‘Lord of the Rings’ to become an opera

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By Jacob Stockinger

Here is something a lot of old — and especially new — opera fans should like.

The globally popular “The Lord of the Rings” — a popular set of epic fantasy books that was turned into a blockbuster movie (below) by Peter Jackson — will become a full-blown opera. Or perhaps, like Wagner’s more famous “Ring of the Nibelung” cycle, several operas.

Just this week, the J.R.R. Tolkien Estate granted permission to the British composer Paul Cofield Godfrey (below) to compose a complete opera based on the best-selling work if fantasy.

https://www.classicfm.com/music-news/lord-of-the-rings-opera-approved-tolkien-estate

Godfrey (below) has already composed some possible excerpts that will likely be used in the opera — and might have helped to persuade the Tolkien Estate to grant him permission. You can hear one — a burial dirge or “Lament for Boromir” — in the YouTube video at the bottom.

Translated into more than 38 languages with sales of more than 150 million copies, the fantasy — which met with mixed critical reaction when it was first published — has been nothing short of a phenomenon. One can justifiably expect guaranteed success of the operatic version. 

For more about the history and the plot of “The Lord of the Rings’ see the Wikipedia entry:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings

Does an opera based on “The Lord of the Rings” interest you?

Do you think it will be successful?

The Ear wants to hear.

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Posted in Classical music
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