The English Cat
The English Cat is an opera in two acts by Hans Werner Henze to an English libretto by Edward Bond, based on Les peines de coeur d'une chatte anglaise by Honoré de Balzac. The opera was first performed in a German translation by the Stuttgart Opera at the Schlosstheater Schwetzingen at the Schwetzingen Festival on 2 June 1983. The French premiere was at the Opéra-Comique, Paris in 1984. The first performance using the original English text was at Santa Fe on 13 July 1985. The UK premiere was at the Leith Theatre, Edinburgh, on 19 August 1987. A revised version was performed at Montepulciano in 1990 and this was given in London in 1991.
Roles
Synopsis
The opera is set in London in the 1890s.A group of bourgeois cats has formed the Royal Society for the Protection of Rats. Avowed pacifists as well, the society has been raising a young orphan mouse, Louise. There is a love triangle between Lord Puff, his wife Minette, and Tom.
Instrumentation">Instrumentation (music)">Instrumentation
- Woodwind: 2 flutes,, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons
- Brass: 2 horns, 1 trumpet, 1 trombone
- Percussion : 2 glass bars, 9 Chinese gongs, suspended cymbals, African wood drum, 8 log drums, tumba, maracas, claves, güiro, 2 sistrums, wood block, cabaça, 5 temple blocks, switches, American slat clacks, bass metallophone, 9 finger cymbals, slide whistle, 14 small bells
- harp, piano, celesta, small organ, zither, strings
Recording
- Wergo WER 62042: Richard Berkeley-Steele, Mark Coles, Louisa Kennedy, Gunvor Nilsson, Ian Platt ; Parnassus Orchestra London; Markus Stenz, conductor