The Siege of Rhodes
The Siege of Rhodes is an opera written to a text by the impresario William Davenant.[1] The score is by five composers, the vocal music by Henry Lawes, Matthew Locke, and Captain Henry Cooke, and the instrumental music by Charles Coleman and George Hudson.[2] It is considered to be the first English opera.
Special permit
Part 1 of The Siege of Rhodes was first performed in a small private theatre constructed at Davenant's home,
Production
The Rutland House production included
Part 2 of The Siege of Rhodes followed in the 1657–1659 season and was first published in 1663.In 1661, the piece was rewritten to take advantage of the skills of the young actresses now in Davenant's Company, and this revival introduced Hester Davenport as Roxalana.
Lost score
The plot was based on the 1522 siege of Rhodes, when the island was besieged by the Ottoman fleet of Suleiman the Magnificent. The score of the opera is believed to be lost. However, the original sketches by John Webb for the stage sets, themselves an innovation of the day, are extant.
See also
- The Cruelty of the Spaniards in Peru
- The History of Sir Francis Drake
- Lovers Made Men
- Restoration spectacular
Notes
- ^ Catherine Coleman was the daughter of composer Alfonso Ferrabosco and wife of another performer, Edward Coleman; Edward would be appointed Musician in Ordinary to the royal court after the restoration of King Charles.[4][5]
References
- ^ Sir William Davenant (1606–1668)
- ^ Roger Parker, The Oxford Illustrated History of Opera, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1994; pp. 39–40.
- ^ 1 October 1665.
- ISBN 0-8131-1925-1.
- ISBN 978-1-4725-3938-0..
- ^ Terence P. Logan and Denzell S. Smith, eds., The Later Jacobean and Caroline Dramatists: A Survey and Bibliography of Recent Studies in English Renaissance Drama, Lincoln, NE, University of Nebraska Press, 1978; pp. 203–204.