LEON WILSON CLARK OPERA SERIES SHEPHERD SCHOOL OPERA and the SHEPHERD SCHOOL CHAMBER ORCHESTRA present SAVITRI An opera in one act by Gustav Holst GIANNI SCHICCHI An opera in one act by Giacomo Puccini Libretto by Giovacchino Forzano Richard Bado, conductor Cristian Macelaru, conductor Debra Dickinson, stage director Wortham Opera Theatre November 5, 7, 9 and 10, 2008 7 Performance times: November 5, 7 and JO at 7:30 p.m. November 9 at 2:00 p.m. sfkieherd RICE UNIVERSITY Sc~ol / ofMusic Savitri I An opera in one act, music and libretto by Gustav Holst (1874-1934). Adapted from the Mahabharata. Premiere on December 5, 1916. ) The woods at evening. CAST (in order of vocal appearance) Death. Stephen Ray Savitri Sarah Larsen Satyavan . Zachary Devin - INTERMISSION - Gianni Schicchi An opera in one act by Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924). Libretto by Giovacchino Forzano. Based on the poem Commedia, part 1: Inferno by Dante Alighieri. Premiere on December 14, 1918. A bedroom in the house of Buoso Donati, Florence, Italy. CAST (in order of appearance) Buoso Donati, a wealthy Florentine. Paul Wilt Zita, Buoso's cousin Alison Campagna Simone, Buoso's cousin. Adam Lau Rinuccio, Zita's nephew, in love with Lauretta . Aaron Blake La Ciesca, Marco's wife . Mary-Jane Lee Marco, Simone's son. Brian Haase Betta di Signa, Buoso's brother-in-law . DavidKeck Gherardo, Buoso's nephew . Eric Longo Nella, Gherardo's wife . Corissa Leonard Gheradino, their son . Julie Marx Gianni Schicchi . Michael Sumuel Lauretta, his daughter, in love with Rinuccio Alexandra Ford Maestro Spinelloccio, a doctor Joseph Quigley Amantio di Nicolao, a notary . Joseph Quigley Pinellino, a shoemaker Geordie Alexander Guccio, a tailor . Samuel Schultz Nella cover . Ann Marshall CHORUS Julia Bell, Alison Campagna, Shelley Cantrick, Sishel Claverie, Rebecca Henderson, Rebecca Henry, Ann Marshall, Julie Marx, Sarah Mesko, Erika Rodden, Lauren Snoujfer, Annemarie Zmolek The performance is approximately one hour and fifty minutes with one intermission. Members of the SHEPHERD SCHOOL CHAMBER ORCHESTRA Larry Rachleff, music director Violin I Viola (cont.) Oboe Trombone Jing Wang, Lynsey Anderson Stanley Chyi Benjamin Zilber concertmaster Molly Gebrian Malorie Blake English Horn Harp Cello Terna Watstein Malia Smith Emily Klein Reenat Pinchas, Brittany Henry principal Celeste Ashley Malloy Clarinet Morgen Johnson Youn Ju Namkoong Jessica Robinson Carlos Cordeiro Micah Claffey Ellen Breakfield Timpani and Violin II Double Bass Percussion David Huntsman, Bassoon Kevin Jablonski, Heidi Law principal Rachael Young principal Robert Garza Andrew Meyer Katherine Munagian Andres Pichardo Emily Herdeman Horn Jeffrey Taylor Flute Scott Strong Orchestra Manager Henrik Heide Erik Finley and Librarian Viola Natalie Zeldin Kaaren Fleisher Adam Matthes, Trumpet principal Piccolo Patrick Corvington Production Manager Anthony Paree Natalie Zeldin Robert Zider Megan Manning ARTISTIC STAFF Conductors . Richard Bado (Nov. 5, 7 and 9) Cristian Macelaru (Nov. JO) Stage Director Debra Dickinson Set Designer . Kirk Markley Lighting Designer. Jeremy Choate Costume, Wig, and Makeup Supervisor Macyline Perrone Properties Master . Alex Stutler Musical Preparation Grant Loehnig, Youn Ju Namkoong Italian Diction Coach Corradina Caporello Surtitles for Savitri . Patricia Houk Surtitles for Gianni Schicchi . Chris Bergen PRODUCTION STAFF Technical Director . Troy McLaughlin Stage Manager . Alex Stutler Surtitle Operators . Geordie Alexander, Julie Bell Followspot Operators . Abbey Curzon, Sarah Lamesh Running Crew . Shelly Cantrick, Sishel Claverie, Rebecca Henderson, Rebecca Henry, Ann Marshall, Sarah Mesko, Erica Schoelkopf, Samuel Schultz, Lauren Snouffer, Annemarie Zmolek ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This production is made possible by a generous endowment from the late Dr. Leon Wilson Clark, and in part by financial support from The Humphreys Foundation. Savitri is presented through arrange­ ment with G. Schirmer, Inc., publisher and copyright owner. Special thanks to Houston Grand Opera, Stages Repertory Theatre, the University of Houston Downtown, Jodi Bobrovsky, Megan Freemantle, Kelly Robertson, John Villarreal, Mandy Billings, and Francis Schmidt. SYNOPSES Savitri Savitri, the wife of woodsman Satyavan, hears the voice of Death proclaim­ ing that he is coming to take her husband away. Satyavan enters and tries to calm his upset wife, explaining to her that death, like everything in the physical realm that surrounds them, is but an illusion, known as Maya. True to her premonition, Death does indeed appear to strike Satyavan down. Though grief-stricken, Savitri warmly welcomes Death. To repay her for this kindness and her noble generos­ ity, Death grants Savitri one wish, anything except the return of her husband. She asks for life, to be lived in all its fullness. When Death agrees to this request, she explains that she cannot live a full life without her husband, and Death, moved by her wisdom and her boundless love for Satyavan, concedes. As Death, admitting that he himself is Maya, retreats, Satyavan returns to life and to Savitri, and they begin their glorious future together. Gianni Schicchi Buoso Donati, a wealthy gentleman of Florence, dies, surrounded by his ex­ tended family. Rumor has it that Buoso has left his fortune to a monastery, and the relatives frantically search for his will. Rinuccio finds the document and coerces his aunt Zita into agreeing to let him marry Lauretta, the penniless daughter of Gianni Schicchi, if the will leaves everything to the relatives. Unfortunately, upon reading the will, the Donati clan discovers that Buoso has indeed slighted them and left his fortune to the friars. When Rinuccio suggests that Gianni Schicchi is the only one who is smart enough to help them out of this mess, he encounters great resistance on the part of his relatives, who consider Schicchi to be a parve­ nu interloper. Schicchi and Lauretta appear, and the animosity of the Donati clan causes Schicchi to refuse to come to their aid, but the pleas of his daughter melt his heart. As he searches for a way to circumvent the will, Schicchi comes up with the plan to take the place of Buoso and make a new will. The relatives agree to be a party to this deceit, hoping that Schicchi will leave the fortune to them. He warns the relatives that the penalties in Florence for fraud are strict: exile and the cut­ ting off ofa hand. When the notary arrives, Schicchi successfully impersonates Buoso, but he leaves the bulk of the fortune to Buoso's "good friend, Gianni Schic­ chi," thus cheating the Donati's out of their inheritance. Fearful of the conse­ quences of being party to a fraud, they are forced to remain silent as Schicchi en­ sures the happiness of Lauretta and Rinuccio. DIRECTOR'S NOTES Gustav Holst was so fascinated by the spirituality and mysticism of Hinduism that he learned Sanskrit in order to translate and adapt its mythology from the ori­ ginal language. The libretto of Siivitri is based on a legend from the ancient Indi­ an epic poem The Mahiibhiirata, which is ofprimary importance to Hindu philo­ sophy. A childless king, through devotion and years ofprayer, is granted a daugh­ ter by the goddess Savitri. The girl is named after the goddess and grows up to be a wise and beautiful princess. When no man proves worthy to marry Savitri, her father allows her to go on a quest to find a husband. After looking far and wide, she meets a blind old king living in a hut in the forest, and his son Satyavan, known for his virtue and generosity. Savitri decides to marry the impoverished prince, to live an austere and ascetic life with him and his family, but a prophet tells Savitri and her father that the young man is doomed to die within a year. Savitri 's father begs the girl to change her mind, but she is determined to marry Satyavan. They marry, and for a year, they have an idyllic existence in the forest. However, the words of the prophecy haunt Savitri, and the opera begins on the evening of his foretold death. In the original legend, as a result of her determination and wisdom in dealing with Death, Savitri not only succeeds in bringing Satyavan back to life, but she restores the old king's sight and returns his kingdom to him, ensures that her father will have a hundred sons, and that she herself will have many children and four hundred years to live with her beloved Satyavan. One of the concepts figuring prominently in Savitri is the idea of Maya, which is worldly illusion, the idea that the appearance of the world around us is masquer­ ading as reality. The goal of enlightenment is to recognize that the distinction be­ tween mind and body, between the physical separateness of self or ego and the infi­ nite oneness of the universe, is only an illusion. This enlightenment is what Savitri achieves throughout the course of the opera, learning that death itself is but a transi­ tory illusion, conquered by the reality of her devotion and eternal love for Satyavan. True love triumphs at the end of Gianni Schicchi as well, and once again clever­ ness is the catalyst for the happy ending. The story is based on the Commentary on the Divine Comedy by an anonymous Florentine of the fourteenth century, published in 1866, which is in turn based on a brief passage in Dante's The Divine Comedy: ... That goblin over there {in Hell] is Gianni Schicchi and he runs rabid, mangling the other dead ... [heJ ventured, in order to gain the best of the herd, to counterfeit himself as Buoso Donati, making a will and giving it proper legal form. - The Inferno, Canto XXX, Lines 32-33 and 42-45, by Dante Alighieri Composer Giacomo Puccini and librettist Giovacchino Forzano turned the tables on this grim reference, making the greedy Donati family the goblins of the piece, rabidly mangling each other in their eagerness to grab Buoso's inheritance.