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North American Works Directory Listing
| Composer: |
Donald Grantham
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| Composer Bio: |
Composer Donald Grantham is the recipient of numerous awards and prizes in composition, including the Prix Lili Boulanger, the Nissim/ASCAP Orchestral Composition Prize, First Prize in the Concordia Chamber Symphony's Awards to American Composers, a Guggenheim Fellowship, three grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, three First Prizes in the NBA/William Revelli Competition, two First Prizes in the ABA/Ostwald Competition, and First Prize in the National Opera Association's Biennial Composition Competition. His music has been praised for its "elegance, sensitivity, lucidity of thought, clarity of expression and fine lyricism" in a Citation awarded by the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. In recent years his works have been performed by the orchestras of Cleveland, Dallas, Atlanta and the American Composers Orchestra among many others, and he has fulfilled commissions in media from solo instruments to opera. His music is published by Piquant Press, Peer-Southern, E. C. Schirmer, G. Schirmer, Warner Bros. and Mark Foster, and a number of his works have been commercially recorded. The composer resides in Austin, Texas and is Frank C. Erwin, Jr. Centennial Professor of Composition at the University of Texas at Austin. With Kent Kennan he is coauthor of The Technique of Orchestration (Prentice-Hall).
Taken from www.donaldgrantham.com
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| Librettist: |
Donald Grantham
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| Other Artistic Personnel: |
Robert DeSimone (director)
Dan Welcher (conductor)
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| Premiere Date: |
February 24, 1989
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| Producing Company: |
University of Texas Opera Theater
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| Description: |
For an entire year Madam Popova has been in deep mourning for her
feckless husband. Then one afternoon Smirnov, who she does not know,
bursts in upon he demanding payment of her late husband's gambling
debts--debts of which she was unaware. Smirnov must have this money
immediately to pay his taxes and aviod the seizure of his estate. Popova
cannot pay immediately because her stead is away and she has no cash.
Smirnov and Popova take an instant dislike to each
other, and in the course of a long afternoon do a very thorough job of
revealing each other's faults and short comings. Things degenerate to
the point that Popova can stand no more of Smirnov's insults, and she
slaps him soundly across the face. After Smirnov is slapped, he decides
he has taken all the abuse he can bear from women in general and Popova
in particular -- and he challenges her to a duel. The servants are
horrified, but Popova stands up to Smirnov. She's quite willing to duel
with him, providing he will teach her how to fire a pistol. Gallantly,
Smirnov agrees.
While teaching Popova to fire the
pistol, Smirnov tricks her into shooting and destroying a treasured
photograph of her dead husband. Popova attacks Smirnov in a fury, and he
is so taken by her fire and spirit that he begins to fall in love with
her. When he attempts to withdraw from the duel, Popova discovers that
it is because he is attracted to her. After much argument and resistance,
Smirnov finally convinces Popova that a life with him is better than a
life wasted in mourning, and they rush off to be married.
Courtesy of Peermusic Classical
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| Total Acts: |
Not Available
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| Orchestration: |
1 fl (pic), 1 ob (Eh), 1 cl (b cl), 1 bsn (cbsn ad lib.) - 1 hrn, 1 tpt, 1 tbn, - 2 perc-hp-pf - string quintet
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| Contact: |
Peermusic Classical
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| Address: |
250 W. 57th St., Suite 820, New York, NY 10107
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| Phone: |
212-265-3910, x. 17
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Schedule of Performances Listings
The Boor
( Argento)
Thursday, March 25, 1993 - University of Michigan University Productions
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