Goyescas: An Opera in Three Tableaux
New York, London, Boston: G. Schirmer, c. 1915. Apparent 1st ed. with Johnson translation [no later printing information]. Paperback. 165p. Softcover in original wrapper. Illustration mounted on front. 31 cm. Ends of backstrip chipped as are lower corners of front cover. Minor creasing and corner wear. Hard to decipher circular rubber stamp on lower corner of front cover. "Distribuidores exclusivos para Colombia Casa Musical Humberto Conti Bogota ..."). stamped in black at bottom of title-page. Johnson had great success as a lyricist early in the century but found that tastes had changed when he attempted a return to song-writing in 1914. He translated the libretto for this opera which the Metropolitan Opera performed in 1916. Granados, the Spanish Romantic composer of the piano pieces from which this opera was adapted, attended the premiere but drowned in the English channel upon his return to Europe when a German submarine torpedoed the boat on which Granados was travelling. The libretto appears throughout the music in this edition with Granados's Spanish text immediately above Johnson's English translation. The libretto was also published separately by Schirmer in 1915 as a smaller-format 42-page pamphlet in their series of opera-librettos with Granados's Spanish text and Johnson's English translation appearing side by side in separate columns. We don't know whether either version has publishing priority, but both are quite uncommon. Good. Item #91341
Price: $750.00