From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A Quiet Place is an American opera in three acts, with music by Leonard Bernstein to a libretto by Stephen Wadsworth. The work is a sequel to Bernstein's earlier short opera Trouble in Tahiti. In its initial form, A Quiet Place was in one act, and followed Trouble in Tahiti after the intermission. The first performance was on 17 June 1983 by the Houston Grand Opera, with the following cast members:[1]
- Chester Ludgin (Sam)
- Timothy Nolen (Junior)
- Sheri Greenwald (Dede)
- Peter Kazaras (François)
- Edward Crofts (the young Sam)
- Diane Kesling (Dinah)
After being panned by critics ("To call the result a pretentious failure is putting it kindly")[2], Bernstein and Wadsworth withdrew the opera and revised it. Some scenes were cut, and Trouble in Tahiti was incorporated into the opera as a flashback, becoming (most of) the second act of the new three-act version. The revised version was given at La Scala, Milan and at Washington Opera in 1984.[3] The work was subsequently performed by the Vienna State Opera under the composer's baton in April 1986. These performances were recorded by Deutsche Grammophon for commercial release. The UK premiere was in December 1988 at the Corn Exchange Theatre, Cambridge, with the composer in attendance.[4]
- Sam
- Junior, Sam's son
- Dede, Sam's daughter
- François, Junior's boyfriend, later Dede's husband
- Sam as a young man
- Dinah, Sam's wife
[edit] Recording
[edit] References
- ^ Donal Henahan. "Bernstein's 'Quiet Place' Opens in Houston", New York Times, 20 June 1983. Retrieved on 2007-10-06.
- ^ Donal Henahan, ibid.
- ^ Bernard Holland. "A Quiet Place by Bernstein, in Washington", New York Times, 24 July 1984. Retrieved on 2007-10-06.
- ^ Hayes, Malcolm, "First Performances: A Quiet Place" (March 1989). Tempo (New Ser.), 168: pp. 45-46.
- ^ Rimer, J. Thomas, "Recording Reviews: Nixon in China / A Quiet Place" (Autumn, 1994). American Music, 12 (3): pp. 338-341.
