The Voyage is an 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 three acts (plus a prologue and an epilogue) by the American composer Philip Glass

Philip Glass

Philip Glass is an American composer. He is considered to be one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century and is widely acknowledged as a composer who has brought art music to the public .His music is often described as minimalist, along with...

 (born 1937). The libretto was written by David Henry Hwang

David Henry Hwang

David Henry Hwang is an American playwright who has risen to prominence as the preeminent Asian American dramatist in the U.S.He was born in Los Angeles, California and was educated at the Yale School of Drama and Stanford University...

.

The work was commissioned by 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...

, New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 and first performed there on October 12, 1992 (that date being the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus was an explorer, colonizer, and navigator, born in the Republic of Genoa, in northwestern Italy. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general European awareness of the American continents in the...

 discovering the Americas). The British premiere was in Leeds, England, performed by The City Of Leeds Youth Opera, with Johnathon Cliff and Mike Williamson as the directors, with Richard Pascoe playing Columbus.

Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere Cast, October 12, 1992 (Conductor: Bruce Ferden)
Columbus	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...	Timothy Noble
Isabella	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...	Tatiana Troyanos Tatiana Troyanos Tatiana Troyanos was an American mezzo-soprano of Greek and German descent.-Early life:...
Scientist/First Mate	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...	Douglas Perry
Commander	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...	Patricia Schuman
Ship's Doctor/Space Twin 1	soprano	Kaaren Erickson
Second Mate/Space Twin 2	bass	Julien Robbins
Earth Twin 1	mezzo-soprano	Jane Shaulis
Earth Twin 2	bass	Jan Opalach

Synopsis

Glass did not want to create a biographical opera about Columbus, especially in a year when there were countless films, documentaries and other events doing the same job. Instead he opted to make his opera a more general study of exploration - of the oceans, of space and time and of the mind. Columbus remains a central character though, appearing in the second act and the epilogue.

Prologue

We see a scientist in a wheelchair (reminding us of Professor Stephen Hawking

Stephen Hawking

Stephen William Hawking, CH, CBE, FRS, FRSA is an English theoretical physicist and cosmologist, whose scientific books and public appearances have made him an academic celebrity...

), pondering time and space. He sings that despite man's inadequate mind, body and technology, the will to explore and follow one's vision "towards holes on the horizon" has always existed. Meanwhile the chorus poses eternal questions about time and space repeatedly, growing in volume and intensity.

Act 1

Above an ice-age Earth, a spacecraft hurtles through space out of control. Its occupants are frantic; the Commander sings that nothing on the ship works properly, whilst the rest of the crew call out the ship's status and instrument readings. They see that the planet they are passing can support life, and they decide to make for it. As they await the inevitable crash landing, they recall moments from their lives. They survive the crash and decide to split up, each taking with them one of the "directional crystals" from the ship. Any two of these crystals will, when brought together, indicate the course back to the crew's home planet. The crew consider their new home and what sort of world they would like to live in; each has their own markedly different ideal world. The Commander leaves the wrecked ship to see what awaits her. Outside, she is met by a group of natives that dance a rite of spring and imagine the Commander to be a fantastic god descended from the sky. They sweep her up and she goes with them, becoming part of their celebration.

Act 2

Spain, 1492

Columbus is at the court of Queen Isabella

Isabella I of Castile

Isabella I was Queen of Castile and León. She and her husband Ferdinand II of Aragon brought stability to both kingdoms that became the basis for the unification of Spain. Later the two laid the foundations for the political unification of Spain under their grandson, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor...

 bidding them farewell as he prepares to set sail for the Indies. He is promised untold riches and power on his return. Suddenly this scene fades and we realise that we are aboard Columbus' ship; he has been reminiscing about his departure. It is the 32nd day of the voyage. Doubts are beginning to set in as they sail the endless blue ocean. Isabella appears to him in a vision and reminds him of the faith of Noah

Noah

Noah was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the tenth and last of the antediluvian Patriarchs. The biblical story of Noah is contained in chapters 6–9 of the book of Genesis, where he saves his family and representatives of all animals from the flood by constructing an ark...

 and of the Virgin Mary and tells him to hold fast to his faith. She promises him that by seeing the journey through he will further the kingdom of God, as well as gain riches and power. Suddenly the First Mate shouts that he has sighted land.

Act 3

Year 2092

In a space station above the Earth, two astronomers ("Space Twins") scan for signs of life in the cosmos. At the same time, on the Earth, two archeologists (the "Earth Twins") have discovered two of the Directional Crystals from the ship that crashed thousands of years earlier. As they bring the crystals together, their scanning equipment homes in on the planet from which the space travellers in Act I originated. A mission to travel to the planet is begun and we see a terrific celebration as the ship prepares for launch, with dignitaries, politicians, dancers, musicians and a large crowd of well-wishers. The explorers enter the ship and bid farewell to their loved ones. The ship blasts off and another journey of discovery begins.

Epilogue

1506

We see Columbus on his deathbed. Monks chant around him and Isabella appears to accompany the explorer on his final journey into the unknown. (She has already passed on to that realm herself). He accuses her of breaking her promises to him but she claims that he undertook his voyage for pride and vanity, guided by Lucifer

Lucifer

Traditionally, Lucifer is a name that in English generally refers to the devil or Satan before being cast from Heaven, although this is not the original meaning of the term. In Latin, from which the English word is derived, Lucifer means "light-bearer"...

. Even so, she offers herself to him but he rejects her, saying that the journey he is about to undergo is far more seductive. Pondering man's eternal quest for knowledge and exploration, he is transported up to the stars.

The libretto is published as part of Trying to Find Chinatown: The Selected Plays of David Henry Hwang

David Henry Hwang

David Henry Hwang is an American playwright who has risen to prominence as the preeminent Asian American dramatist in the U.S.He was born in Los Angeles, California and was educated at the Yale School of Drama and Stanford University...

 by Theatre Communications Group

Theatre Communications Group

Theatre Communications Group is an organization dedicated to the promotion of non-profit professional theatre in the United States. TCG has over 450 member theatres located in 47 states; 17,000 individual members; and a growing number of University, Funder, Business and Trustee Affiliates...

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Recording

In July 2006, a long-awaited complete recording of the opera became available on Glass' Orange Mountain Music label, based on the staging by the Landestheater Linz (Austria) and conducted by Dennis Russell Davies

Dennis Russell Davies

Dennis Russell Davies is an American conductor and pianist. He studied piano and conducting at the Juilliard School where he received his doctorate...

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