| Fennimore und Gerda | |
|---|---|
| Opera by Frederick Delius | |
 | |
| Librettist | Frederick Delius |
| Language | German |
| Based on | Niels Lyhne by Jens Peter Jacobsen |
| Premiere | 21 October 1919 |
Fennimore und Gerda (subtitled Two Episodes from the Life of Niels Lyhne in Eleven Pictures, RT I/8) is a German-language opera with four interludes, by the English composer Frederick Delius. It is usually performed and recorded in English, as Fennimore and Gerda in a translation by Philip Heseltine. The German libretto, by the composer himself, is based on the novel Niels Lyhne by the Danish writer Jens Peter Jacobsen. In neither German nor English is the libretto highly regarded; rather, the work is considered an "orchestral opera", limited in its dramatic appeal but voluptuous and engaging in its instrumental texture.[1]
Delius began writing Fennimore und Gerda in 1908; he finished in 1910, but the premiere, intended for the Cologne Opera, was delayed by the First World War and did not take place until 21 October 1919, and then by the Oper Frankfurt. It was the composer's last opera. The United States premiere of the work was staged by the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis in June 1981 with Kathryn Bouleyn as Fennimore and Kathryn Gamberoni as Gerda.[2]
- ^ Boyden, Matthew; Kimberley, Nick (2002). Joe Staines (ed.). The Rough Guide to Opera. Rough Guides (3rd ed.). pp. 406, 408. ISBN 978-1-85828-749-2.
- ^ Margaret Ross Griffel (2012). Operas in English: A Dictionary. Scarecrow Press. p. 170. ISBN 9780810883253.