Trouble in Tahiti is a one-act opera composed by Leonard Bernstein with an English libretto by the composer. Bernstein later wrote a sequel to the opera, A Quiet Place.
It received its first performance on 12 June 1952 at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts.
Musically, Bernstein indulges in many of the styles he is most recognized for. The heroine's first aria has a wistful melancholy that reminds us of Aaron Copland's earlier vernacula...
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Trouble in Tahiti is a one-act opera composed by Leonard Bernstein with an English libretto by the composer. Bernstein later wrote a sequel to the opera, A Quiet Place.
It received its first performance on 12 June 1952 at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts.
Musically, Bernstein indulges in many of the styles he is most recognized for. The heroine's first aria has a wistful melancholy that reminds us of Aaron Copland's earlier vernacular works and of Bernstein's later writing in West Side Story, while the jazzy interludes harken back to the score Bernstein wrote for On the Town.
There are only two main characters, a married couple named Sam and Dinah. A boy is often referred to throughout but is never seen or heard from. There is also a secretary spoken of and even being spoken to in certain arias but she is never seen or heard. The opera is frequently performed with minimal scenery and very simple costumes.
Very little occurs in terms of plot. It is the story of a day in...
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