Opera Scotland

Duenna The Duenna; or The Double Elopement

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Music

Thomas Linley Jnr (born Bath, 5 May 1756; died Grimsthorpe, 5 August 1778)

Text

Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751-1816).

 

Premieres

First Performance: London (Covent Garden), 21 November 1775.

First Performance in Scotland: tbc.

 

Background

The early death of Thomas Linley Jnr, by drowning in a boating lake, was a great loss to musical life in the British Isles. He had been trained partly by his father and partly by gaining experience in Italy, becoming a friend of Mozart. The Duenna, a pasticcio with music substantially by young Linley, contains work by other hands, and was put together in collaboration with his father. By comparison with other British musical theatre works of the day, it gains immeasurably from having an excellent literary libretto by Sheridan, himself a brilliant playwright.

In the twentieth century, the text was also used as the basis for enjoyable operas by both Sergei Prokofiev and Roberto Gerhard.

 

Main Characters

Don Jerome, a nobleman of Seville.

Don Ferdinand, his son.

Louisa, his daughter.

Duenna to Louisa.

Don Carlos, Jerome's friend.

Don Antonio, Louisa's suitor.

Clara, Louisa's friend.

Isaac Mendoza, a Jewish merchant.

 

Plot Summary

Don Jerome has arranged for his daughter, Louisa, to marry a wealthy merchant, Isaac. She objects to the arrangement due both to her dislike of Isaac and her love for Antonio.