Mansfield Park is a 2011 chamber opera in two acts by Jonathan Dove with a libretto by Alasdair Middleton based on the 1814 novel by Jane Austen.
Initially composed for four handed piano, it has been set to music for 13 piece orchestral ensemble.
It tells the story of poor relation Fanny Price, sent at age 10 to live with her uncle, Sir Thomas Bertram, at his family estate, Mansfield Park.
[2] The vocal score was finished in December 2010, the world premiere performance, directed by Michael McCaffery, followed on July 30, 2011 at Boughton House in Northamptonshire.
It was accompanied by Paul Greenhalgh and Jonathan Ellis, under the musical direction of Chris Gill.
[2] The world premiere tour comprised mainly heritage venues in the northwest of England, and one performance at the Arcola Theatre in Dalston, East London, as part of the Grimeborn Festival.
[6][7] The director was Joseph Restubog, the pianists were Nathaniel Kong and Geena Cheung, and it was conducted by Keiren Brandt-Sawdy.
[8] The operas composition for 13 piece orchestra was commissioned by The Grange Festival, and premiered on September 16, 2017.
[9] The Southern California premiere was made in June 2018 by Opera UCLA, directed by Peter Kazaras.
[17] The next Canadian production by the University of British Columbia in February 2021 presented the version for two pianos.
[18] Due to the still ongoing pandemic, the singers wore masks and the opera was shown as video stream from the Chan Shun Concert Hall without a live audience.
A Proposal In which the Bertram family are variously surprised, delighted, disappointed, confused and outraged.