Grapes Guide.pdf - Minnesota Opera

20 th - and 21 st -century American Composers of Opera
virgil thomson 1896–1989
george antheil 1900–1959
samuel barber 1910–1981
gian carlo menotti 1911–2007
carlisle floyd 1926–
dominick argento 1927–
conrad susa 1935–
philip glass 1937–
john corigliano 1938–
john adams 1947–
Paris in the 20s served to inspire the next generation of
composers, several of which were expatriates from
America. george antheil was the first American
composer to have an opera premiered in Europe – his work, Transatlantic, was written in France but premiered in
Frankfurt in 1930. Compatriot virgil thomson studied with famed teacher Nadia Boulanger and later produced
Four Saints in Three Acts (1934) and The Mother of Us All (1947), both to texts by Gertrude Stein. samuel barber
stayed on American soil, studying at the newly founded Curtis Institute in 1935. He went on to compose Vanessa
(1958), and to open the new Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, Antony and Cleopatra (1966).
On Vanessa, Barber collaborated with another composer, gian carlo menotti, who wrote the libretto. Also the
author of 25 libretti for his own operas, Menotti is best known for The Medium (1946), The Consul (1950), Amahl and
the Night Visitors (1951) and The Saint of Bleecker Street (1954). Another American composing at about the same time was
carlisle floyd, who favored American themes and literature.
His most important works include Susannah (1955),
Wuthering Heights (1958), The Passion of Jonathan Wade
(1962) and Of Mice and Men (1970).
A scene from Minnesota Opera’s
1989 production of Glass’ The Juniper Tree
A scene from Minnesota Opera’s
1998 American premiere of Antheil’s Transatlantic
During the sixties and seventies, the minnesota opera
was the site of many world premieres of lasting significance:
conrad susa’s Transformations (1973) and Black River
(1975), and dominick argento’s The Masque of Angels
(1964), Postcards from Morocco (1971), The Voyage of Edgar
Allen Poe (1976), Miss Havisham’s Wedding Night (1981) and
Casanova’s Homecoming (1985; revived in 2009). Other
Argento works of merit include Miss Havisham’s Fire (1979)
and The Aspern Papers (1988).
Other composers currently at the fore include philip glass, john corigliano and john adams. The Minimalist
music of Philip Glass has won popular acclaim among even non-opera-going audiences – his oeuvre includes Einstein on
the Beach (1976), Ahknaten (1984), and most recently, The Voyage (1992), commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera to
commemorate the 500 th anniversary of Columbus’ discovery of America. The Met also commissioned The Ghosts of
Versailles from john corigliano in 1991 – like Milhaud’s opera of 1966, its text involves Beaumarchais’ third part
of the Figaro trilogy with the playwright himself appearing as the lover of 18 th -century Queen of France Marie
history of opera
92