The terms "semi-opera", "dramatic[k]opera" and "English opera" were all applied toRestoration entertainments that combined spoken plays withmasque-like episodes employing singing and dancing characters. They usually includedmachines in the manner of therestoration spectacular. The first examples were the Shakespeare adaptations produced byThomas Betterton with music byMatthew Locke. After Locke's death, a second flowering produced the semi-operas ofHenry Purcell, notablyKing Arthur andThe Fairy-Queen. Semi-opera received a deathblow when theLord Chamberlain separately licensed plays without music and the new Italianopera[citation needed].
Semi-operas were performed with singing, speaking and dancing roles. When music was written, it was usually for moments in the play immediately following either love scenes or those concerning the supernatural.
It has been observed[1] that several ofCalderón'scomedias with music byJuan Hidalgo de Polanco are closer to semi-opera than to the pastoralZarzuela.
List of English semi-operas
[edit]- Macbeth (1673) libretto byWilliam Davenant afterShakespeare'sMacbeth; music byMatthew Locke
- The Tempest, or The Enchanted Island (1674) libretto byThomas Shadwell afterJohn Dryden and William Davenant's adaptation of Shakespeare'sThe Tempest; music by Matthew Locke,Giovanni Battista Draghi andPelham Humfrey
- Calisto, or The Chaste Nymph (1675) libretto byJohn Crowne; music byNathaniel Staggins
- Psyche (1675) libretto by Thomas Shadwell; music by Matthew Locke
- Circe (1677) libretto by Charles Davenant; music byJohn Banister
- The Lancashire Witches and Tegue O'Divelly the Irish Priest (1681) libretto by Thomas Shadwell; music byJohn Eccles
- Albion and Albanius (1685) libretto by John Dryden; music byLouis Grabu
- Dioclesian (1690) libretto byThomas Betterton after the playThe Prophetess, byJohn Fletcher andPhilip Massinger; music byHenry Purcell
- King Arthur (1691) libretto by John Dryden; music by Henry Purcell
- The Fairy Queen (1692) libretto by an anonymous author after Shakespeare'sA Midsummer Night's Dream; music by Henry Purcell
- Timon of Athens (1694), music by Henry Purcell
- Macbeth (1695) libretto byWilliam Davenant afterShakespeare'sMacbeth; music by John Eccles andGodfrey Finger
- The Indian Queen (1695) libretto adapted version of the play bySir Robert Howard and John Dryden; music by Henry Purcell, Act V completed byDaniel Purcell
- Brutus of Alba (1696) libretto byGeorge Powell; music by Daniel Purcell
- Cinthia and Endimion, or The Loves of the Deities (1696) libretto byThomas Durfey; music by Daniel Purcell,Richard Leveridge, Jeremiah Clarke, Henry Purcell and David Underwood
- The World in the Moon (1697) libretto byElkanah Settle; music by Daniel Purcell, Jeremiah Clarke and Henry Purcell
- Rinaldo and Armida (1698) libretto byJohn Dennis; music by John Eccles
- The Island Princess (1699) libretto byPeter Motteux, adapted from plays by John Fletcher and Nahum Tate; music by Daniel Purcell, Richard Leveridge and Jeremiah Clarke
- The Grove, or Love's Paradise (1700) libretto byJohn Oldmixon; music by Daniel Purcell
- The Mad Lover (1700) libretto by Peter Motteux after the play by John Fletcher; music by John Eccles and Daniel Purcell
- Alexander the Great (1701) anonymous libretto afterThe Rival Queens byNathaniel Lee; music by Godfrey Finger and Daniel Purcell
- The Virgin Prophetess, or The Fate of Troy (1701) libretto by Elkanah Settle; music by Godfrey Finger
- The British Enchanters, or No Magic Like Love (1706) libretto by George Granville, Lord Lansdowne; music by John Eccles, Bartholomew Issack and William Corbett
- Wonders in the Sun, or The Kingdom of the Birds (1706) libretto by Thomas Durfey; music by John Smith,Samuel Akeroyde, John Eccles, Giovanni Battista Draghi,Lully and Durfey
- The Tempest (1712) libretto adapted by Thomas Shadwell from the Dryden-Davenant version of Shakespeare's play; music possibly byJohn Weldon (long attributed to Henry Purcell)
- ^Curtis Price and Louise K. Stein: "Semi-opera" inNew Grove Dictionary of Opera
- Warrack, John and West, Ewan (1992),The Oxford Dictionary of Opera, 782 pages,ISBN 0-19-869164-5
- A Companion to Restoration Drama ed. Susan J. Owen (Blackwell, 2008): chapter by Todd S. Gilman
