| The Maiden in the Tower | |
|---|---|
| Opera by Jean Sibelius | |
 The composer (c. 1895) | |
| Native name | Jungfrun i tornet |
| Catalogue | JS 101 |
| Text | Libretto by Rafael Hertzberg |
| Language | Swedish |
| Composed | 1896 (withdrawn 1896) |
| Publisher | Hansen (1983)[1] |
| Duration | 35.5 mins.[2] |
| Premiere | |
| Date | 7 November 1896[3] |
| Location | Helsinki, Grand Duchy of Finland |
| Conductor | Jean Sibelius |
| Performers | Helsinki Philharmonic Society |
The Maiden in the Tower (in Swedish: Jungfrun i tornet; in Finnish: Neito tornissa; occasionally translated to English as The Maid in the Tower),[4] JS 101, is an opera ("dramatized Finnish ballad")[a] in one act—comprising an overture and eight scenes—written in 1896 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. The piece was a collaboration with the Finnish author Rafael Hertzberg, the Swedish-language libretto of whom tells a "simple tale of chivalry" that may nonetheless have had allegorical ambitions: the Bailiff (Imperial Russia) abducts and imprisons the Maiden (the Grand Duchy of Finland); although she endures hardship, she remains true to herself and is freed subsequently (Finland's independence) by her Lover (Finnish nationalists) and the Chatelaine of the castle (social reformers).
The opera premiered on 7 November 1896 at a lottery soirée to benefit the Helsinki Philharmonic Society, which Sibelius conducted, and its music school; the Finnish baritone Abraham Ojanperä and the Finnish soprano Ida Flodin sang the roles of the Bailiff and the Maiden, respectively. Although the critics praised Sibelius's music, they thought it was wasted on Hertzberg's lifeless libretto. After three performances, Sibelius withdrew the opera, saying he wanted to revise it. He never did, and with one exception (in 1900, he conducted a 12-minute concert overture that incorporated material from five of the opera's numbers),[b] he suppressed the work. (In 1914, for example, he quashed the Finnish soprano Aino Ackté's plans for a revival in Mikkeli.) The Maiden in the Tower would not receive its next complete performance until 28 January 1981, when Sibelius's son-in-law Jussi Jalas and the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra resurrected it for a radio concert.
In the intervening decades, The Maiden in the Tower has entered neither the Finnish nor the international repertories, and its significance is therefore primarily as a historical curiosity: Sibelius's lone opera.[5] Accordingly, it has been recorded only a few times, with Neeme Järvi and the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra having made the world premiere studio recording in 1983. A typical performance lasts about 36 minutes.
- ^ Dahlström 2003, p. 560.
- ^ Dahlström 2003, pp. 556–559.
- ^ Dahlström 2003, p. 559.
- ^ Gray 1934, p. 92; Goss 2009, p. 231.
- ^ Grimley 2021, p. 308.
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