Spring 2016 Education & Outreach The Telephone By Gian Carlo Menotti

COMPOSER INFORMATION

Gian Carlo Menotti was born in Italy, in 1911. He was bursting with music from the beginning and his mother nurtured his talent by giving him the chance to learn various instruments. As a little boy he loved theatre and staged puppet shows for which he made the costumes and provided music. He was writing songs at 5 and composed the music and wrote the words (libretto) for his first opera, The Death of Pierrot, at age 11.

When his family moved to Milan, Gian Carlo went regularly to theatres and operas. He began to study at the Milan Conservatory in 1923 at age 12. His mother thought this school wasn’t going to meet his creative needs so she asked for advice from one of the most famous conductors of the time, Arturo Toscanini. He recommended Menotti attend the Curtis Institute at Philadelphia. In 1928 Menotti, now 17, found himself in Philadelphia speaking little English.

Ten years later Menotti started his career as a famous American opera composer and librettist with his Amelia at the Ball. It was unusual for composers to also write the words, but he insisted on doing so. Through the 1940s and 1950s he had success on stage and the radio, and on television with Amahl and the Night Visitors (Opera North just performed this show in December 2015). He continued to write, produce, and stage operas through the 1960s and 1970s, but Menotti’s work started to fall out of favor with the public. He won his second Pulitzer Prize for the Saint of Bleecker Street. (He won his first Pulitzer for The Consul.)

Menotti’s musical style was criticized for not changing with the times. By the 1970s he left the United States for Scotland to run the Two World Festival in Spoleto, Italy. He died in 2007 at age 95.

Links to biographical information: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/gian-carlo-menotti-434839.html obit http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/02/arts/music/02menotti.html?_r=0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gian_Carlo_Menotti

Link to sample performance: Opera Theater and James M. Collier Young Artist Program presents The Telephone and The Old Maid and the Thief (this performance is coupled with another Menotti opera): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDTmHE9P4gM

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THE OPERA

THE TELEPHONE or L’amour à Trois (1947) is a short comic opera written by Gian Carlo Menotti in 1947 to be the opening music for a longer work, The Medium. There are only two singer/actors with a third silent partner in the relationship - the telephone. Ben is in love with Lucy and comes to her apartment to ask an important question. He only has a short amount of time to ask his question before he has to leave for a trip. Lucy is happy to see him but she keeps choosing to answer her phone rather than speak to him. Ben is frustrated with Lucy’s emotional involvement with her phone conversations. Not wanting to miss his train, Ben leaves without asking Lucy to marry him. Ben realizes that he has to fight fire with fire and he uses the phone to solve his problem. He calls to propose to Lucy; she agrees and they express their happiness over the phone.

OPERA IS...

What makes an opera an opera? – Usually big voices, big sets, big stage, big orchestra, and big cost. All the words are sung and the singers have strong, athletic voices. It takes lots of daily practice, great memory, singing in 4 or 5 different languages, acting ability, and the strength to sing and be heard over a large orchestra. The Telephone is a chamber opera. A chamber opera requires a smaller cast, set, and often only piano accompaniment. There are two musical forms in most operas that usually alternate in the music. One form is the recitative. These sound like quick, rhythmic, sung conversations where the action lives. The story is moved along during the recitatives. The other form is the aria, which presents more flowing melody and shows the feelings of the character. Sometimes in Menotti’s music it is hard to tell the difference because the arias don’t repeat a melody, but the arias do show emotion.

POST SHOW IDEAS FOR DISCUSSION…

Lucy has a coloratura voice. What instruments does Lucy’s voice sound like? When does Lucy sing her highest notes? Ben has a baritone voice. What instrument does he sound like? Lucy’s phone conversations have different feelings; listen to how the music changes for each call. Is the music fast or slow; loud or soft; smooth or jumpy? How is The Telephone similar to or different from musicals that you have experienced? Thinking about Menotti, what helped him in his career? Although he was born in Italy, what would make him say that he was an American Composer? Read through the Libretto as a play.

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