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Overture to Wuthering Heights
Opening Night Gala, Oslo, Norway Frederic Chaslin conducting |
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The Story Synopsis
Yorkshire, England. The windswept moors.
Mr. Earnshaw, owner of the manor Wuthering Heights, adopts a homeless gypsy boy, Heathcliff. Heathcliff and Earnshaw’s daughter Cathy become idyllic childhood friends.
They romp on the Moors.
Earnshaw grows to prefer Heathcliff to his own son Hindley.
Hindley clashes with his new rival and is shipped off to college. Heathcliff and Cathy climb up remote Peniston Crag.
They pretend to be the king and queen of an imaginary castle. They fall in love.
Three years pass.
Mr. Earnshaw dies.
Hindley becomes master of Wuthering Heights.
He returns with a wife, Frances, to take revenge on Heathcliff.
Hindley forces Heathcliff to become his stable boy servant.
Heathcliff endures years of cruel treatment.
He finds solace in secret excursions to Peniston Crag with his beloved Cathy.
Heathcliff and Cathy spy on an elegant ball being held at nearby Thrushcross Grange.
The Grange is the home of the snobbish Linton children, Edgar and young Isabella.
Cathy is bitten by a Linton dog and is forced to convalesce for weeks at Thrushcross Grange.
The Lintons transform Cathy into a proper young lady.
Cathy is infatuated with Edgar, heir to the Linton family fortune.
She is now uncertain about Heathcliff’s suitability.
She laughs at Heathcliff’s unkempt appearance.
Heathcliff dresses up to impress Cathy only to be ridiculed by Edgar. Heathcliff flees to his sanctuary in the attic.
Cathy climbs over the roof to comfort him.
Hindley’s wife Frances gives birth to a son, Hareton. Frances dies.
An inconsolable Hindley takes to drink.
Hindley abuses Heathcliff more cruelly.
Cathy rashly accepts an engagement to Edgar.
Cathy confides to her governess Nelly that marrying low-class Heathcliff would demean her. Heathcliff overhears.
Crushed, Heathcliff flees from Wuthering Heights.
Heathcliff doesn’t hear the rest of Cathy’s confession.
She truly loves Heathcliff, not Edgar.
She is Heathcliff.
Three years pass.
Edgar and Cathy marry.
Heathcliff returns as a wealthy gentleman.
Cathy is enthralled.
Edgar chafes at the reappearance of his rival.
Heathcliff seduces an impressionable Isabella to taunt Edgar.
Wuthering Heights is the name of Mr. Heathcliff’s dwelling, “Wuthering” being a significant provincial adjective, descriptive of the atmospheric tumult to which its station is exposed in stormy weather.
Hindley mortgages the farmhouse to a devious Heathcliff to repay gambling debts. Heathcliff becomes master of Wuthering Heights.
Heathcliff elopes with Isabella.
Heathcliff is in line to take over Thrushcross Grange.
Edgar disowns Isabella to protect the estate.
Months pass.
Heathcliff makes Isabella’s life miserable.
Heathcliff secretly meets a bedridden Cathy.
Heathcliff carries Cathy to the window to see the moors one last time. Cathy later gives birth to a daughter and names her Catherine.
Cathy dies.
Wild with grief, Heathcliff begs Cathy’s spirit to remain on Earth.
Isabella flees a bitter and vengeful Heathcliff.
Isabella gives birth to Heathcliff’s son Linton.
Hindley dies.
Heathcliff becomes the guardian of Hindley’s son Hareton.
To avenge Hindley, Heathcliff ends Hareton’s education and supervises a degrading upbringing.
Thirteen years pass.
Young Catherine grows up isolated on the Grange with her father Edgar.
Edgar learns that his sister Isabella is dying.
Edgar travels to retrieve Linton.
Catherine ventures beyond the borders of the Grange, discovers the Wuthering Heights manor. Catherine encounters Hareton and discovers that they’re cousins.
They play on the moors.
Edgar returns with Linton.
Heathcliff intervenes.
The sniveling Linton is forced to live with his father Heathcliff.
Heathcliff despises Linton for his weak imprint of Isabella and Edgar.
Heathcliff sees Hindley’s strapping son Hareton as the embodiment of himself.
Three years pass.
Catherine meets Heathcliff on the moors.
Catherine visits Wuthering Heights to meet her other cousin Linton.
Catherine and Linton initiate an epistolary friendship.
They begin to secretly meet romantically.
Heathcliff rekindles the idea of avenging Edgar by plotting to inherit the Grange. Heathcliff pressures Linton to marry young Catherine.
Catherine rebuffs Linton.
Edgar falls deathly ill.
Heathcliff holds Catherine captive at Wuthering Heights until she marries a sickly Linton. Edgar dies brokenhearted.
Heathcliff forces Catherine to live at Wuthering Heights as a common servant.
Linton dies.
Just as her mother tutored Heathcliff, Catherine tutors the rough-hewn Hareton. Hareton and Catherine fall in love.
Heathcliff is broken.
Tormented by visions of Cathy, he wanders the moors speaking to her ghost. Heathcliff dies.
Hareton and Catherine inherit Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. They plan to marry.
Heathcliff and Cathy’s spirits live together on the windswept moors.
Mr. Earnshaw, owner of the manor Wuthering Heights, adopts a homeless gypsy boy, Heathcliff. Heathcliff and Earnshaw’s daughter Cathy become idyllic childhood friends.
They romp on the Moors.
Earnshaw grows to prefer Heathcliff to his own son Hindley.
Hindley clashes with his new rival and is shipped off to college. Heathcliff and Cathy climb up remote Peniston Crag.
They pretend to be the king and queen of an imaginary castle. They fall in love.
Three years pass.
Mr. Earnshaw dies.
Hindley becomes master of Wuthering Heights.
He returns with a wife, Frances, to take revenge on Heathcliff.
Hindley forces Heathcliff to become his stable boy servant.
Heathcliff endures years of cruel treatment.
He finds solace in secret excursions to Peniston Crag with his beloved Cathy.
Heathcliff and Cathy spy on an elegant ball being held at nearby Thrushcross Grange.
The Grange is the home of the snobbish Linton children, Edgar and young Isabella.
Cathy is bitten by a Linton dog and is forced to convalesce for weeks at Thrushcross Grange.
The Lintons transform Cathy into a proper young lady.
Cathy is infatuated with Edgar, heir to the Linton family fortune.
She is now uncertain about Heathcliff’s suitability.
She laughs at Heathcliff’s unkempt appearance.
Heathcliff dresses up to impress Cathy only to be ridiculed by Edgar. Heathcliff flees to his sanctuary in the attic.
Cathy climbs over the roof to comfort him.
Hindley’s wife Frances gives birth to a son, Hareton. Frances dies.
An inconsolable Hindley takes to drink.
Hindley abuses Heathcliff more cruelly.
Cathy rashly accepts an engagement to Edgar.
Cathy confides to her governess Nelly that marrying low-class Heathcliff would demean her. Heathcliff overhears.
Crushed, Heathcliff flees from Wuthering Heights.
Heathcliff doesn’t hear the rest of Cathy’s confession.
She truly loves Heathcliff, not Edgar.
She is Heathcliff.
Three years pass.
Edgar and Cathy marry.
Heathcliff returns as a wealthy gentleman.
Cathy is enthralled.
Edgar chafes at the reappearance of his rival.
Heathcliff seduces an impressionable Isabella to taunt Edgar.
Wuthering Heights is the name of Mr. Heathcliff’s dwelling, “Wuthering” being a significant provincial adjective, descriptive of the atmospheric tumult to which its station is exposed in stormy weather.
Hindley mortgages the farmhouse to a devious Heathcliff to repay gambling debts. Heathcliff becomes master of Wuthering Heights.
Heathcliff elopes with Isabella.
Heathcliff is in line to take over Thrushcross Grange.
Edgar disowns Isabella to protect the estate.
Months pass.
Heathcliff makes Isabella’s life miserable.
Heathcliff secretly meets a bedridden Cathy.
Heathcliff carries Cathy to the window to see the moors one last time. Cathy later gives birth to a daughter and names her Catherine.
Cathy dies.
Wild with grief, Heathcliff begs Cathy’s spirit to remain on Earth.
Isabella flees a bitter and vengeful Heathcliff.
Isabella gives birth to Heathcliff’s son Linton.
Hindley dies.
Heathcliff becomes the guardian of Hindley’s son Hareton.
To avenge Hindley, Heathcliff ends Hareton’s education and supervises a degrading upbringing.
Thirteen years pass.
Young Catherine grows up isolated on the Grange with her father Edgar.
Edgar learns that his sister Isabella is dying.
Edgar travels to retrieve Linton.
Catherine ventures beyond the borders of the Grange, discovers the Wuthering Heights manor. Catherine encounters Hareton and discovers that they’re cousins.
They play on the moors.
Edgar returns with Linton.
Heathcliff intervenes.
The sniveling Linton is forced to live with his father Heathcliff.
Heathcliff despises Linton for his weak imprint of Isabella and Edgar.
Heathcliff sees Hindley’s strapping son Hareton as the embodiment of himself.
Three years pass.
Catherine meets Heathcliff on the moors.
Catherine visits Wuthering Heights to meet her other cousin Linton.
Catherine and Linton initiate an epistolary friendship.
They begin to secretly meet romantically.
Heathcliff rekindles the idea of avenging Edgar by plotting to inherit the Grange. Heathcliff pressures Linton to marry young Catherine.
Catherine rebuffs Linton.
Edgar falls deathly ill.
Heathcliff holds Catherine captive at Wuthering Heights until she marries a sickly Linton. Edgar dies brokenhearted.
Heathcliff forces Catherine to live at Wuthering Heights as a common servant.
Linton dies.
Just as her mother tutored Heathcliff, Catherine tutors the rough-hewn Hareton. Hareton and Catherine fall in love.
Heathcliff is broken.
Tormented by visions of Cathy, he wanders the moors speaking to her ghost. Heathcliff dies.
Hareton and Catherine inherit Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. They plan to marry.
Heathcliff and Cathy’s spirits live together on the windswept moors.