Located in the UK
Located in the USA
Located in Europe
- Philip Glass
Appomattox (2007)
- Dunvagen Music Publishers Inc (World)
Commissioned by San Francisco Opera
Libretto (English) by Christopher Hampton.
Commissioned by San Francisco Opera.
- 2(pic).2(ca).2(Ebcl)+bcl.2(cbn)/4.3(E Flat Trumpet).2+btbn.1/2perc/hp.pf(cel)/str
- SATB
- Principals - 4 Sopranos, 2 Mezzo Sopranos,3 Tenors, 4 Baritones, Bass-Baritone, 2 Bass
- 1 hr 45 min
- Libretto by Christopher Hampton
- English
Programme Note
CAST
Soprano Julia Dent Grant/Viola Liuzzo
Soprano Mary Custis Lee
Soprano Julia Agnes Lee
Soprano Mary Todd Lincoln/Lady Bird Johnson
Mezzo-soprano Elizabeth Keckley/Coretta Scott King
Mezzo-soprano Mrs. Dorsey/Viola Jackson
Tenor T. Morris Chester/Cager Lee
Tenor Edward Alexander/Cartha DeLoach
Tenor Ely S. Parker
Baritone Gen. Ulysses S. Grant/Nicholas Katzenbach
Baritone Gen. Robert E. Lee/Edgar Ray Killen
Baritone John Rawlins/George Wallace
Baritone Wilmer McLean/J. Edgar Hoover
Bass-baritone Abraham Lincoln/Lyndon B. Johnson
Bass Gen. Howell Cobb/James Bonard Fowler
Bass Douglass/Martin Luther King
Chorus of union and conf. soldiers; citizens of Richmond & Appomattox; slaves and women
Roles from the chorus:
Tenor A young man
Tenor & Bass Two freed slaves,
Tenor A brigadier
Bass A naval officer
Baritone Voice of a confederate soldier
Bass A captain
Bass Old Man in Richmond
SATB Four civil rights marchers
SYNOPSIS
The brutal American Civil War is drawing to a close. Three scenes unfold simultaneously as Julia (Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant), Mary Custis (Mrs. Robert E. Lee) with her daughter Agnes, and Mary Todd Lincoln with her seamstress Elizabeth Keckley, a former slave, separately express their anxieties, then jointly voice their foreboding about the suffering that is imminent.
Soprano Julia Dent Grant/Viola Liuzzo
Soprano Mary Custis Lee
Soprano Julia Agnes Lee
Soprano Mary Todd Lincoln/Lady Bird Johnson
Mezzo-soprano Elizabeth Keckley/Coretta Scott King
Mezzo-soprano Mrs. Dorsey/Viola Jackson
Tenor T. Morris Chester/Cager Lee
Tenor Edward Alexander/Cartha DeLoach
Tenor Ely S. Parker
Baritone Gen. Ulysses S. Grant/Nicholas Katzenbach
Baritone Gen. Robert E. Lee/Edgar Ray Killen
Baritone John Rawlins/George Wallace
Baritone Wilmer McLean/J. Edgar Hoover
Bass-baritone Abraham Lincoln/Lyndon B. Johnson
Bass Gen. Howell Cobb/James Bonard Fowler
Bass Douglass/Martin Luther King
Chorus of union and conf. soldiers; citizens of Richmond & Appomattox; slaves and women
Roles from the chorus:
Tenor A young man
Tenor & Bass Two freed slaves,
Tenor A brigadier
Bass A naval officer
Baritone Voice of a confederate soldier
Bass A captain
Bass Old Man in Richmond
SATB Four civil rights marchers
SYNOPSIS
The brutal American Civil War is drawing to a close. Three scenes unfold simultaneously as Julia (Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant), Mary Custis (Mrs. Robert E. Lee) with her daughter Agnes, and Mary Todd Lincoln with her seamstress Elizabeth Keckley, a former slave, separately express their anxieties, then jointly voice their foreboding about the suffering that is imminent.
Scores
Act II
Features
- Operas in Concert: Casting Off Chains - Abolition, Civil War
- Discover operatic works that shine in concert performances from Wise Music Classical.
Reviews
Where Glass' music shines is in the details of its text setting, especially during the narrative stretches that dot the opera. Here, the composer's simple rhythmic motifs, instead of trying to hold the spotlight, serve as a sort of musical trellis around which he can wind the phrases of Hampton's libretto with the naturalness and careful pacing of a speaking actor
8th October 2007