Christophe Colomb

This article is about the opera. For the explorer, see Christopher Columbus.

Darius Milhaud

Operas Le pauvre matelot (1927) L'abandon d'Ariane (1928) Christophe Colomb (1930) La mère coupable (1966)

Christophe Colomb (Christopher Columbus) is an opera in two parts by the French composer Darius Milhaud. The poet Paul Claudel wrote the libretto based on his own play about the life of Christopher Columbus, Le Livre de Christophe Colomb. The opera was first performed at the Staatsoper, Berlin on 5 May 1930 in a German translation by Rudolph Stephan Hoffmann. Milhaud thoroughly revised the work and produced a second version around 1955. The opera is on a large scale and requires many resources for its staging. As in many of his other works, Milhaud employs polytonality in parts of the score.

Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere Cast Conductor: Erich Kleiber
Young Columbus	baritone	Theodor Scheidl
Old Columbus	bass	Emanuel List
Queen Isabella of Spain	soprano	Delia Reinhardt
The wife of Columbus	soprano	Margherita Perras
Majordomo	tenor	Fritz Soot
The King of Spain	bass
Master of ceremonies	tenor
Narrator	spoken role

Synopsis

The opera tells the life of Christopher Columbus in a series of episodes which avoid chronological order and are sometimes allegorical.

Sources

The Viking Opera Guide ed. Holden (Viking, 1993)
Del Teatro (in Italian)
Amadeus Online

Darius Milhaud

Operas	L'Orestie d'Eschyle Christophe Colomb L'abandon d'Ariane La mère coupable Le pauvre matelot

Ballets	La création du monde Le bœuf sur le toit Les mariés de la tour Eiffel L'éventail de Jeanne L'Homme et son désir Le Train bleu

Symphonies	Symphony No. 1 Symphony No. 2 Symphony No. 3 ("Te Deum") Symphony No. 4 Symphony No. 5 Symphony No. 6 Symphony No. 7 Symphony No. 8 ("Rhôdanienne") Symphony No. 9 Symphony No. 10 Symphony No. 11 ("Romantique") Symphony No. 12 ("La Rurale")

Orchestra works	Saudades do Brasil Suite provençale

Incidental and film music	Days of Hope Dreams That Money Can Buy Judith Land Without Bread La Tragédie impériale Le jeu de Robin et Marion Le Voyageur sans bagage Love Cavalcade Madame Bovary Mollenard The Beloved Vagabond The Citadel of Silence The Private Affairs of Bel Ami

Vocal music	Pacem in terris Symphony No. 3 ("Te Deum")

Chamber music	La cheminée du roi René Sonata for flute, oboe, clarinet and piano

Piano music	Le bœuf sur le toit

Collaborations	Genesis Suite Homage to Paderewski L'Album des Six Les mariés de la tour Eiffel L'éventail de Jeanne Mouvements du coeur Variations sur le nom de Marguerite Long

Named for Milhaud	Lycée intercommunal Darius-Milhaud

Related articles	List of compositions by Darius Milhaud Les Six Neoclassicism

Portal:Classical music

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