''Irmelin'' is an opera in three acts with music by

Frederick Delius Delius, photographed in 1907 Frederick Theodore Albert Delius ( 29 January 1862 – 10 June 1934), originally Fritz Delius, was an English composer. Born in Bradford in the north of England to a prosperous mercantile family, he resisted atte ...

. Composed between 1890 and 1892, it was the first opera which he finished. But it wasn't premiered until 1953, nearly twenty years after his death. The libretto was by the composer, and weaves together two mythical stories.Anderson, Robert. Irmelin. In: ''

The New Grove Dictionary of Opera ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'' is an encyclopedia of opera, considered to be one of the best general reference sources on the subject. It is the largest work on opera in English, and in its printed form, amounts to 5,448 pages in four volu ...

''. Macmillan Reference Limited, London & New York, 1997. Philip Heseltine described the opera as a "fairy-tale of quite ordinary kind" and "its form dramatically rather below the level of the conventional operatic text. Though the music was much praised by Grieg and Messager... its performance was never seriously contemplated by the composer". Delius had however assimilated Wagnerian influence in his music, with use of key motifs and a sense of flow through the three acts.

Performance history

Sir

Thomas Beecham Sir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet, Order of the Companions of Honour, CH (29 April 18798 March 1961) was an English conductor and impresario best known for his association with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic and the Roya ...

directed the British premiere at the

New Theatre Oxford New Theatre Oxford (formerly the Apollo Theatre Oxford and The Apollo, from 1977–2003) is the main commercial Theater (structure), theatre in Oxford, England. It has a capacity of 1,785 people; is on George Street, Oxford, George Street, in t ...

on 4 May 1953; the costumes were by

Beatrice Dawson Beatrice Dawson (26 January 1908 – 16 April 1976) was a British costume designer who was nominated for an Academy Award, as well as three BAFTA nominations. She had 69 film credits from 1945 to 1976. Dawson also worked on an episode of ...

and choreography by Pauline Grant. Beecham's advocacy of the score and "care with which he realizes each detail, the beauty of sound he elicits from his orchestra", were praised by the ''Opera'' critic, along with

Dennis Arundell Dennis Drew Arundell OBE (22 July 1898 in Finchley, London – 10 December 1988 in Camden, London

's production. Porter, Andrew. Opera Diary – Oxford New Theatre. ''Irmelin'' (Delius). ''

Opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

'', July 1953, Vol. 4, No. 7, pp. 422–425.

Florent Schmitt Florent Schmitt (; 28 September 187017 August 1958) was a French composer. He was part of the group known as Les Apaches. His most famous pieces are ''La tragédie de Salome'' and ''Psaume XLVII'' (Psalm 47). He has been described as "one of th ...

arranged the piano scores of Delius's first two operas, ''Irmelin'' and ''The Magic Fountain'', but the first full ''Irmelin'' score was a vocal score compiled by Dennis Arundell in 1953.

Roles

Synopsis

Act 1

Irmelin's room in the royal castle : A voice in the air counsels the Princess Irmelin on the man she should fall in love with. The king introduces and she refuses three suitors: one old, but rich and devoted, another young and handsome, and the third middle-aged, rich but disagreeable (to whom she is betrothed in act 3).

Act 2

Scene 1 – a forest swamp : Nils is in despair since he lost the Silver Stream which would lead him to his dream princess. Rolf, a robber chief, calls him to his stronghold and made him a swineherd. There is a storm. Scene 2 – a hall in the stronghold of Rolf : We meet Rolf's followers, men and women carousing and Rolf declares that he will woo the princess. Nils refuses to sing for the assembly as he wants to quest for the Silver Stream. Scene 3 – in the mountains : As Nils comes to the Silver Stream, wood-nymphs entice him but he is resolute to continue his rocky way.

Act 3

Scene 1 – a hall in the castle : Six months later, as her deadline to wed approaches, Irmelin still hopes that her prince will arrive. Nils enters but when he sings of his life as a swine herd he is dismissed to the servants hall. By night he returns to Irmelin's balcony and they declare their love. Scene 2 – outside the castle : They wander off to the forest as the castle vanishes.

Recording

There is one complete recording of ''Irmelin''. * BBC Artium (1985): Eilene Hannan (Irmelin), Ann Howard (Maid), John Mitchinson (Nils), Michael Rippon (King), Brian Rayner Cook (Rolf);

BBC Singers The BBC Singers are a British chamber choir, and the professional chamber choir of the BBC. One of the six BBC Performing Groups, the BBC Singers are based at the BBC's Maida Vale Studios in London. The only full-time professional British ...

and Concert Orchestra conducted by

Norman Del Mar Norman René Del Mar CBE (31 July 19196 February 1994) was a British conductor, horn player, and biographer. As a conductor, he specialised in the music of late romantic composers; including Edward Elgar, Gustav Mahler, and Richard Strauss. H ...

. Recording from a broadcast on BBC Radio 3, 18 December 1984.Worldcat entry for BBC recording of Irmelin
accessed 5 March 2020. A performance of an ''Irmelin'', Orchestral Suite (arr. Thomas Beecham) at the Henry Wood Promenade Concert given by the Royal Philharmonic Orhcestra under Beecham on 16 September 1954 at the Royal Albert Hall was issued on CD on the BBC Legends label in 2001. The ''Irmelin'' Prelude was dictated by Delius to

Eric Fenby Eric William Fenby OBE (22 April 190618 February 1997) was an English composer, conductor, pianist, organist and teacher who is best known for being Frederick Delius's amanuensis from 1928 to 1934. He helped Delius realise a number of works t ...

in 1930; not the original prelude to the opera, it is an orchestral miniature which uses themes from the opera (published in 1938). It has been recorded by, among others: * National Symphony Orchestra, Sidney Beer (1944) * Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Thomas Beecham (1946) *

Cleveland Orchestra The Cleveland Orchestra, based in Cleveland, is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the " Big Five". Founded in 1918 by the pianist and impresario Adella Prentiss Hughes, the orchestra plays most of its concerts at Se ...

George Szell George Szell (; June 7, 1897 – July 30, 1970), originally György Széll, György Endre Szél, or Georg Szell, was a Hungarian-born American conductor and composer. He is widely considered one of the twentieth century's greatest condu ...

(1957) * Hallé Orchestra,

John Barbirolli Sir John Barbirolli ( Giovanni Battista Barbirolli; 2 December 189929 July 1970) was a British conductor and cellist. He is remembered above all as conductor of the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester, which he helped save from dissolution in 194 ...

(1957) *

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's Hall Orc ...

, John Barbirolli (1966) *BBC Concert Orchestra, Ashley Lawrence (1974) *

Bournemouth Sinfonietta The Bournemouth Sinfonietta was a chamber orchestra founded in 1968 as an offshoot of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. It was disbanded in November 1999 after increasing difficulties in obtaining funding from local councils led to the decisio ...

, Norman Del Mar (1977) * London Philharmonic Orchestra,

Vernon Handley Vernon George "Tod" Handley (11 November 1930 – 10 September 2008) was a British conductor, known in particular for his support of British composers. He was born of a Welsh father and an Irish mother into a musical family in Enfield, Middle ...

(1979) * Welsh National Opera Orchestra,

Charles Mackerras Mackerras in 2005 Sir Alan Charles MacLaurin Mackerras (; 1925 2010) was an Australian conductor. He was an authority on the operas of Janáček and Mozart, and the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan. He was long associated with the Engli ...

(1992) *

New Zealand Symphony Orchestra The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (NZSO) is a symphony orchestra based in Wellington, New Zealand. The national orchestra of New Zealand, the NZSO is an autonomous Crown entity owned by the Government of New Zealand, per the New Zealand Symph ...

Myer Fredman Myer Fredman (29 January 1932 – 4 July 2014) was a United Kingdom, British-Australian Conducting, conductor. He studied at Dartington Hall and in London with Peter Gellhorn, Vilém Tauský, Sir Adrian Boult, and was assistant conductor to Otto ...

(1995)

References

{{Frederick Delius Operas by Frederick Delius Operas 1892 operas English-language operas