Misplaced Pages

#71928

49-610: A number of operas have also received their American premieres at the Minnesota Opera, including The Handmaid's Tale , Postcard from Morocco , Armida , The Elephant Man , and The Fortunes of King Croesus . The American premiere of Jonathan Dove 's Pinocchio was presented in February 2009. Minnesota Opera's season typically runs from September through April, with five productions per season and five to eight performances of each production. Performances are given at

98-442: A libretto by Mark Campbell , based on the novel by Stephen King . It is part of the 'New Works Initiative' of Minnesota Opera. A complete list of earlier seasons' productions appears on the company's web site The Handmaid%27s Tale (opera) The Handmaid's Tale is a 1998 opera by Danish composer Poul Ruders , setting a libretto by Paul Bentley based on the novel of the same name by Margaret Atwood . It has

147-461: A build-up in the acts which lead to a big scene. In Act One, the big scene is Birth, in Act Two it is Death, and the conclusion is quiet and tense. The opera's final structure includes a prelude, Act One, Act Two, and an epilogue. Rather than beginning the opera in a usual way following the conductor's lead, the opera opens with a newsreel-like collage showing a sequence of many disasters to give

196-404: A coherent and effective opera. As he had to simplify the events of the novel, he chose to keep the separation scene of Offred from her husband, Luke, and their child. The reasoning for this is that it stands as a dividing line between the time before and the present. Bentley's effective libretto illustrates the consequences that come from constructing a world of ritual repression while also showing

245-455: A compelling representation of both Offred's present and past lives. In contrast with the novel, where the reader discovers at the end that the text is meant to be a reconstruction of a 200-year-old text from multiple cassette tapes, the opera's video conference taking place in the year 2195 shown in the Prologue and Epilogue frames the work from the beginning while also distancing it. With

294-626: A contrast. Early in the decade, Vincenzo Bellini 's The Capulets and the Montagues and Kurt Weill 's Street Scene were highlights of the 2000/01 season. In 2011, Bernard Herrmann 's sole opera Wuthering Heights was presented. The full opera has yet to receive a staging, as the official world premiere by Portland Opera in 1982 was abridged by some 30 minutes. In 2011, Minnesota Opera produced Silent Night by composer Kevin Puts and librettist Mark Campbell, an MN Opera commission that won

343-439: A former Gospel singer. Offred and Ofglen, another Handmaid, go shopping where they encounter the pregnant Janine. A doctor offers to impregnate Offred, but she declines in fear. At her new posting, the handyman Nick and Fred both have illegal contact with Offred when they talk to her and approach her bedroom. The household gathers for the ritual impregnation, and Nick tells Offred that Fred wants to see her privately afterwards, which

392-523: A historical frame to the narrative. There is an underlying goal of highlighting similarities between the Gilead experience in this century and Iran's theocratic experience in the previous century, and the setting of the opera takes place at an academic conference far after Gilead has fallen. Prologue In AD 2195, the 12th Symposium on the Republic of Gilead is meeting via videoconference. The Republic

441-557: A month. Professor Pieixoto introduces an audio-cassette recorded by a Handmaid who is in hiding. She had been taken from her second husband Luke and their daughter. The Red Centre Prelude The centre is run by Aunt Lydia. Moira, a friend of the Handmaid who recorded the tape, is captured after an escape attempt. Janine, another woman at the Centre, suffers a breakdown. Moira eventually manages to escape while other Handmaids graduate from

490-612: A newsreel-like collage: the narrative first frame. The 21st-century North American society is depicted as one with great suffering and injustice in The Handmaid's Tale. Ecological and political disruption lead to the dismantling of the United States by a right-wing theocracy which takes over to create the new country of Gilead. The structure of the opera is divided into two parts, which was librettist Paul Bentley's intention. Ruders offered that his basic structure contained

539-538: A photo of Offred's missing daughter. Offred and Nick begin an affair. At a public execution , the Handmaids are given the opportunity to hang a 'rapist', who is part of the underground. Ofglen kicks him into unconsciousness in order to spare him the pain of hanging. Meanwhile, Serena Joy discovers Offred's affair with Fred. The "Eyes of God", the secret police, arrest Offred. Epilogue In the video conference context, Professor Pieixoto asks for any questions, prompting

SECTION 10

#1732775275072

588-546: A prologue, a prelude, two acts and an epilogue; there is a build-up in each act leading to a big scene. The work premiered in Copenhagen in 2000 and has since been produced in London, Toronto and elsewhere. Bentley's libretto converts a first-person novel into a third-person opera by means of framing devices. The action takes place in a 22nd-century United States taken over by a right-wing theocracy named Gilead; it starts with

637-400: A scene where a doctor offers to impregnate her, while in another scene at an undercover brothel has a more upbeat, cabaret-like score. The conversion of a highly complex first-person narrative into a third-person opera was a significantly difficult task that Bentley faced when creating the opera. Through his moving and faithful libretto, Bentley solved the problem of converting the novel into

686-549: Is Offred's way of acknowledging the hopelessness of her situation after the Commander makes her kiss him 'as if she meant it,' as well as a way to represent a woman's response to the experience of Gilead as a whole. The inconclusive ending of Act One foreshadows the ending of Act Two. Act Two Rita discovers Offred the next morning on the floor of her room. Offred visits Fred again in private, and during their next ritual, he caresses Offred. She fears that Serena Joy will notice

735-470: Is a little outdated simply because of the passage of time[.] It had more relevance a few decades ago, when late modernism was dying or even dead. For my work, I regard the term only as a point of departure before considering each composition on a case-by-case basis. As a composer, I try always to make beautiful things, and I use whatever techniques and materials are useful for the particular composition at hand[.] Some of those materials are atonal or nontonal, but

784-501: Is also illegal. Instead of treating Offred as a sexual surrogate, the Commander finds himself attracted to her, which is an unpardonable sin leading to much of the disaster throughout the story. The next day, the birth of Janine's child prompts all the Wives and Handmaids of the district to gather in celebration. Offred visits Fred that night in private, and once she is back in her bedroom, she collapses in fit of hysterical laughter. This

833-546: Is one of the quartet at the climax of the opera. Much of the rather haunting atmosphere is built from the repetitive, chanting, choruses of the handmaids. The opera was premiered in Copenhagen on 6 March 2000 by the Danish Royal Opera , conductor Michael Schonwandt, director Phyllida Lloyd, designer Peter McKintosh . It was subsequently recorded by the same company by Dacapo, currently the only recording of

882-819: The Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicum , one of the Holden Choirs . He won the Prix de Rome and studied at the American Academy in Rome after graduating. He then received the Master of Music (1982) and Doctor of Musical Arts (1987) in composition, both from Columbia University . Moravec has taught at Dartmouth College (1987–96) and Hunter College (1997–98). He suffered from clinically diagnosed depression that worsened during

931-881: The Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey . In addition to his Pulitzer Prize, Moravec has received a Composer Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts , a Rockefeller Foundation fellowship, and the Charles Ives Prize and Goddard Lieberson Awards in American Composition. He was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2010. He has been commissioned by such ensembles as

980-854: The London Coliseum in February 2024. In October 2022 the Royal Danish Opera mounted a new production in Copenhagen; the director was John Fulljames, the conductor Jessica Cottis, the designer Chloe Lamford. Glow Lyric Theatre in Greenville, South Carolina , presented the opera during its summer festival season in July 2023. The German premiere was on June 28, 2024 at the Freiburg Theater: director Peter Carp, conductor Ektoras Tartanis, set design Kaspar Zwimper, costumes Gabriele Rupprecht. The San Francisco Opera gave

1029-643: The Ordway Center for the Performing Arts in Saint Paul, Minnesota . According to OPERA America , the company is the 13th largest opera company in the United States. While much from the standard repertoire is performed, the company has distinguished itself with productions of some unusual and rare operas in the last decade. These include The Pearl Fishers ; Casanova's Homecoming by Argento ; and Roberto Devereux by Donizetti during

SECTION 20

#1732775275072

1078-599: The 1990s. In 2004, Moravec received the Pulitzer Prize for Music for his work Tempest Fantasy . This prestigious award raised Moravec's profile significantly, and he was appointed to several residencies. He was named the new honorary composer-member of the New York Composers Circle in September, 2006. He was also appointed the composer in residence for the 2007-2008 academic year at

1127-612: The 1998 cantata Fire/Ice/Air , which contrasts the journeys of Captain Robert Falcon Scott , on his expedition to the Antarctic, and Charles Lindbergh , on his trans-Atlantic flight. An oratorio, Blizzard Voices , about the Schoolhouse Blizzard of 1888, was commissioned by Opera Omaha and was premiered there in September 2008. He collaborated with Terry Teachout on The Letter , an opera based on

1176-545: The 2009/10 season; Pinocchio by Dove in the 2008/09 season; The Fortunes of King Croesus ( Keiser ) and Rusalka in 2007/08; Rossini's La donna del lago and Offenbach 's The Tales of Hoffmann . The Grapes of Wrath by Ricky Ian Gordon was given its world premiere in the 2006/07 season after being commissioned by the company. Léo Delibes 's Lakmé appeared during that season as well. The 2005/06 season saw several American premieres, including Orazi e Curiazi by Saverio Mercadante and Joseph Merrick,

1225-534: The 2012 Pulitzer Prize in Music. In 2013, Minnesota Opera commissioned the opera Doubt by composer Douglas J. Cuomo and librettist John Patrick Shanley . In March 2015, the company gave the premiere performance of Kevin Puts ' opera The Manchurian Candidate (based on Richard Condon 's novel , with libretto by Mark Campbell). In May 2016, Minnesota Opera produced The Shining , a newly commissioned American opera in two acts with music by composer Paul Moravec and

1274-528: The Centre. Here the Red Centre showcases the multiple practices of indoctrination, which leads to Offred being posted to the home of a higher up Commander. The handmaids are taught a new set of rules based on the Ten Commandments. Act One The Handmaid is assigned to a new posting under the command of Fred. She is therefore known as Offred (Of Fred). The wife of the household is Serena Joy,

1323-653: The Dessoff Choirs, the Albany Symphony Orchestra , and the Harvard Glee Club . Moravec has been placed into a group called "new tonalists" by the critic Terry Teachout , who describes them as composers who are "neither embarrassed nor paralyzed by tradition. Rather they accept it as a given." Thus, according to this analysis, his style is primarily tonal and neo-romantic. However, Moravec himself asserts: The term ‘new tonalist’

1372-534: The Elephant Man (Petitgirard). In 2004/05 season, the company presented Donizetti's Maria Padilla and Nixon in China by John Adams . Donizetti's Lucrezia Borgia and Passion by Stephen Sondheim appeared in 2003/04 while the previous season saw another American premiere, The Handmaid's Tale by Poul Ruders . In 2001/02 Mozart's La clemenza di Tito and Mark Adamo 's Little Women provided

1421-694: The Pulitzer-winning, Shakespeare -inspired Tempest Fantasy , a 30-minute chamber work scored for clarinet , violin , cello , and piano , which was premiered on May 2, 2003, at the Morgan Library in New York City by David Krakauer and Trio Solisti, for whom it was written; Northern Lights Electric , a 1994 work that combines a musical illustration of the Northern Lights with a musical depiction of electric light; and

1470-815: The Yarra Valley Opera Festival in Melbourne, Australia. Director Linda Thompson, conductor Patrick Burns, designer Joseph Noonan. Boston Lyric Opera mounted a production in May 2019, conducted by BLO Music Director David Angus, director Anne Bogart, designer James Scheutte. In April 2022 the Artistic Director of the English National Opera , Annilese Miskimmon, directed a new production for ENO; conductor Joana Carneiro, designer Annemarie Woods. This production returned to

1519-430: The brutal theocracy of Gilead. The dramatic points of the opera are illustrated by Ruders' rigid, metallic score. Some might see the music as dry and overly dissonant, but it sets a compelling environment for the story. Ruders uses extravagant lyrics for the love scenes in both Offred's affair in Gilead and in her memories. In contrast, he utilizes a unique blend of wolf-whistles and shrieks to show an opposite emotion in

Minnesota Opera - Misplaced Pages Continue

1568-736: The composition department of the Mannes School of Music . Already a prolific composer, he has been described as a "new tonalist." He is best known for his work Tempest Fantasy , which received the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for Music . Among his compositions are two operas: The Letter (2009) and The Shining (2016). Moravec was born in Buffalo, New York , and subsequently attended the Lawrenceville School , graduating in 1975. He received his B.A. in composition from Harvard University in 1980; while there, he performed with

1617-407: The conference hall, acts as a surprise that can be compared to the surprise of the novel's ending. Crossing over between the distinctions of the opera auditorium and the numerous settings of fictionalized space prompts the audience to raise questions of dramatic genres and to also question the relationship between fiction and reality. The framing device being placed at the beginning of the opera places

1666-405: The core story in a delicate position with several layers of reality that overlap each other. This position highlights the subjective angle and underlines the problems of the relationship between reality and fiction. Paul Moravec Paul Moravec (born November 2, 1957) is an American composer and a University Professor at Adelphi University on Long Island, New York and also a member of

1715-425: The end of the opera with the lights turning on in the theatre. Professor Pieixoto reveals that no one knows what happened to Offred. The opera is written in a free tonal style, with clear influences from the operas of Alban Berg and from minimalism . The musical style is narrative rather than lyric, but Offred does have two full arias, several mini-arias, a beautiful and moving duet with her younger self, and she

1764-464: The later productions in America and Canada, were successes with the opera-going public, with houses consistently selling out. Denmark's Queen Margarethe attended the performance every month for four months when the opera premiered in 2000. The Handmaid's Tale was from the beginning composed for Paul Bentley's English libretto alongside Ruders' Danish translation of the libretto. The Danish title

1813-410: The novel's first-person narration, the account we witness is personal and intimate based on the main character's own experience. Through this approach, the subjectivity of the narrative is apparent because the story only has direct insight into one person's perspective rather than revealing the thoughts and intentions of other characters. The direct, objective storytelling nature of theatrical opera opens

1862-682: The opera in the catalogue. The Danish production translated Bentley's libretto from English to Danish, which can be heard on the CD recording. This CD recording was then nominated for two Grammy Awards and received the Cannes Classical Award for the best work by a living composer in 2002. This production transferred to the English National Opera in London 's Coliseum Theatre on 3 April 2003 and ran for seven performances between 3 April and 2 May 2003. The opera's North American premiere

1911-565: The opera's Copenhagen world premiere was almost uniformly positive (e.g. "Add The Handmaid's Tale to the list of recent works that the Metropolitan Opera should feel obliged to present" - New York Times ). In London the reviews were mixed and many hostile. While the power of Atwood's story and skill of Bentley's libretto were recognised, some critics felt that the vocal writing was characterless and for some female characters too shrill and highly pitched to allow for proper diction, while

1960-403: The orchestral writing was judged by some to be bombastic. Others praised Ruders for his composition's sympathy to the spirit of the novel. The Minnesota and Toronto premieres were widely praised by the critics (e.g. "This well-conceived production restores confidence in the possibilities of contemporary opera as compelling theater" - USA Today ). Both the first Copenhagen and London seasons, and

2009-506: The overall harmonic context of my music derives from the tonal tradition, which after all is the lingua franca of Western music — essentially, Monteverdi to the Beatles and beyond. Critic Jens F. Laurson described Moravec's Pulitzer Prize -winning Tempest Fantasy as "remarkably accessible music. Picturesque, conventionally beautiful at times, but without pandering to the ears’ lowest harmonic expectations. [It is] music that works with all

Minnesota Opera - Misplaced Pages Continue

2058-406: The story to the audience as eyewitnesses to the events happening on stage. Rather than perceiving the events through the filter of the main character, the audience has a chance to create their own perceptions. There is a clear distinction between reality and fiction in the production. Opening the opera and introducing the audience to the setting of an academic conference, crossing the threshold into

2107-410: The tender gesture. During another round of shopping, Offred and Ofglen confide that they are both breaking the law, as Ofglen talks about the resistance movement. Janine joins them before breaking down again, as a result of the execution of her defective child. Janine is taken off for execution. Offred continues to see Fred privately. Serena Joy tries to bribe Offred into a union with Nick by showing her

2156-402: The time immediately surrounding his departure from Dartmouth College , and underwent electroshock therapy . He is currently a University Professor in the music department at Adelphi University , He also teaches composition at the Mannes School of Music , contributing to what The New York Times has called a "renaissance" in a college that went through academic and financial difficulties in

2205-729: The traditional tools from the composer’s workshop[,] which have changed surprisingly little since Bach - but Moravec uses them to create music anew." He named Federico Mompou , Claude Debussy , Paul Hindemith , Francis Poulenc , and Elliott Carter as clear musical influences in Moravec's music. He also noted a clear disparity between Moravec's music and that of minimalist composers Steve Reich , Philip Glass , and John Adams . Critic Victor Carr Jr. characterizes Moravec's musical language as "generally tonal--and although it's not consistently melodic, it's always accessible. More than that, it's highly engrossing[.]" His best-known pieces include

2254-646: The work in September/October 2024. This was a co-production with the Royal Opera in Copenhagen, and as in 2022 it was directed by John Fulljames. Offred Suite is an arrangement by the composer, Poul Ruders, in which five of Offred’s arias are interwoven with orchestral interludes from the opera, and the suite ends, as does the opera, with a postlude for full orchestra. It has been recorded by Bridge Records. The CD includes Ruders’ Tundra and his Symphony no. 3 “Dream Catcher” . Critical reception to

2303-536: Was Tjenerindens fortælling . The Danish Royal Opera who commissioned the work wanted the opera performed in Danish, but performances outside Denmark have all been sung in English. With the challenge of reflecting the complexity and discomfort of the novel, Ruders' music accurately represents the emotions depicted in the novel. The music alternates between harsh dissonances and sections of religious devotion, suggesting

2352-608: Was formed after Christian fundamentalists assassinated the President and most of the Congress in order to establish a dictatorship based on Biblical principles within the United States. Women in the Republic have no suffrage , right to work , right to education , or right to property . Women who live in sin are taken to Red Centres where they are indoctrinated as Handmaids by Aunts . The Handmaids are sent to barren households, where they are required to be ritually inseminated once

2401-530: Was performed by the Minnesota Opera in May 2003, in a new production, conducted by Anthony Walker, director Eric Simonson, designer Robert Israel, and ran there for five performances between 10 and 18 May 2003. The Danish Royal Opera production transferred to Canadian Opera Company in Toronto, Margaret Atwood's home town, on 23 September 2004. In October 2018 Gertrude Opera mounted a production for

#71928