Wuthering Heights (Herrmann)

Herrmann started work on the opera in April 1943, while composing the film score for Jane Eyre On the score, Herrmann wrote that he finished the work at 3:45 pm on 30 June 1951. ==Performances==

Wuthering Heights was never staged in Herrmann's lifetime, despite a number of attempts on his part. One of the few opportunities to mount a staged production during Herrmann's lifetime was one offered by Julius Rudel, but either because Rudel insisted on cuts and a different, up-beat ending, which the composer refused to permit, Its official world stage premiere was on 6 November 1982, almost seven years after Herrmann's death, by the Portland Opera in Portland, Oregon. However, that performance omitted 30 to 40 minutes of the music, The production was to have been videotaped for later broadcast on PBS, but this was not done due to the high cost of videotape. The European stage premiere was on 11 April 2015 by the Braunschweig Opera under Enrico Delamboye; the performance was broadcast live by Deutschlandradio Kultur but not published. The French stage premiere took place at Nancy in May 2019 conducted by Jacques Lacombe; Layla Claire and John Chest took the main roles, Orpha Phelan directed. ==Recordings==

Wuthering Heights was recorded, in full, by Pye Records in 1966, under the direction of the composer, who conducted the Pro Arte Orchestra. The recording was made 11–13 May 1966. The singers included Morag Beaton as Cathy (soprano), Donald Bell as Heathcliff (baritone), Joseph Ward (as Edgar Linton), Elizabeth Bainbridge (as Isabel Linton), John Kitchiner, Pamela Bowden, David Kelly, and Michael Rippon. The project was principally funded by the composer. The recording, on 4 LPs, received a very limited release (Pye CCL 30173). It was re-released in 1972 (Unicorn UNB 400) and received very positive critical attention. It has since been transferred to CD (Unicorn-Kanchana UKCD 2050). A live performance by the Orchestre National de Montpellier under Alain Altinoglu, with Boaz Daniel and Laura Aikin (Festival de Radio-France-Monpellier, July 2010) was released in October 2011 by the French label Accord/Universal. The 3-CD set received the Diapason d'Or-Découverte and the Diamand award from French magazines Diapason and Opéra. A 60 minute suite (or cantata) for orchestra with soloists, adapted from the opera by Hans Sørensen in 2011 and performed by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Mario Venzago, was issued as a Chandos recording in 2023. ==Quotations==

Wuthering Heights quotes various themes from Herrmann's earlier film scores: • Citizen Kane (1941) • The Magnificent Ambersons (1942; the "Second Nocturne", which was cut from the film, was re-used in the opera) Some themes from the opera foreshadow Herrmann's later scores: • Beneath the 12-Mile Reef (1953) • Vertigo (1958) • Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959) • North by Northwest (1959) • Marnie (1964). ==References==