The Duenna is a three-act comic opera, mostly composed by Thomas Linley the elder and his son, Thomas Linley the younger, to an English-language libretto by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. At the time, it was considered one of the most successful operas ever staged in England., and its admirers included Samuel Johnson, William Hazlitt and Lord George Byron.
First performed in the Covent Garden Theatre on November 21, 1775, The Duenna was performed sev...
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The Duenna is a three-act comic opera, mostly composed by Thomas Linley the elder and his son, Thomas Linley the younger, to an English-language libretto by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. At the time, it was considered one of the most successful operas ever staged in England., and its admirers included Samuel Johnson, William Hazlitt and Lord George Byron.
First performed in the Covent Garden Theatre on November 21, 1775, The Duenna was performed seventy-five times in its first season, and was frequently revived in Britain until the 1840s. In total, 254 performances of the opera had been held from its opening in 1775 to the end of the 18th century. Two modern operas based on Sheridan's libretto have been performed: Sergei Prokofiev's Betrothal in a Monastery (composed 1940-1), and Roberto Gerhard's version of 1945-7.
After the triumph of The Rivals, and having effectively chosen the life of a playwright over that of a lawyer, Sheridan needed a commercial success to cement his position...
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