A quiet place
| Opera dates | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Rest and peace |
| Original title: | A quiet place |
| Shape: | Opera in three acts |
| Original language: | English |
| Music: | Leonard Bernstein |
| Libretto : | Stephen Wadsworth |
| Premiere: | June 17, 1983 |
| Place of premiere: | Houston, Texas |
| Playing time: | approx. 2 ½ hours |
| Place and time of the action: | New York, present and a little over 20 years ago |
| people | |
Trouble in Tahiti
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A Quiet Place is an opera in three acts with music by Leonard Bernstein and based on the libretto by Stephen Wadsworth. Bernstein's one-act opera Trouble in Tahiti was integrated into the work.
action
A mother was killed in a car accident. When the family members, father Sam and the adult children (son Junior and daughter Dede), left her, it was clear that nothing connects them anymore. Junior has a relationship with the Frenchman François and is still drawn to him, but he is married to Dede. Sam is just as aware of her strangeness to children as she is of the neglect in marriage; Affection and love have long been replaced by hatred and anger. But the conflict that flares up is suppressed by a later letter from the dead mother asking the children to show love and compassion for the father. Initially, the mother's appeals only follow a sense of duty, but after a few conversations that purify the air, they also manage to get closer to each other.
Instrumentation
The orchestral line-up for the opera includes the following instruments:
- Woodwinds : three flutes (2 = alto flute, 3 = piccolo ), two oboes , English horn , three clarinets (3rd = clarinet), bass clarinet , two bassoons , contrabassoon
- Brass : four horns , three trumpets , three trombones , tuba
- Timpani , percussion (three to four players): tubular bells , glockenspiel , xylophone , marimba , snare drum , two snare drums , bass drums , traps, hi-hat , three suspended cymbals, large hanging basin, basin , finger cymbals , bongos , two Tom-toms , tam-tam , tambourine , four tuned drums, two triangles , two wooden blocks , five temple blocks , wind chimes , steel pipe, rasp , two sandpaper blocks
- Electric bass
- Piano (= synthesizer )
- harp
- Strings
history
The premiere took place under the musical direction of John DeMain on June 17, 1983 at the Houston Grand Opera . The singers included Chester Ludgin (Old Sam), Diane Kesling (Dinah), Sheri Greenwald (Dede), Timothy Nolen (Junior), Peter Kazaras (François) and Edward Crofts (Young Sam).
After criticizing the first performance, Wadsworth and Bernstein reviewed their opera. Some scenes were deleted and Trouble in Tahiti was incorporated into the opera as a flashback. The revised version was premiered in 1984 at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan and performed at the Washington Opera . This version was then revised again, performed in April 1986 under the direction of the composer at the Vienna State Opera and recorded by Deutsche Grammophon. The first performance in England took place in 1988 at the Corn Exchange Theater in Cambridge . In October 2010, the New York City Opera premiered the work there, in a production by Christopher Alden.
admission
- Deutsche Grammophon 419 761-2: Beverly Morgan, Wendy White, Peter Kazaras, Chester Ludgin, John Brandstetter, Edward Crafts; Jean Kraft , Louise Edeiken, Kurt Ollmann, Mark Thompsen; Austrian Radio Symphony Orchestra ; Leonard Bernstein , conductor
Web links
- Action by A Quiet Place at Opera-Guide landing page due to URL conversion currently unavailable
- Work data for A Quiet Place based on MGG with discography at Operone
- Program of a performance in the Konzerthaus Dortmund on April 28, 2015 (PDF)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Work information from Boosey & Hawkes , accessed on June 9, 2017.
- ^ J. Thomas Rimer: Recording Reviews: Nixon in China / A Quiet Place . In. American Music. 12 (3), Fall 1994: pp. 338-341.