.gif)
A Streetcar Named Desire (opera)
Encyclopedia
A Streetcar Named Desire is an opera composed by André Previn
with a libretto by Philip Littell in 1995. It is based on the play
by Tennessee Williams
and received its premiere at the San Francisco Opera
during the 1998-99 season.
in his review in the New York Times of September 21, 1998,
Regarding the music, Holland notes:
In his estimation of the main singers, Holland comments:
, Los Angeles
, Austin, Texas
(2002) and in Sydney and Melbourne by Opera Australia, in 2007.
The European premiere took place at the Opéra national du Rhin, Strasbourg, France. Other performances were given in St. Gallen, Switzerland, Giessen, Germany, Turin, Italy, Tokyo, Japan and London, England
conducted by Prévin, with much of the original cast reprising their roles and Janice Watson replacing Elizabeth Futral as Stella.
André Previn
André George Previn, KBE is an American pianist, conductor, and composer. He is considered one of the most versatile musicians in the world, and is the winner of four Academy Awards for his film work and ten Grammy Awards for his recordings. -Early Life:Previn was born in...
with a libretto by Philip Littell in 1995. It is based on the play
A Streetcar Named Desire (play)
A Streetcar Named Desire is a 1947 play written by American playwright Tennessee Williams for which he received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1948. The play opened on Broadway on December 3, 1947, and closed on December 17, 1949, in the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. The Broadway production was...
by Tennessee Williams
Tennessee Williams
Thomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams III was an American writer who worked principally as a playwright in the American theater. He also wrote short stories, novels, poetry, essays, screenplays and a volume of memoirs...
and received its premiere at the San Francisco Opera
San Francisco Opera
San Francisco Opera is an American opera company, based in San Francisco, California.It was founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola and is the second largest opera company in North America...
during the 1998-99 season.
Cast
- Blanche DuBoisBlanche DuBoisBlanche DuBois is a fictional character in Tennessee Williams' 1947 Pulitzer Prize-winning play A Streetcar Named Desire...
– Renée FlemingRenée FlemingRenée Fleming is an American soprano specializing in opera and lieder. Fleming has a full lyric soprano voice.Fleming has performed coloratura, lyric, and lighter spinto soprano repertoires. She has sung roles in Italian, German, French, Czech, and Russian, aside from her native English. She also... - Stanley KowalskiStanley KowalskiStanley Kowalski is a fictional character in Tennessee Williams' play A Streetcar Named Desire.-In the play:Stanley lives in the working class Faubourg Marigny neighborhood of New Orleans with his wife, Stella , and is employed as a factory parts salesman. He was an Army engineer in WWII, having...
– Rod GilfryRod GilfryRodney Gilfry is a leading American opera baritone. After launching his career at Frankfurt Opera in 1987, Gilfry quickly established a reputation for stylish singing and acting... - Stella Kowalski – Elizabeth FutralElizabeth FutralElizabeth Futral is an American coloratura soprano who has won acclaim throughout the United States as well as in Europe, South America, and Japan....
- Harold "Mitch" Mitchell – Anthony Dean Griffey
- Eunice Hubbel – Judith ForstJudith ForstJudith Doris Forst, OC, OBC is a Canadian mezzo-soprano.Born in New Westminster, British Columbia, she received a Bachelor of Music from the University of British Columbia in 1964. She is the sister-in-law of long time Vancouver radio personality Brian Forst...
- Steve Hubbel – Matthew Lord
- Newspaper Collector – Jeffrey Lentz
- The Mexican – Josepha Gayer
- Pablo Gonzales – Luis Oropeza
- The Doctor – Ray Reinhardt
- The Nurse – Lynne Soffer
Creative
- Conductor - André PrevinAndré PrevinAndré George Previn, KBE is an American pianist, conductor, and composer. He is considered one of the most versatile musicians in the world, and is the winner of four Academy Awards for his film work and ten Grammy Awards for his recordings. -Early Life:Previn was born in...
- Stage Director - Colin GrahamColin GrahamColin Graham, OBE was a British-born stage director of opera, theater, and television.Graham was educated at Northaw School , Stowe School and RADA...
- Sets - Michael YearganMichael YearganMichael H. Yeargan is an American set designer for theatre and opera.Yeargan is a professor of Stage Design at the Yale School of Drama and has designed for opera companies all over the world, including the Washington Opera and the Dallas Opera...
- Lighting - Thomas J. Munn
Reception
As noted by Bernard HollandBernard Holland
Bernard Holland is an internationally recognized American music critic. He served on the staff of The New York Times from 1981 until 2008 and held the post of chief music critic from 1995, contributing 4,575 articles to the newspaper....
in his review in the New York Times of September 21, 1998,
A Streetcar Named Desire is so operatic as a play that one wonders why more than 50 years have passed since its Broadway opening with no opera of note being made of it. ….The new setting of Tennessee Williams's play, with music by Andre Previn and a libretto by Philip Littell, answered a few questions and asked others. …..First of all, it sings very well. Mr. Previn has a fine ear for voices. He knows how to flatter and coax it and send it gracefully from one musical episode to the next…..one had the impression that Mr. Previn had been writing for the musical theater all his life.
Regarding the music, Holland notes:
There are angry clashes of harmony and key, many Straussian gestures, sweet-as-honey popular melody and the kinds of corporate noodling and mumbling among the strings native to a Ligeti or a Penderecki. Mr. Previn is not ashamed to incorporate Hollywood code words, especially the wailing thrusts of saxophone, trumpet and clarinet to introduce dissolution and lurid sex
In his estimation of the main singers, Holland comments:
as beautifully as Renée Fleming sings and as assiduously as she pursues the part, she leaves a hole in the opera that nothing around it can fill. Ms. Fleming does everything an opera singer can do, but I am not sure that Blanche is a character that opera can ever reach. As Stanley in a baritone part, Rodney Gilfry sings strongly and summons the necessary physical menace. Elizabeth Futral made Stella a satisfying operatic character (and) Anthony Dean Griffey sang touchingly and surely in the tenor role of Mitch
Other performances
The opera has since been performed in New Orleans (1999/2000), San Diego (2000), WashingtonWashington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, Austin, Texas
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
(2002) and in Sydney and Melbourne by Opera Australia, in 2007.
The European premiere took place at the Opéra national du Rhin, Strasbourg, France. Other performances were given in St. Gallen, Switzerland, Giessen, Germany, Turin, Italy, Tokyo, Japan and London, England
London première
The opera had its London premiere in June, 2003 in a semi-staged version at the Barbican, with the London Symphony OrchestraLondon Symphony Orchestra
The London Symphony Orchestra is a major orchestra of the United Kingdom, as well as one of the best-known orchestras in the world. Since 1982, the LSO has been based in London's Barbican Centre.-History:...
conducted by Prévin, with much of the original cast reprising their roles and Janice Watson replacing Elizabeth Futral as Stella.
- Opera Ireland presented the opera in November 2006 in Dublin.
- Teater an der Wien, ViennaViennaVienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
is to perform the opera in March 2007. - Opera AustraliaOpera AustraliaOpera Australia is the principal opera company in Australia. Based in Sydney, its performance season at the Sydney Opera House runs for approximately eight months of the year, with the remainder of its time spent in the The Arts Centre in Melbourne...
is to perform this work in its 2007 season at the Opera Theatre, Sydney Opera HouseSydney Opera HouseThe Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in the Australian city of Sydney. It was conceived and largely built by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, finally opening in 1973 after a long gestation starting with his competition-winning design in 1957...
, under the musical direction of Richard HickoxRichard HickoxRichard Sidney Hickox CBE was an English conductor of choral, orchestral and operatic music.-Early life:Hickox was born in Stokenchurch in Buckinghamshire into a musical family...
with Yvonne KennyYvonne KennyYvonne Kenny AM is an Australian soprano, particularly associated with Handel and Mozart roles.Born in Sydney, she first studied at the University of Sydney in science, hoping to become a biochemist, but decided to pursue a career in music instead...
as Blanche .