''Lilith'' is an
opera
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...
created by American composer
Deborah Drattell, with a libretto by David Steven Cohen. It was premiered in 2001.
Synopsis
The opera imagines
Eve
Eve (; ; ar, حَوَّاء, Ḥawwāʾ; el, Εὕα, Heúa; la, Eva, Heva; Syriac: romanized: ) is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the origin story, "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the ...
returning to
Eden following the funeral of
Adam. In the ruined paradise, she confronts
Lilith
Lilith ( ; he, לִילִית, Līlīṯ) is a female figure in Mesopotamian and Judaic mythology, alternatively the first wife of Adam and supposedly the primordial she-demon. Lilith is cited as having been "banished" from the Garden of Ed ...
, who in Jewish mythology and legends such as the medieval ''
Alphabet of Sirach
An alphabet is a standardized set of basic written graphemes (called letters) that represent the phonemes of certain spoken languages. Not all writing systems represent language in this way; in a syllabary, each character represents a syllab ...
'' mated with Adam before Eve was created.
History
Drattell initially composed ''Lilith'' as an orchestral piece for the
Denver Symphony
The Denver Symphony Orchestra, established in 1934 and dissolved in 1989, was a professional American orchestra in Denver, Colorado. Until 1978, when the Boettcher Concert Hall was built to house the symphony orchestra, it performed in a successio ...
when she was the organization’s artist-in-residence. It was premiered with the
New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...
in 1990.
The piece was expanded to a full-length opera, with a libretto by David Steven Cohen. Its world première was initially planned for 1997 at New York’s Dicapo Opera, but production was cancelled due to a labor dispute. Drattell reworked the piece, presenting it as a workshop offering at the
Glimmerglass Opera
The Glimmerglass Festival (formerly known as Glimmerglass Opera) is an American opera company. Founded in 1975 by Peter Macris, the Glimmerglass Festival presents an annual season of operas at the Alice Busch Opera Theater on Otsego Lake eight ...
in
Cooperstown, New York in 1998. The full opera had its world première on November 11, 2001, at the
New York City Opera
The New York City Opera (NYCO) is an American opera company located in Manhattan in New York City. The company has been active from 1943 through 2013 (when it filed for bankruptcy), and again since 2016 when it was revived.
The opera company, du ...
with
Lauren Flanigan as Eve.
[Anne Midgette, " 'Lilith' Is Made Flesh](_blank)
, ''New York Times'' (November 9, 2001)
References
External links
Profile of Deborah Drattell
English-language operas
Operas by Deborah Drattell
Operas
Cultural depictions of Adam and Eve
2001 operas
Opera world premieres at New York City Opera
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