Emmeline (opera)
| Tobias Picker |
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Operas
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Emmeline is an opera in two acts composed by Tobias Picker with a libretto by JD McClatchy. Picker's first opera, it was commissioned by the Santa Fe Opera company and premiered in 1996. It is based on the book Emmeline by Judith Rossner and is the story of a 19th-century Maine woman who has an illegitimate son who is taken away from her just after birth and raised by others; twenty years later she unwittingly marries him and, when the secret is discovered, she is abandoned by her son and ostracized in her town until death.
Roles
| Role | Voice | Premiere Cast, 1996 (Conductor: George Manahan) |
|---|---|---|
| Emmeline Mosher | soprano | Patricia Racette |
| Matthew Gurney, a railroad worker | tenor | Curt Peterson |
| Mr. Maguire, factory supervisor | baritone | Victor Ledbetter |
| Aunt Hannah Watkins, Henry Mosher's sister | dramatic contralto | Anne-Marie Owens |
| Henry Mosher, Emmeline's father | bass | Kevin Langan |
| Mrs. Bass, owner of the boarding house | mezzo-soprano | Josepha Gayer |
| Sophie, older girl at the mill | soprano | Melanie Sarakatsannis |
| Pastor Avery, pastor in Fayette, Maine | bass | Herbert Perry |
| Hooker, foreman at the mill | tenor | Wright Moore |
| Harriet Mosher, Emmeline's sister | soprano | Michelle Bradley |
| Simon Fentom, Emmeline's suitor | baritone | Gregory Keil |
| Ella Burling, girl at the mill | soprano | Mary Jane Kania |
Synopsis
In Act I, the Mosher family has just finished burying another child and Emmeline's Aunt Hannah convinces her father to send Emmeline to work in the mill so that she can send money back to the family. Once at the mill, Emmeline is sent to live in a lodging house directed by Mrs. Bass, yet she is seduced by Mr. Maguire, a factory supervisor married to the mill owner's daughter. When Emmeline is discovered to be pregnant, she is expelled from the mill and sent back to her aunt. Her aunt conceals the pregnancy from Emmeline's parents and arranges for a couple to adopt her child, raising it as their own. She does not even tell Emmeline if her child was a girl or a boy, feeling it will be easier to forget the child that way.
In Act II, twenty years have passed and Emmeline is unmarried, remaining at home. Various suitors propose, but she rejects them all on account of her hidden past and shame, saying "marriage is not for the likes of me." Then Matthew Gurney, a new boarder, takes up residence in their house. They both share an immediate attraction, and Emmeline helps Matthew with his reading. After several months, when Matthew's job presses him to move on, he explains he's staying and wishes to marry Emmeline. Emmeline's father objects, but she accepts the proposal. They marry and begin building a house, but soon Emmeline's mother dies. Aunt Hannah returns to attend the funeral but, when she is introduced to Matthew, she recognizes him as the child she took away from Emmeline. Matthew runs away after the secret is revealed, but Emmeline refuses to leave herself, saying she is waiting for her child. She remains in her and Matthew's unfinished house, utterly alone.
Recording
Tobias Picker: Emmeline (Patricia Racette, Anne-Marie Owens, Curt Peterson, Victor Ledbetter et al.; Santa Fe Opera; Conductor: George Manahan). Albany Records 284/85
Sources
- Steve Behrens, Tragic legend returns to public TV, retold this time as an opera, Current, July 22, 1996. Accessed 8 January 2008.
- Bernard Holland, 'Exploring The Heart Of Lyrical Americana', New York Times, April 2, 1998. Accessed 8 January 2008.