Captain Noah and his Floating Zoo, Joseph Horovitz’s cantata with words by Michael Flanders, has been chosen by the Children’s Chorus of the Semperoper Dresden, the Saxon State Opera House, as their favourite piece to perform at a Prizewinners’ Gala Concert on 20 October. The concert is given annually by the Semperoper Foundation to honour the artists of the opera and this year the Children’s Chorus, which regularly takes part in opera productions, are receiving an award together with their music director, Andreas Heinze. Their performance will be in the German language version which they have already sung on several occasions in the past three years.
Premiered in 1970, Captain Noah and his Floating Zoo won an Ivor Novello Award in 1975 for the best British work for children and has been translated into six different languages, danced as a ballet, broadcast on radio and TV, recorded by the King’s Singers and made into an animated film. It continues to be popular with choirs of all ages; there have been over thirty performances so far this year in the UK, Germany, Denmark, Netherlands, USA and Hawaii.
Captain Noah and his Floating Zoo sung by the King’s Singers
Dutton Vocalion CDLF 8210
