An opera without its orchestra
Stephen Storace’s The Siege of Belgrade opened at Drury Lane on 1 January 1791 and became one of the most performed English operas of its decade. Its orchestral score is lost. What survives is the vocal score published by Joseph Dale in 1791.
This site accompanies a DPhil dissertation at the University of Oxford that studies the opera and reconstructs its full score. Dale’s score is treated as a particello and left unchanged; the orchestration is the editor’s. Each page states clearly which material survives from 1791 and which is editorial.
The site begins with The Siege of Belgrade and will grow to include Storace’s other works, further editions and recordings.
- 2Stephen StoraceThe composer, a chronology and his works
- 3The Siege of BelgradeOrigins, synopsis, characters and performance history
- 4Sources & ReconstructionDale’s 1791 vocal score and the method of the reconstruction
- 5Listen & WatchNumbered audio and video examples keyed to the dissertation
- 6Scores & EditionThe reconstructed full score, editorial conventions and access
- 7Research & PublicationsDissertation abstract, bibliography and later writing
- 8About & ContactThe editor, acknowledgements and enquiries