The Great Gatsby (Opera)
| Opera dates | |
|---|---|
| Original title: | The Great Gatsby |
| Shape: | Opera in two acts |
| Original language: | English |
| Music: | John Harbison |
| Libretto : | John Harbison |
| Literary source: | F. Scott Fitzgerald |
| Premiere: | December 20, 1999 |
| Place of premiere: | Metropolitan Opera New York |
| Playing time: | approx. 2 hours 20 min |
| Place and time of the action: | New York 1920s |
| people | |
|
|
The Great Gatsby is an opera in two acts by the American composer John Harbison . The libretto was written by the composer based on the novel The Great Gatsby by the American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald . Some popular lyrics are by Murray Horwitz (* 1949). The opera was commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera in New York in honor of the 25th anniversary of its music director James Levine .
action
The action takes place - as in the novel - in the milieu of the wealthy whites in the USA, in New York in the 1920s during Prohibition . The millionaire Jay Gatsby wants to win back his former girlfriend Daisy and dispels his Weltschmerz with extravagant parties. He tries to restore the past, which of course is doomed to failure. The love story is presented against the background of a decadent world with all its winners and losers.
Scenes in Act 1
- At the Buchanans, Long Island, New York - Nick Carraway visits Daisy Buchanan and her husband Tom, and her friend Jordan Baker is also in attendance.
- In Wilson's garage, Valley of Ashes - Wife Myrtle is Tom Buchanan's lover.
- Jay Gatsby's Party, Long Island, New York - Gatsby asks Nick to arrange a meeting with his ex-girlfriend, Daisy.
- At Nick Carraway, Long Island, New York - These meetings are taking place at Nick Carraway's and it seems that love is being rekindled.
Scenes in Act 2
- At Jay Gatsby - At another party there are rumors about Gatsby's past that the seedy businessman Wolfshiem appears.
- With the Buchanans - summer heat and boredom dominate the picture.
- Suite in the Plaza Hotel, Manhattan, New York - The situation between Gatsby and Tom comes to a head. Daisy chooses her husband.
- At Wilson's garage - Myrtle is run over by Gatsby's car that Daisy was driving.
- Jay Gatsby's - Nick tells Gatsby about Myrtle's death. Gatsby poses as a driver. Wilson, Myrtle's husband, appears and shoots Gatsby.
- Gatsby's funeral - Only his father appears at Gatsby's funeral, none of his party friends.
music
The music is composed easily catchy and contains blues and jazz elements as well as elements from the popular music of the 1920s. Sometimes it is also reminiscent of the opera Porgy and Bess by George Gershwin and West Side Story by Leonard Bernstein .
Origin and performance history
The opera The Great Gatsby had its world premiere on December 20, 1999 at the Metropolitan Opera under the direction of James Levine. The production was done by Mark Lamos . The opera was performed twelve times in two seasons at the Met. In 2000 it was staged at the Lyric Opera of Chicago .
In a reduced orchestral version by Jacques Desjardins (with only 30 instead of 120 musicians) the opera was played in 2012 at the San Francisco Opera Parallèle (conductor: Nicole Paiement) and also performed at the Aspen Music Festival in summer 2012.
The European premiere took place (in the revised version from 2012) on December 6, 2015 in the Semperoper in Dresden with the composer present. The performance was in English with German surtitles. The executives were the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden and the Staatsopernchor under the direction of Wayne Marshall , the production was in the hands of Keith Warner , the set was designed by Johan Engels (1952–2014).
| role | Voice compartment | World premiere, December 20, 1999 (conductor: James Levine ) |
European premiere, December 6, 2015 (conductor: Wayne Marshall ) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jay Gatsby | tenor | Jerry Hadley | Peter Lodahl |
| Daisy Buchanan | soprano | Dawn Upshaw | Maria Bengtsson |
| Tom Buchanan | tenor | Mark W. Baker | Raymond Very |
| Nick Carraway | baritone | Dwayne Croft | John Chest |
| Jordan Baker | Mezzo-soprano | Susan Graham | Christina Bock |
| George Wilson | bass | Richard Paul Fink | Lester Lynch |
| Myrtle Wilson | Mezzo-soprano | Lorraine Hunt Lieberson | Angel Blue |
| Radio / band singer | tenor | Matthew Polenzani | Aaron Pegram |
| Tango Singer | Mezzo-soprano | Jennifer Dudley | Jelena Kordic |
| Meyer Wolfshiem | Bass baritone | William Powers | Matthias Henneberg |
| Henry Gatz | baritone | Frederick Burchinal | Tilmann Rönnebeck |
Individual evidence
- ^ "The Great Gatsby" program of the Dresden State Opera, December 2015, 48 pp.
- ^ Opera Parallèle - The Great Gatsby (accessed December 12, 2015)
- ↑ 2012 Aspen Music Festival - Great Gatsby (accessed December 12, 2015)
- ↑ Stefan Ulrich: The "Golden Twenties" on the Elbe, in Semper! - Magazine of the Semperoper Dresden, Nov. 2015/16, p. 10
- ↑ "The Great Gatsby" on the opera stage (accessed December 11, 2015)
- ↑ Michael Ernst: Well-forgotten Dreams - "The Great Gatsby" in Dresden, in DNN , No. 284 of December 8, 2015, p. 9