4. Working with the composer

Available for over a year

Award-winning writer Stephen Wyatt is on a mission. He thinks that the contribution of the librettist to opera and musical theatre is too often under-appreciated or just plain ignored. Like any creative collaboration, the relationship between composer and librettist can be an uphill struggle or it can be a harmonious meeting of minds. Either can potentially yield memorable results and here Stephen contrasts the examples of Beethoven’s opera Fidelio and Rossini’s The Barber of Seville. While it took Beethoven ten years and a grand total of three librettists to complete his only opera, Rossini and his librettist Cesare Sterbini knocked off The Barber of Seville in just three weeks. But in both cases the librettists came up with the goods and were (ultimately) able to give the composers exactly what they needed. Production Coordinator: Nina Semple Sound: Sean Kerwin Producer: Torquil MacLeod Executive Producer: Peter Hoare A Pier production for BBC Radio 4