27 (opera)

27
Opera by Ricky Ian Gordon
Original cast of the premiere
LibrettistRoyce Vavrek
LanguageEnglish
Based onRoland Topor's Le locataire chimérique
Premiere
June 14, 2014 (2014-06-14)
Loretto-Hilton Center, St. Louis

27 (or Twenty-Seven) is an opera by composer Ricky Ian Gordon and librettist Royce Vavrek in a prologue and five acts that explores the relationship of Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas, and the salons that they hosted at their residence at 27 rue de Fleurus in Paris. The work was commissioned by Opera Theatre of Saint Louis for mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe.[1] The full cast of five singers was featured on the cover of the June 2014 issue of Opera News.[2] The opera premiered on June 14, 2014, in a production directed by James Robinson and conducted by Michael Christie at the Loretto-Hilton Center in St. Louis, Missouri.[3] The world premiere was recorded by Albany Records.[4]

Pittsburgh Opera staged the work in February 2016.[5] The New York City premiere was staged in October 2016 at New York City Center with Stephanie Blythe, Heidi Stober, Theo Lebow, Tobias Greenhalgh [de], and Daniel Brevik. Ted Sperling conducted the Orchestra of St. Luke's and Gordon composed new material specially for the MasterVoices chorus.[6]

  1. ^ "Opera Theatre of Saint Louis releases world premiere recording" by Willis Ryder Arnold, St. Louis Public Radio, February 19, 2015
  2. ^ "Table of Contents: June 2014". Opera News. Retrieved 2019-12-24.
  3. ^ F. Paul Driscoll (June 2014). "Lucky Number". Opera News. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
  4. ^ "Albany Records: 27, An Opera in Five Acts". www.albanyrecords.com. Retrieved 2019-12-24.
  5. ^ Twenty-Seven, performance details, Pittsburgh Opera
  6. ^ 27, New York City Center performance details, October 2016