Opera Nepomuk

The opera Nepomuk by the Anglo-Irish composer Barry Gerald Webb 2018

OPERA NEPOMUK

The opera deals with the conflict of love and power through the story of the Bohemian King Wenceslaus and the martyrdom of John of Nepomuk. A theme true to today.

The opera can be fully staged, but also can be sung as a cantata, in the same way perhaps as Britten`s Curlew River.

THE MAIN CHARACTERS IN NEPOMUK THE OPERA ARE

WENCESLAUS IV. KING OF BOHEMIA AND EMPEROR OF THE ROMANS. BARITONE

JOHN NEPOMUK, PRIEST. TENOR

SOFIA WIFE OF WENCESLAUS, QUEEN OF BOHEMIA. SOPRANO

SIGISMUND HIS BROTHER. KING OF HUNGARY. TENOR

COUNT OF PLZEN. BARITONE.

CHORUS OF SERVANTS, HENCHMEN, 

THE ORCHESTRA CONSISTS OF

STRINGS

PIANO

FLUTE

CLARINET

SAXOPHONE

TRUMPET

HORN

TROMBONE

PERCUSSION. BONGO. DRUMS. BELLS. MARACAS.

The opera was performed in concert in Liverpool at Old Christ Church Waterloo  L22 1RE (picture opposite). The opera was conducted by the composer, who is himself a member of the Parish of Christ Church.

It is the sailors` church; ships see it as the first sight on their approach to Liverpool. 

From the website http://www.oldchristchurch.moonfruit.com/

For more than a century the red sandstone tower of Old Christ Church, Waterloo has guided sailors into the Mersey Estuary, standing steadfastly against the gales which regularly blow in off the Irish Sea.
Regarded by Pevsner as one of the very finest churches by Lancashire architects Paley & Austin, Old Christ Church, Waterloo is known locally as the ‘Mariners’ Church’. By about 1980 the congregation had dwindled and in 1982 the church was declared redundant and fell into disrepair. In 1993 the church was in a very sorry state so a demolition scheme was published. As a result of objections a non-statutory public inquiry was held and resulted in the church being vested in the Churches Conservation Trust since 1998 and since 2006, the Friends of Old Christ Church have been working to transform the building into a venue for farmers markets, beer festivals, art exhibitions and seasonal fairs, at the heart of local life.

This will be a continued use of the building as a community resource in one of the most deprived areas of the UK.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Midi excerpt below from the first act of Nepomuk.

The Arts centre at Old Christ Church Crosby Liverpool