Palatsi (opera)

Palatsi (The Palace) is an opera in three acts, Op. 68, composed by Aulis Sallinen, on a libretto by Irene Dische and Hans Magnus Enzensberger. The translation of the libretto into Finnish was by the composer.

The opera was commissioned by the Savonlinna Opera Festival and composed between 1991 and 1993.

Palatsi was first performed on 26 July 1995 at the Savonlinna Opera Festival. It was recorded and issued on CD by Koch Classics, and a performance of the opera was filmed by Ondine and issued as a DVD which included interviews with the composer, librettists, conductor and other members of the production team.

The scenario of Sallinen's fifth opera, between Kullervo (Los Angeles 1992) and King Lear (Helsinki 2000) is loosely based on Mozart's 1781 singspiel Die Entführung aus dem Serail, and on Ryszard Kapuściński's 1978 book which described the fall of Haile Selassie, last Emperor of Ethiopia.

Rodney Milnes described the work as "almost as enigmatic as The King Goes Forth to France, but lighter in tone, a sort of late-20th-century operetta". Critic Michael White reported that "you can legitimately describe anything in late-20th-century opera as 'ravishing' is, of course, something in itself. The music of The Palace is unnervingly attractive: easy on the ear but seriously worked and laced with tension. It is good to hear and grateful to sing…".

The Palace Rhapsody (1996), based on themes from the opera, was commissioned by the Royal Northern College of Music and is in the style of the harmonie arrangements of 18th century operas.

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