Sardanapalo

Synopsis

Franz Liszt spent nearly seven years on Sardanapalo, an Italian opera based on Lord Byron’s tragedy of 1821. Working intermittently, he abandoned an incomplete draft in 1851. The surviving music constitutes almost the entirety of Act 1, a unique mixture of Italianate pastiche and mid-century harmonic innovation. Now the opera is being brought to modern ears by David Trippett at the University of Cambridge. The manuscript was assumed to be ‘extremely fragmentary’ (Searle) and difficult to read, its music irretrievable. But after a reevaluation, and a period of intensive study, a critical edition and a performance edition will both be published in 2019. Two sources of information were particularly significant: Liszt’s own instrumental cues for orchestrating the work; and working with performers to discover matters of tempi, articulation, and phrasing as part of practice-based research. “a brilliant musical achievement” (FAZ); “absolutely fascinating … An eminent discovery. What a pity Liszt didn’t continue along this path." (Die Welt) A documentary exploring the research process, and containing musical excerpts, is also available (20 mins).

Additional Info

• No: 9598
• Composer: Franz Liszt
• Conductor: Kirill Karabits
• Orchestra: Staatskapelle Weimar
• Artists: Joyce El Khoury, Airam Hernández, Oleksandr Pushniak
• Production year: 2018
• Run time: 00:55:00
• Producers: University of Cambridge
• Format: HDTV 16:9