Lysistrata (opera)
Encyclopedia
Lysistrata, or The Nude Goddess is an opera
in two acts by composer Mark Adamo
. The work is based on Aristophanes
's fifth century play Lysistrata
. The opera had its world premiere at the Houston Grand Opera
on March 4, 2005. It was subsequently produced in March 2006 at the New York City Opera
.
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
in two acts by composer Mark Adamo
Mark Adamo
Mark Adamo is an Italian American composer and librettist born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. While he has composed the symphonic cantata "Late Victorians, "Four Angels: Concerto for Harp and Orchestra," and six substantial choral works, the composer’s principal work has been for the opera house:...
. The work is based on Aristophanes
Aristophanes
Aristophanes , son of Philippus, of the deme Cydathenaus, was a comic playwright of ancient Athens. Eleven of his forty plays survive virtually complete...
's fifth century play Lysistrata
Lysistrata
Lysistrata is one of eleven surviving plays written by Aristophanes. Originally performed in classical Athens in 411 BC, it is a comic account of one woman's extraordinary mission to end The Peloponnesian War...
. The opera had its world premiere at the Houston Grand Opera
Houston Grand Opera
Houston Grand Opera Houston Grand Opera was founded in 1955 through the joint efforts of Maestro Walter Herbert and cultural leaders Mrs. Louis G. Lobit, Edward Bing and Charles Cockrell...
on March 4, 2005. It was subsequently produced in March 2006 at the New York City Opera
New York City Opera
The New York City Opera is an American opera company located in New York City.The company, called "the people's opera" by New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, was founded in 1943 with the aim of making opera financially accessible to a wide audience, producing an innovative choice of repertory, and...
.
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast, 4 March 2005 (Conductor: – Stefan Lano Stefan Lano Born in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1952, Stefan Lano began conducting through his work as composer and after an extensive tenure on the Music Staff of the Vienna State Opera. The 1976 premier of his Sinfonie N° 1 afforded him his initial experience in the symphonic genre, both as composer and... ) |
|---|---|---|
| Lysistrata (Lysia) | soprano | Emily Pulley |
| Nikias (Nico) | tenor Tenor The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2... |
Chad Shelton Chad Shelton Chad Shelton is an American operatic tenor. Particularly associated with the acclaimed Houston Grand Opera , Shelton has excelled in performances of contemporary American operas and in the works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Giuseppe Verdi... |
| Kleonike | contralto Contralto Contralto is the deepest female classical singing voice, with the lowest tessitura, falling between tenor and mezzo-soprano. It typically ranges between the F below middle C to the second G above middle C , although at the extremes some voices can reach the E below middle C or the second B above... |
Myrna Paris |
| Myrrhine | mezzo-soprano Mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above... |
Laquita Mitchell |
| Lampito | contralto | Victoria Livengood |
| Leonidas | bass-baritone Bass-baritone A bass-baritone is a high-lying bass or low-lying "classical" baritone voice type which shares certain qualities with the true baritone voice. The term arose in the late 19th century to describe the particular type of voice required to sing three Wagnerian roles: the Dutchman in Der fliegende... |
Joshua Winograde |
| Kinesias | baritone Baritone Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or... |
Joshua Hopkins |
| Xanthe/Aphrodite | soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody... |
Marjorie Owens |
| Sappho | mezzo-soprano | Jennifer Root |
| Charito/Tisiphone | soprano | Heidi Stober |
| Dika/Alecto | soprano | Susan Holsonbake |
| Arete/Megaera | mezzo-soprano | Fiona Murphy |
| Bion/First Geezer | baritone | Daniel Cilli |
| Maron/Ares | tenor | Nicholas Phan |
| Alpheus | tenor | Arturo Chacón-Cruz |
| Philo/Second Geezer | bass-baritone | Nikolay Didenko |
| Meleagros | tenor | Norman Reinhardt |