{"product_id":"14311-britten-benjamin-pears-peter-elizabeth-ii-gloriana-original-1953-premiere-program","title":"[Britten, Benjamin. (1913–1976) \u0026 Pears, Peter. (1910–1986)] [Elizabeth II. (b. 1926)] \"Gloriana\" - Original 1953 Premiere Program","description":"Original program from the June 8, 1953 premiere of Benjamin Britten's opera \u003ci style=\"\"\u003eGloriana\u003c\/i\u003e, presented at the Royal Opera House as part of the coronation celebrations for Queen Elizabeth II. The opera starred Peter Pears as Robert Devereaux, Earl of Essex, and Joan Cross as Queen Elizabeth I. The large souvenir program features color illustrations on the front and back covers and a gold tassel on the spine. Printed by Eaton Press, Liverpool. Some light foxing, but overall in very fine condition. 10.5 x 15.5 inches (26.7 x 39.4 cm).\u003cdiv style=\"\"\u003e\u003cbr style=\"\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv style=\"\"\u003eAlthough intended to honor the new Queen, \u003ci\u003eGloriana \u003c\/i\u003ewas one of Britten's few critical failures. Britten and librettist William Plomer had chosen to base the opera on Lytton Strachey's experimental 1928 biography \u003ci\u003eElizabeth and Essex\u003c\/i\u003e, which contained a provocative psychoanalysis of the queen. According to Philip Brett, \"...\u003cspan style=\"line-height: 1.42857;\"\u003ethe downbeat ending, in which the aging, bald heroine muses on her mortality, only raised in the minds of a contemporary audience a spectre of empty and meaningless authority. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem style=\"line-height: 1.42857;\"\u003eGloriana\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan style=\"line-height: 1.42857;\"\u003e touched a national nerve-ending, and prompted not only its insecure dismissal by the first-night gala audience but also intensified the increasingly hostile response to Britten of the musical cognoscenti[.]\" (New Grove.)\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Schubertiade Music and Arts","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46093546389663,"sku":"14311","price":150.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0512\/4826\/7423\/files\/Britten_Gloriana_Prog_14311_281_29.jpg?v=1722188751","url":"https:\/\/www.schubertiademusic.com\/products\/14311-britten-benjamin-pears-peter-elizabeth-ii-gloriana-original-1953-premiere-program","provider":"Schubertiade Music and Arts","version":"1.0","type":"link"}