Lilith (opera)
Lilith is an English-language opera created by American composer Deborah Drattell, with a libretto by David Steven Cohen. The opera reimagines Eve returning to Eden following the funeral of Adam. In the ruined paradise, she confronts Lilith, the notorious “other woman” who in legends such as the medieval Alphabet of Sirach mated with Adam before Eve was created.
Lilith was initially created as an orchestral piece for the Denver Symphony when Drattell was the organization’s artist in residence, but instead it was premièred with the New York Philharmonic in 1990. The piece was expanded to a full-length opera, with a world première planned in 1997 at New York’s Dicapo Opera, but the production was cancelled due to a labor dispute. Drattell reworked the piece, presenting it as a workshop offering at the Glimmerglass Opera in Cooperstown, New York in 1998. The full opera had its world première on November 11, 2001, at the New York City Opera with Lauren Flanigan as Eve.[1]
References
- ↑ Anne Midgette, "'Lilith' Is Made Flesh", New York Times (November 9, 2001)