Girls of the Golden West (opera)

Girls of the Golden West is an opera in two acts with music by John Adams and a libretto by Peter Sellars. The San Francisco Opera commissioned the work jointly with Dallas Opera, the Dutch National Opera (De Nationale Opera) and Teatro La Fenice in Venice. The opera was premiered in San Francisco on November 21, 2017.[1]

Girls of the Golden West
Opera by John Adams
LibrettistPeter Sellars
LanguageEnglish
Based onLetters
by Louise Clappe
Premiere
November 21, 2017
San Francisco Opera

Composition history

The opera is inspired by the 1851/1852 letters of Louise Clappe, who lived for a year and a half in the mining settlement of Rich Bar (now Diamondville, California) during the California Gold Rush. Clappe published the letters under the pen name Dame Shirley.[2][3] The libretto is also sourced from other literature of the period, including newspaper articles and the writings of Mark Twain. Adams wrote, "To be able to set to music the authentic voices of these people, whether from their letters or their songs or from newspaper accounts from their time, is a great privilege for me." Sellars, who also directed the opera, conceived the libretto while doing research for a production of Giacomo Puccini's 1910 opera La fanciulla del West (based on David Belasco's 1905 play The Girl of the Golden West), which also deals with the gold rush period. According to Sellars, "These true stories of the Forty-Niners are overwhelming in their heroism, passion and cruelty, telling tales of racial conflicts, colorful and humorous exploits, political strife and struggles to build anew a life and to decide what it would mean to be American."[4]

Sellars's previous collaborations with Adams have included premiere productions of Nixon in China, The Death of Klinghoffer and Doctor Atomic (for which Sellars also wrote the libretto).[5]

Roles
Role Voice type Premiere cast, 21 November 2017
(Conductor: Grant Gershon)[1]
Dame Shirley soprano Julia Bullock
Ned Peters bass-baritone Davóne Tines
Joe Cannon tenor Paul Appleby
Ah Sing soprano Hye Jung Lee
Clarence bass-baritone Ryan McKinny
Josef Segovia mezzo-soprano J'Nai Bridges
Ramón baritone Elliot Madore
Lola Montez dancer Lorena Feijóo
Men's chorus

References
  1. "Girls of the Golden West – production details". San Francisco Opera. Retrieved October 26, 2018.
  2. Shirley, Dame (1970). The Shirley Letters. Peregine Press.
  3. Smith-Barazini, Marlene (Winter 1999–2000). "Out of the Shadows: Louise Clappe's Life and Early California Writings". California History.
  4. "John Adams's New Opera Girls of the Golden West Announced" (Press release). Boosey & Hawkes. June 2016. Retrieved October 26, 2018.
  5. Michael Cooper, "John Adams and Peter Sellars Again Joining Forces for New Opera", The New York Times, 14 June 2016, accessed 15 June 2016
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