Un re in ascolto

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Un re in ascolto

Un re in ascolto (A King Listens) is an opera by Luciano Berio

Luciano Berio

Luciano Berio, Italian orders of merit was an Italian composer. He is noted for his experimental music work and also for his pioneering work in electronic music....
, who also wrote the libretto

Libretto

A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, sacred or secular oratorio and cantata, Musical theater, and ballet....
. The libretto (in Italian

Italian language

Italian is a Romance languages spoken by about 63 million people as a first language, primarily in Italy. In Switzerland, Italian is one of four Linguistic geography of Switzerlands....
) is based on an idea by Italo Calvino

Italo Calvino

Italo Calvino was an Italy journalist and writer of short stories and novels. His best known works include the Our Ancestors trilogy , the Cosmicomics collection of short stories , and the novels Invisible Cities and If on a Winter's Night a Traveler ....
, incorporating excerpts from Friedrich Einsiedel and Friedrich Wilhelm Gotter

Friedrich Wilhelm Gotter

Friedrich Wilhelm Gotter , was a Germany poet and dramatist.He was born at Gotha . After the completion of his university course at university of G?ttingen, he was appointed second director of the Gotha Archive....
's eighteenth century libretto on Shakespeare's The Tempest
The Tempest

The Tempest is a play by William Shakespeare, probably written in 1610?11, although some researchers have argued for an earlier dating. Its protagonist is the banished sorcerer Prospero, rightful Duke of Milan, who uses his magical powers to punish and forgive his enemies when he raises a tempest that drives them ashore....
as well as W. H. Auden

W. H. Auden

Wystan Hugh Auden who signed his works W. H. Auden, was an Anglo-American poet, regarded by many as one of the greatest writers of the 20th century....
's The Sea and the Mirror. Berio himself described the work as an azione musicale (musical action) rather than an opera. It falls into 19 sections grouped into two parts.

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Encyclopedia

Un re in ascolto (A King Listens) is an opera by Luciano Berio

Luciano Berio

Luciano Berio, Italian orders of merit was an Italian composer. He is noted for his experimental music work and also for his pioneering work in electronic music....
, who also wrote the libretto

Libretto

A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, sacred or secular oratorio and cantata, Musical theater, and ballet....
. The libretto (in Italian

Italian language

Italo Calvino

Friedrich Wilhelm Gotter

W. H. Auden

Salzburg

is the List of cities and towns in Austria#List of cities and towns by population size in Austria and the capital city of the states of Austria of Salzburg ....
, on , conducted by Lorin Maazel

Lorin Maazel

Lorin Varencove Maazel is a conducting, viola and composer....
, directed by Götz Friedrich

Götz Friedrich

G?tz Friedrich was a German opera and theatre director.He was a student and assistant of Walter Felsenstein at the Komische Oper Berlin in Berlin, where he went on to direct his early productions....
, with set designs by Günther Schneider-Siessman. The London premiere was on at the Royal Opera House

Royal Opera House

The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in the London district of Covent Garden. The large building, often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", is the home of Royal Opera, London , Royal Ballet, London and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House....
, Covent Garden.

Roles

Role	Voice type Voice type A voice type is a particular kind of human singing voice perceived as having certain identifying qualities or characteristics. Voice classification is the process by which human voices are evaluated and are thereby designated into voice types....	Premiere cast, August 7, 1984 (conductor: Lorin Maazel Lorin Maazel Lorin Varencove Maazel is a conducting, viola and composer.... )
Prospero, an impressario and the title character	bass-baritone Bass-baritone A bass-baritone is a high-lying Bass that shares certain qualities with the baritone voice type.The term arose in the late 19th century to describe the particular type of voice required to sing three Richard Wagner roles: the Dutchman in The Flying Dutchman , Wotan/Der Wanderer in the Ring Cycle and Hans Sachs in Die Meistersinger von N?rnbe...	Theo Adam Theo Adam File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1987-1023-055, Berlin, 750-Jahr-Feier, Staatsakt, Konzert, Adam.jpgTheo Adam is a distinguished bass-baritone opera singer, born on August 1, 1926, in Dresden, Germany....
Producer	tenor Tenor The tenor is a type of male voice type and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between the C one octave below middle C to the A above in choral music, and up to high C in solo work....	Heinz Zednik Heinz Zednik Heinz Zednik is an Austrian operatic tenor, closely associated with the character tenor roles of Richard Wagner such as Mime and Loge and David ....
Protagonist	coloratura-soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four part chorale style harmony the soprano takes the highest part which usually encompasses the melody....	Patricia Wise
	soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four part chorale style harmony the soprano takes the highest part which usually encompasses the melody....	Sylvia Greenberg
	soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four part chorale style harmony the soprano takes the highest part which usually encompasses the melody....	Karan Armstrong Karan Armstrong Karan Armstrong is an United States soprano. Originally trained as a pianist, she graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree from Concordia College in 1963....
Venerdì Man Friday This article is about the fictional character. For the film, see Man Friday .Man Friday is one of the main characters of Daniel Defoe novel Robinson Crusoe.... , a stand-in for Caliban	speaking role
Ariel	mime MIME Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions is an Internet standard that extends the format of electronic mail to support:* Text in character sets other than ASCII...
nurse	mezzo-soprano Mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano is a type of European classical music female voice type whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above ....
wife	mezzo

Synopsis

The opera does not have a conventional linear narrative.

The opera concerns itself with a king of a mythical kingdom who lives detached from his realm, where his only contact with his kingdom is through overhearing conversations. A traveling theatrical troupe arrives to stage a performance of The Tempest. The king overhears this action, and begins to imagine himself as Prospero from the play. As he overhears the auditions and the rehearsals, he begins to equate these with the happenings in his kingdom, blurring the two worlds. However, the king eventually undergoes a psychological collapse. Ultimately, the rehearsed production of The Tempest never occurs and the theatrical troupe departs. The king has a vision of the future as he moves towards his own death.

Recording

Luciano Berio: Un re in ascolto (Theo Adam, Heinz Zednik, Sylvia Greenberg, Gabriele Sima, Helmut Wildhaber, Patricia Wise, Karan Armstrong, Rohangiz Yachmi, Anna Gonda, Helmuth Lohner; Vienna Philharmonic; Conductor: Lorin Maazel) CD 1999. Label: Col Legno 20005