by Ottorino Respighi

Libretto by Gian Bistolfi, after Charles Perrault

July 2005
Lincoln Center

Read press reviews of this production.

credits

Conductor Neal Goren
Production Basil Twist
Scenic Design Matthew Benedict and Basil Twist
Lighting Design Andrew Hill
Costume Design David Colon and Basil Twist
Hair Design Bobby Miller

CAST
Nightingale/Blue Fairy Olga Makarina
Princess Nicole Heaston
Cuckoo/Cat Patricia Risley
Queen/Spindle/Duchess Michaela Martens
Green Fairy/Old Woman Kathryn Day
Jester/Prince April Eduardo Valdes
Ambassador/King/Woodcutter/Mr. Dollar Daniel Sutin
Frog Ida Nicolosi
Four Physicians Vincent Metallo, Kevin Radtke, Paul Speiser, Timothy Wilds

PUPPETEERS
Deana Acheson | Matthew Acheson | Carol Binion | Oliver Dalzell | Alex Endy | Chris Green | Erin K. Orr | Anne Posluszny | Jessica Scott | Lake Simons | Kevin Taylor | Eric Wright

Gotham Chamber Opera Orchestra
Fuma Sacra Choir

A co-production of Lincoln Center Festival and Spoleto Festival USA, in association with Gotham Chamber Opera.

conductor's notes
In 2001, I attended Basil Twist's production of Petrushka, and the force of his creativity hit me like a thunderbolt. Surely, I thought, there must be a perfect vehicle for Twist's vision and Gotham Chamber Opera. In researching the lost genre of puppet opera, I happened upon this ravishing work, originally conceived for a tiny orchestra and small puppets. Unfortunately, the original score and its orchestra parts disappeared early on. Later, Respighi created a vastly fleshed-out orchestration, and this version has survived. It is rich, lush, and full of special effects; the vocal and choral writing is expert and demanding. A listener might even hear ironic references to Salome, Das Rheingold, Rigoletto, and Hansel and Gretel.

A large chamber orchestra like the one called for in Respighi's revision requires a spacious orchestra pit and a comparably large theater. Marionettes, however, are traditionally small. Enabling us to enjoy the full richness of Respighi's score, Basil Twist has created a visual adventure with a panoply of marionettes, larger than you are likely to encounter anywhere else, requiring extraordinary technical prowess from the puppeteers. As part of the musical and puppetry team, I take great joy in presenting Respighi's masterpiece as it was meant to be seen and heard. - Neal Goren

director's notes
Premiered in 1922 for a cast of puppets supported by human voices, this work was performed around the world for more than 20 years by Vittorio Podrecca's renowned puppet theater troupe. The work was revised and reorchestrated by Respighi for child mimes in 1934. Today's performance uses this larger orchestration, which has rarely been performed in the past 50 years and has never been presented in the United States. In homage to the original Podrecca version, I have chosen to mostly use marionettes or string puppets. Luckily, I had a lot of help. I am grateful to my long-time supporter, Johnnie Moore, for encouraging me to take on a project of this scope. Creating with these particular visual designers has been a dream project for me, and the technical designers also have been extraordinary. The crisscross between the technical and the visual in this production is extreme and has sometimes made for a confounding experience. I'm glad they are my friends. The 12 puppeteers have literally shaped this project with me, by helping me build so much of and so many of the puppets. I have great trust in each of them as artists, artisans, and performers. They have proven themselves again and again as invaluable catalysts, turning imaginative sparks into the hard stuff of puppets.