Opera in Dutch

Opera in the Dutch-language is a minor tradition in the opera history of the Netherlands. Since the earliest operas were staged in the Netherlands in the 17th Century the preference has always been for original Italian, French and German versions, or occasionally French translations of Italian and German works.

The 1680s saw the first pastoral semi-operas in Dutch, De triomfeerende Min (1678) and Bacchus, Ceres en Venus (1686). The 18th century saw development of the zangspel (singspiel), such as Zemire en Azor (1784), but these failed to establish a vernacular opera tradition.[1] With a few notable exceptions – such as the 1834 Dutch-language opera Saffo by Johannes Bernardus van Bree to a libretto by Jacob van Lennep (1802–1868), the 19th century saw no major Dutch-language operas. While there continued to be a tradition of art song and choral compositions in Dutch, in the 20th and 21st century original Dutch language opera compositions were to remain rare, and such as in the case of Willem Pijper's Halewijn (1932–34, after the tale of Heer Halewijn) not always well received.[2]

Dutch-language translations of Italian standards were produced from 1886 by the Dutch Opera Company of Johannes George de Groot starting a minor strand in opera performance which persisted, with closures and openings of various opera companies, until World War I, and again in the inter-war years. A revived attempt to produce operas sung in Dutch was made by De Nederlandse Opera in the years following World War II.[3]

Similarly in Belgium the Vlaamse Opera sang French and Italian works in Dutch till the 1980s.[4] Peter Benoit produced his first opera in Flemish, Het dorp in't gebergte (A Mountain Village) in Brussels in 1856.

Peter-Jan Wagemans' 2006 opera Legende premiered in 2011 at De Nederlandse Opera.[5]

References
  1. Freddie M. Stockdale, Martin R. Dreyer, The Opera Guide, 1990, p. 2: "The nearest equivalent to the first opera in Dutch was Carolus Hacquart's De Triomfeerende Min, written to celebrate the Peace of Nijmegen in 1678, but in fact it is only incidental music created for a play by Dirk Buysero and belongs to the ..."
  2. Key Notes – 1984, volumes 19–22, p. viii: "You have to choose a language which gives you the greatest scope as a composer. Pijper's Halewijn has always remained the most abominable example of an opera in Dutch to my way of thinking.' Loevendie says that he has always had an ..."
  3. Opera companies and houses of western Europe, Canada, ... Karyl Lynn Zietz, Karyl Charna Lynn, 1999: "After the war, De Nederlandsche Opera gevestigd te Amsterdam, under Paul Cronheim, began producing opera in Dutch at the Stadsschouwburg. The company opened on September 17, 1946, with Verdi's La travaita, followed by Rigoletto ..."
  4. Opera companies and houses of western Europe, Canada, Karyl Lynn Zietz, Karyl Charna Lynn, 1999, p. 44: "In 1920, the Flanders Opera added "royal" to its name. After 1933, operas from the French and Italian repertories were added to the schedule, but all works were sung in Dutch until the end of the 1970s."
  5. "Legende, Netherlands Opera, Amsterdam" by Shirley Apthorp, Financial Times, 3 February 2011
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