FULL Miss Donnithorne’s Maggot (Maxwell Davies) Basel 2014 Anne-May Krüger
Information on the Performance
- Work Title: Miss Donnithorne's Maggot
- Composer: Davies Peter Maxwell
- Libretto: Randolph Stow Libretto Text, Libretto Index
- Venue & Opera Company: Gare du Nord Basel
- Recorded: March 1, 2014
- Type: Staged Opera Live
- Singers: Anne-May Krüger
- Conductor: Mike Svoboda
- Orchestra: ensemble zone expérimentale Basel
- Stage Director: Marcelo Cardoso Gama
- Costume Designer:
Information about the Recording
- Format: Streaming
- Quality Video: 4 Audio:4
- Subtitles: nosubs
- Video Recording from: YouTube FULL VIDEO
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIS PERFORMANCE
Quote from Boosey & Hawkes:
“A failed wedding upsets Miss Donnithorne’s life and turns her into an eccentric recluse. Explosive vocal part calls for a strong actress with a preference for cakes and metronomes.
Miss Donnithorne was an Australian lady and, it seems, one of the models for Miss Havisham in Dickens’ Great Expectations. She became a recluse after being dumped literally at the last minute, and in the play we find her ranting about the rest of her wedding cake, which is adorned with instrumentalists. Like Maxwell Davies’ Mad King, she has eight songs, the fifth being a nocturne interlude, sung to her by the alto flute. As in the earlier work, the solo part is a tour de force of vocal effects spanning three octaves, though Miss Donnithorne, in all her madness, is even more songlike than George III. The mood of the ensemble music is also a bit more restrained, more controlled, perhaps more in keeping with a lady – but a no less unconditional, brilliant performance is required here. Paul Griffiths”