''The Canterville Ghost'' (also ''The Ghost of Canterville'', russian: Кентервильское привидение, translit=Kentervíl’skoye prividénie, link=no) is an opera by the Russian composer

Alexander Knaifel Alexander Aronovich Knaifel (russian: Алекса́ндр Аро́нович Кна́йфель; also ''Knayfel'', ''Knayfel'', or ''Kneifel''; born 28 November 1943 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan) is a Russian composer known for his operas ''The Gho ...

in three acts for 18 singers and chamber orchestra, also in an abridged version for two soloists and chamber orchestra. The opera was composed in 1965–66 to the

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...

by Tatiana Kramarova after the 1887 short story "

The Canterville Ghost "The Canterville Ghost" is a humorous short story by Oscar Wilde. It was the first of Wilde's stories to be published, appearing in two parts in '' The Court and Society Review'', 23 February and 2 March 1887. The story is about an American fa ...

" by

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

. Text Russian (translated into English by V. Paperno). It is dedicated to the composer . Also: ''Romantic Scenes from the Opera'' – in seven scenes with prologue for

basso profondo Basso profondo (Italian: "deep bass"), sometimes basso profundo, contrabass or oktavist, is the lowest bass voice type. While ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'' defines a typical bass as having a range that is limited to the second E below ...

and light

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

with chamber orchestra (shorter version). Duration: 90 minutes.

Cast, orchestra

Shorter version: *Solo voices: bass, soprano *Orchestra: flute, oboe, 2 clarinets (piccolo and bass), contrabassoon, horn, trumpet, trombone, tuba, timpani, 4 percussion (tubular bells, glockenspiel, xylophone,

flexatone The flexatone or fleximetal is a modern percussion instrument (an indirectly struck idiophone) consisting of a small flexible metal sheet suspended in a wire frame ending in a handle. Used in classic cartoons for its glissando effect, its soun ...

), piano/celesta, organ (may be on tape), 5 strings (1.1.1.1.1). The score is published by Sovetsky Kompozitor, Leningrad 1977. Full version: *Singers: 6 sopranos, 2 boy sopranos, 4 mezzo-sopranos, alto, 2 tenors, 2 baritones, bass *Orchestra: flute, oboe, 2 clarinets (piccolo and bass), contrabassoon, horn, trumpet, trombone, tuba, timpani, percussion (5 players, instruments include tubular bells, glockenspiel, xylophone and flexatone), piano/celesta, organ (may be on tape), 2 violins, viola, cello, double bass.

Performance history

It was first performed on February 26, 1974, (with the subsequent performances on November 30, and December 15, 1974) in

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, the House of Composers by the Chamber Orchestra of Conservatoire, conducted by L. Gelgrud. It was performed on March 3 and 4, 1980, in London by the

BBC Symphony Orchestra The BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBC SO) is a British orchestra based in London. Founded in 1930, it was the first permanent salaried orchestra in London, and is the only one of the city's five major symphony orchestras not to be self-governing. T ...

, conducted by

Gennady Rozhdestvensky Gennady Nikolayevich Rozhdestvensky, CBE (russian: Генна́дий Никола́евич Рожде́ственский; 4 May 1931 – 16 June 2018) was a Soviet and Russian conductor. Biography Gennady Rozhdestvensky was born in Moscow. H ...

Recordings

* ''The Canterville Ghost - Operatic scenes inspired by Oscar Wilde'' (shorter version, 50 minutes) Recorded 1990. The Moscow Theater "Forum" Orchestra, Stanislav Suleymanov (bass), Tatiana Monogarova (soprano), Alexander Levental (organ), conductor

Michail Jurowski Michail Vladimirovich Jurowski (; 25 December 1945 – 19 March 2022) was a Russian conductor who worked internationally, based in Germany for most of his career. He was particularly interested in the works of Dmitri Shostakovich, in concerts a ...

. Issued on CD: Harmonia Mundi Saison Russe / Le Chant du monde 1991; reissued

Brilliant Classics Brilliant Classics is a classical music label based in the Dutch town of Leeuwarden. It is renowned for releasing super-budget-priced editions on CD of the complete works of J.S. Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and many other composers. The label also sp ...

2012.

References

External links

''Das Gespenst von Canterville''

Hans Sikorski Internationale Musikverlage Hans Sikorski is an international music publishing company in Berlin, formerly headquartered in Hamburg, Germany. As of June 2019, Sikorski is a part of Concord. The music publishing firm of Hans Sikorski was founded in ...

music publishers {{DEFAULTSORT:Canterville Ghost, The Russian-language operas Operas 1974 operas Music for orchestra and organ Chamber operas Operas based on works by Oscar Wilde