state of resignation and considers death as the greatest harmony of all. In his state of agony, music of the spheres can be heard; the constellations appear as allegorical figures in the opera and contradict Kepler’s negative concepts: lying beyond all that can be researched by mankind is a final majestic realm with the powers to ‘permit us to be amalgamated into a gigantic harmony of the spheres.’ / Date parution : 2022-07-20/ Répertoire / Opéra

A pair of men take an oath of eternal friendship but their vow is threatened by their attraction to the same woman. The object of their rivalry faces her own dilemma, torn between worldly passion and her calling as a priestess. Their romantic triangle forms the heart of this 1863 opera, Les Pêcheurs De Perles (The Pearl Fishers) , in which the composer of Carmen, the world's most popular opera, made his first mark. Set in ancient Ceylon, this enchanting tale of friendship, love, and betrayal has been performed in Opera houses around the world. The famous Baritone/Tenor duet in the second act is among the most recorded of Opera highlights, and a copy of the full score is essential for conductors as well as for students of composition and orchestration. This large-format version of Bizet 's three-act Opera offers musicians an affordable alternative to high-priced, hard-to-find editions. / Conducteur Opéra

Par HUMMEL BERTOLD. The overall form of this work in one movement is in seven sections. A slow introduction begins with multiphonics of the saxophone and sounds of cymbals played with a double-bass bow. Vibraphone and marimbaphone provide the chordal foundation for a fanfare-like invocation by the saxophone. The atmosphere of the following Allegro is dominated by an ostinato series of notes taken from the chords of the introduction and played by the marimbaphone - over this, starting from a four-note series, the saxophone develops jazz-influenced figures. The constructional elements are worked into a cadenza-like section, followed by an arioso passage, leading over lightly-pulsating sounds to a final climax with a B-A-C-H (B flat - A - C - B) quotation in the saxophone. Once again, it continues with a cadenza-like section. Slap in the saxophone and stopped notes in the vibraphone and marimbaphone introduce new ideas and sonorities for discussion, the constructional elements are played off against each other in a loose sequence. At the end of this second cadenza, the B-A-C-H (B flat - A - C - B) quotation re-appears in the saxophone. A varied reprise of the first Allegro section leads to a concluding passage, taking up the atmosphere of the introduction, combined however with clear references to the four-note series of the Allegro. The interval of a third is heard and remains hovering in the air to the very end, closing the work in pianissimo./ Répertoire / Saxophone Soprano et Percussions