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American STAGE Premiere of MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING (Telecast)

Posted: Thu Apr 14, 2016 7:00 pm
by brendan g carroll
Here’s a YOUTUBE link to a TV recording of the American stage premiere of the full orchestral score of MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, in a production featuring members of the senior class (2014) in Drama, supported by students of the School of Music and Designs from the School of Design & Production of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.

It was broadcast a year ago on UNC-TV, winning a regional Emmy for Best Arts Program of the Year.

Conductor John Mauceri informs me that the musicians had photocopies of the original parts, used for the Vienna premiere in 1920 and were all able to use all the original bowings and markings in the performance.

The original production was of course in German, but the conductor’s score had word cues, so that the production team were able to reconstruct exactly where the music went.

In general, the orchestral interludes were played (back in 1920) with the curtain down, to allow for scenery changes, something that is no longer required today.

The two-act adaptation seems to be what was performed then and UNC kept to it.

Internal cuts in the original Shakespeare play were made for the telecast, so that the running time would work for broadcast purposes, but none of Korngold’s music was cut at all.

ENJOY!

LINKS

https://youtu.be/OmFXEMmbULY

or

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmFXEMmbULY