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The Italian Lesson

Musical Monologue
for soprano or mezzo-soprano and ensemble
Edition: Performance material

Product Details

Description

Based on the monologue by Ruth Draper, The Italian Lesson chronicles the morning activities of a formidable and pretentious Park Avenue matron of the 1920s. Setting out to translate the opening lines of Dante’s Inferno with her Italian teacher, she is continually distracted by her mischievous children (‘Barbara darling, get the baby. She’s in the waste-basket? Well, pull her out!’), her servants (‘Will you try and get me some men for the opera on Monday? I have a box, but I have no men’), her gossiping acquaintances (‘You didn’t! A whole glass of water! What nerve! Didn’t that ruin her hat?’), and the arrival of a new puppy, whom she christens Dante.
From the moment he heard a recording of Ruth Draper performing her monologue The Italian Lesson in the 1970s, Lee Hoiby was transfixed. After listening to the piece again (and again), not only did many of its phrases become household language for him, but he also recognized the inherent musicality of her performance and decided to set it to music. Hoiby employed Draper’s recorded reading as a guide to the singer’s rhythm, pitch and reflection, and has remarked that for his performer, exact pitches are often less important than expression and rhythm. A chamber ensemble accompanies the protagonist, accentuating the humorous, dramatic, and thoroughly frenzied nature of the text.

Orchestral Cast

1.1.1.1-1.0.0.0-hp.pno-str(1.1.1.1.0 or augmented)

Content

I Signorina
II Mable Norton
III Jane
IV Miss Pounder
V Puppy
VI Count Bluffsky
VII Miss Swift
VIII Camilla
IX Miss Swift, cont'd.
X The Lover

More Information

Title:
The Italian Lesson
Musical Monologue
for soprano or mezzo-soprano and ensemble
text by Ruth Draper, libretto by Mark Shulgasser
Language:
English
Edition:
Performance material
Publisher/Label:
Schott Music
Year of composition:
1982
Opus:
op. 34
Duration:
45 ′
World Premiere:
1982 · Newport, RI (USA)
The Newport Festival 1982


Series:

Technical Details

Product number:
LSMC 50005
Delivery rights:
Worldwide

Performances

Set Ascending Direction
  • The Italian Lesson
    Orchestra: Opera Piccola of San Antonio
    November 2, 2014 | San Antonio, TX (United States of America) , Charline McCombs Empire Theatre
  • The Italian Lesson
    Orchestra: Opera Piccola of San Antonio
    November 1, 2014 | San Antonio, TX (United States of America) , Charline McCombs Empire Theatre
  • The Italian Lesson
    August 1, 2014 | Calumet, MI (United States of America) , Calumet Theater
  • The Italian Lesson
    July 30, 2014 | Marquette, MI (United States of America) , Reynolds Recital Hall
  • The Italian Lesson
    July 29, 2014 | Crystal Falls, MI (United States of America) , Crystal Theater
  • Set Ascending Direction

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