A Collection of in English - the Theodore Presser Company

ENGLISH LANGUAGE OPERAS
Purgatory
Cast:
Dur:
Instr:
2 Lyric Tenor, 2 Baritone, Bass-Baritone, Bass; small parts: 2 Soprano, Mezzo-Soprano,
10 Tenor, 3 Baritone, 5 Bass; Chorus
full evening
3 3 3 3 - 4 3 3 1; Timp. Perc. Hp. Str.
One act opera
Text by W.B. Yeats
Publisher: Theodore Presser Company
Chamber Opera
Opera without chorus
An Old Man, accompanied by a Young Boy (his teenaged son), returns to the ruins of the house where,
long ago, the Old Man had killed his father. While the Old Man is re-living events with the ghosts of the
past, the son tries to run off with the Old Man’s money. The two quarrel, and when the Boy threatens the
Old Man, the Old Man kills him in an attempt to stop the cycle of patricide. But the ghosts are not laid to
rest, and the Old Man is doomed to live with the burden of his actions.
Cast: Tenor or Baritone (young boy role), Bass
Dur: 35’
Instr: 2 0 2 1 - 1 1 0 0; Timp. Perc. Pno. Str.
Six Characters in Search of an Author
Opera in three acts
Libretto by Denis Johnston from the play by Luigi Pirandello
Publisher: Theodore Presser Company
A masterful adaptation of Pirandello’s theatre play to the world of opera and singers. True to the original
text, the story starts in a seemingly light-hearted reality, but gradually darkens as it slips into the theatre
of the absurd.
The Stronger
Cast: Dramatic Soprano, Mezzo-Soprano, Contralto, High Lyric Baritone, Dramatic Baritone;
boy & girl (non-singing), Chorus
Dur: full evening
Instr: 2(Alto, Picc.) 2(E.H.) 2(B.Cl.) 2(Cbsn.) - 2 2 2 1; Timp. Perc. Str. Upright Piano (on stage)
Sale: Vocal Score 441-41002
After the play by August Strindberg
Libretto by Richard Hart
Publisher: Theodore Presser Company
Chamber Opera
Monodrama
Opera without chorus
Estelle meets a friend in a bar after shopping, and as she drinks, chatters her way into revealing a darker
side of her character. Lisa, the friend, remains silent and lets her run on without comment, but her
enigmatic smile at the end of the opera perhaps reveals more than words ever could.
The Tenor
Cast: Soprano, mute female part, Waiter, Patrons (optional)
Dur: 25’
Instr: Eb AltoSax.(BfCl./EfCl.) Ten.Sax.(BfCl. B.Cl.), Tpt. 1Vln. 1Vla. 1Vcl. 1Cb. Pno.
Sale: Vocal Score 411-41090
Opera without chorus
Opera in one act
Libretto by Karl Shapiro and Ernst Lert, based on “Der Kammersänger” by Frank Wedekind
Publisher: Theodore Presser Company
Gerardo, a flamboyant dramatic tenor at the peak of his career, imagines himself to be of the same heroic
fibre off stage as well, which involves him in a series of entanglements with his many feminine admirers,
producing tragic results.
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