Punch and Judy (opera)

Punch and Judy
Chamber opera by Harrison Birtwistle
Birtwistle in 2008
LibrettistStephen Pruslin
Based onPunch and Judy
Premiere
8 June 1968 (1968-06-08)
Aldeburgh Festival

Punch and Judy is a chamber opera with music by Harrison Birtwistle and a libretto by Stephen Pruslin, based on the puppet figures of the same names. Birtwistle wrote the score from 1966 to 1967. The opera was first performed at the Aldeburgh Festival, which had commissioned the work, on 8 June 1968, with David Atherton conducting the English Opera Group.[1] The premiere cast included John Cameron as Mr Punch.[2]

The work caused great controversy with members of the audience, because of the violence of the plot and the nature of the music. Benjamin Britten was reported to have left the premiere at the interval.[3] The first US performance was in Minneapolis, and the first New York performance took place in 1988.[4] The first performance in Austria was in 1991, by Wien Modern, with Birtwistle supervising the production.[5] Birtwistle directed a revival of the opera at Aldeburgh in June 1991.[6]

With reference to the ballet of Igor Stravinsky, Paul Griffiths has characterized Mr Punch as "the exact contrary of Petrushka: a human being behaving as a puppet".[7] David Wright has summarized how Birtwistle and Pruslin attempted to treat the characters and music in an archetypal manner to write what they have described as a "source opera".[8] Jonathan Cross has published a detailed analysis of the opera.[9]

  1. ^ Crosse, Gordon, "First Performances: Birtwistle's Punch and Judy (Summer 1968). Tempo (New Ser.), 85: pp. 24–26.
  2. ^ Alan Blyth (5 April 2002). "Obituary for John Cameron". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 September 2007.
  3. ^ Andrew Clements (14 June 2004). "The Io Passion". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 September 2007.
  4. ^ Donal Henahan (24 June 1988). "Punch and Judy Is Slapstick for Adults". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 September 2007.
  5. ^ Robinson, J. Bradford, "The Review Section: Live Performance" – "Punching Audiences" (February 1992). The Musical Times, 133 (1788): p. 90.
  6. ^ Rye, Matthew, "The Review Section: Live Performance – Myth and Ritual" (August 1991). The Musical Times, 132 (1782): pp. 405–411.
  7. ^ Griffiths, Paul, Review of recording of Punch and Judy (1981). The Musical Times, 122 (1657): p. 182.
  8. ^ Wright, David, "Clicks, Clocks & Claques" (July 1994). The Musical Times, 135 (1817): pp. 426–431.
  9. ^ Cross, Jonathan, "Lines and Circles: On Birtwistle's Punch and Judy and Secret Theatre" (July–October 1994). Music Analysis, 13 (2/3): pp. 203–225.