The Telephone, or L'Amour à trois is an English-language comic opera

Comic opera

Comic opera denotes a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending.Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a new operatic genre, opera buffa, emerged as an alternative to opera seria...

 in one act by Gian Carlo Menotti

Gian Carlo Menotti

Gian Carlo Menotti was an Italian-American composer and librettist. Although he often referred to himself as an American composer, he kept his Italian citizenship. He wrote the classic Christmas opera, Amahl and the Night Visitors, among about two dozen other operas intended to appeal to popular...

, both words and music. It was written for production by the Ballet Society and was first presented on a double bill with Menotti's The Medium

The Medium

The Medium is a short two-act dramatic opera with words and music by Gian Carlo Menotti. Commissioned by Columbia University, its first performance was there on 8 May 1946. The opera's first professional production was presented on a double bill with Menotti's The Telephone at the Heckscher...

at the Heckscher Theater, New York City, February 18-20, 1947. The Broadway

Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

 production took place on May 1, 1947, at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre

Ethel Barrymore Theatre

The Ethel Barrymore Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre located at 243 West 47th Street in midtown-Manhattan, named for actress Ethel Barrymore....

. The Metropolitan Opera

Metropolitan Opera

The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...

 presented it once, on July 31, 1965.

Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere Cast, February 18, 1947 (Conductor: Jascha Zayde Jascha Zayde Jascha Zayde was an American pianist, composer, and conductor. From the 1930's, he was the first staff musician hired by WQXR. From 1954, he was the staff keyboard player of the New York City Ballet.... )
Lucy	coloratura soprano Coloratura soprano A coloratura soprano is a type of operatic soprano who specializes in music that is distinguished by agile runs and leaps. The term coloratura refers to the elaborate ornamentation of a melody, which is a typical component of the music written for this voice...	Marilyn Cotlow Marilyn Cotlow Marilyn Cotlow is an American lyric coloratura soprano best remembered for originating the role of Lucy in Gian Carlo Menotti's The Telephone. She sang professionally during the 1940s and 1950s in the United States and Europe, performing with such companies as the Metropolitan Opera...
Ben	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...	Frank Rogier

Synopsis

Ben, bearing a gift, comes to visit Lucy at her apartment; he wants to propose to her before he leaves on a trip. Despite his attempts to get her attention for sufficient time to ask his question, Lucy is occupied with interminable conversations on the telephone. Between her calls, when Lucy leaves the room, Ben even tries to cut the telephone cord — unsuccessfully. Not wanting to miss his train, Ben leaves without asking Lucy for her hand in marriage. But Ben makes one last attempt: He calls Lucy from a telephone booth outside on the street and makes his proposal. She consents, and the two join in a romantic duet over the phone line, at the end of which Lucy makes sure that Ben remembers her phone number.

Recordings

Film and video

• In 1968 a film of the opera was made for SFB/ORF, in German. Anja Silja
  Anja Silja
  Anja Silja Regina Langwagen, , born April 17, 1940, in Berlin, is a German soprano who is known for her great abilities as a singing-actress and for the vastness of her repertoire....
  
   and Eberhard Wächter
  Eberhard Waechter (baritone)
  Eberhard Wächter was an Austrian baritone, particularly celebrated for his performances in the operas of Mozart, Richard Wagner, and Richard Strauss...
  
   portrayed the young couple. The orchestra was conducted by Wolfgang Rennert, and the production was directed by Otto Schenk
  Otto Schenk
  Otto Schenk is an Austrian actor, and theater and opera director.-Life and career:Schenk was born to Catholic parents. His father, a lawyer, had Jewish roots and therefore lost his job after the Anschluss in 1938...
  
  
• In 2006 a DVD was licensed by Decca Music Group and released by Video Artists International, with Carole Farley and Russell Smythe in the roles and José Serebrier conducting the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. This DVD also includes a performance of Francis Poulenc
  Francis Poulenc
  Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc was a French composer and a member of the French group Les six. He composed solo piano music, chamber music, oratorio, choral music, opera, ballet music, and orchestral music...
  
  's La voix humaine
  La voix humaine
  La voix humaine is a one-act opera for one character, with music by Francis Poulenc to a libretto by Jean Cocteau, based on his 1930 play. La voix humaine was first performed at the Opéra-Comique, Salle Favart in Paris on 6 February 1959...
  
  , whose story also contains a telephone conversation.