Mansfield Park (opera)

Mansfield Park is a 2011 chamber opera in two acts by Jonathan Dove with a libretto by Alasdair Middleton based on the 1814 novel by Jane Austen. Initially composed for four handed piano, it has been set to music for 13-piece orchestral ensemble. It tells the story of poor relation Fanny Price, sent at age 10 to live with her uncle, Sir Thomas Bertram, at his family estate, Mansfield Park.^[1]

The opera was commissioned by the touring opera company Heritage Opera in 2008.^[2] The vocal score was finished in December 2010, the world premiere performance, directed by Michael McCaffery, followed on July 30, 2011 at Boughton House in Northamptonshire.^[3] The opera premiered in its initial version scored for four handed piano. It was accompanied by Paul Greenhalgh and Jonathan Ellis, under the musical direction of Chris Gill.^[2] The world premiere tour comprised mainly heritage venues in the northwest of England, and one performance at the Arcola Theatre in Dalston, East London, as part of the Grimeborn Festival.^[1] Royal Academy Opera gave two performances of the opera in May 2012,^[4] and Hampstead Garden Opera gave ten performances in a new production directed by Bruno Ravella in April 2013.^[3]

In 2015 the opera received its American premiere in Baltimore, Maryland.^[5] It was performed by the Peabody Chamber Opera of the Peabody Institute at the Baltimore Theatre Project. Eileen Cornett served as music director, with Mark Streshinsky as artistic director.^[5] Johanna Kvam and Hanna Shin performed the score for four hands piano.^[5]

The opera was given its Australian premiere in April 2016 at the Independent Theatre in Sydney in a production by opera company Operantics.^[6][7] The director was Joseph Restubog, the pianists were Nathaniel Kong and Geena Cheung, and it was conducted by Keiren Brandt-Sawdy.^[8]

The operas composition for 13-piece orchestra was commissioned by The Grange Festival, and premiered on September 16, 2017.^[9]

The Southern California premiere was made in June 2018 by Opera UCLA, directed by Peter Kazaras.

In 2019 the opera was performed with piano by Opera South in February,^[10] with orchestra at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire in June 2019,^[11][12] and with piano by Waterperry Opera Festival in July, by Vanderbilt University in October, and by Paul Butler School of Music in December.

The orchestral version had its American premiere^[13] by Opera Modesto on January 11, 2020,^[14][15] and saw its Canadian premiere by University of Toronto Opera on March 12, 2020.^[16] The first Canadian production was cancelled after two performances due to Coronavirus disease 2019.^[17] The next Canadian production by the University of British Columbia in February 2021 presented the version for two pianos.^[18] Due to the still ongoing pandemic, the singers wore masks and the opera was shown as video stream from the Chan Shun Concert Hall without a live audience.^[19]

The initial version from 2011 was written for two players on one piano. The orchestral version from 2017 is written for 13 instrumentalists playing: flute (doubling piccolo), oboe (doubling cor Anglais), clarinet in B♭, bassoon, 2 horns in F, percussion, piano, 2 violins, viola, violoncello and double bass.^[20]

The chapters and their titles are sung by the ensemble.^[5][20]

Scene 1: Mansfield Park, Chapter One. The Bertrams Observed.

In which we meet the inhabitants of Mansfield Park.

Scene 2: Chapter Two. First Impressions.

In which we discover that Miss Mary Crawford has twenty thousand pounds and that Mr Henry Crawford is not handsome.

Scene 3: Chapter Three. Sir Thomas Bertram's Farewell

In which Sir Thomas Bertram leaves for Antigua.

Scene 4: Chapter Four. Landscape Gardening

In which Mr Rushworth proposes a trip to Sotherton, his estate.

Scene 5: Chapter Five. In the Wilderness

In which the estate is explored.

Scene 6: Chapter Six. Music and Astronomy

In which songs are sung and stars observed.

Scene 7: Chapter Seven. Lovers' Vows

In which Amateur Theatricals are undertaken.

Scene 8: Chapter Eight. Persuasion

In which Edmund's resolution is tested.

Scene 9: Chapter Nine. The Rehearsal Interrupted

In which Sir Thomas returns.

Scene 10: Chapter Ten. Independence and Splendour, Or Twelve Thousand a Year

In which happiness is defined.

Scene 11: Chapter Eleven. A View of a Wedding, seen from the Shrubbery at Mansfield Park

In which a wedding is celebrated, a honeymoon begun, a revelation made and plot hatched.

Scene 1: Volume Two, Chapter One. Preparations for a Ball

In which Miss Fanny Price accepts a present from Miss Mary Crawford.

Scene 2: Chapter Two. A Ball

In which partners are chosen.

Scene 3: Chapter Three. A Proposal

In which the Bertram family are variously surprised, delighted, disappointed, confused and outraged.

Scene 4: Chapter Four. Some Correspondence

In which much ink is spilt.

Scene 5: Chapter Five. Follies and Grottoes

In which the Rushworths meet an old acquaintance.

Scene 6: Chapter Six. A Newspaper Paragraph

In which occurs a matrimonial fracas.

Scene 7: Chapter The Last

In which Mr Edmund Bertram declares his feelings to his future bride.

• Mansfield Park on Jonathan Dove's website
• "Music: The New Comic Opera at the Savoy" Highlights from Heritage Opera performance