A Water Bird Talk

Opera in one act (c. 45')

Composer: Dominick Argento
Libretto by the composer, freely adapted from On the Harmfulness of Tobacco by Anton Chekov and The Birds of America by J. J. Audobon

Cast of Characters

The Lecturer, medium male voice (baritone or low tenor)

Synopsis

The setting is the rostrum of a provincial club on the East Coast of the United States, sometime in the second half of the 19th century. The Lecturer, a somewhat absent-minded man in his fifties, begins a lecture on water birds. At the beginning of the lecture his wife prompts him from offstage with coughing and throat-clearing. She soon leaves in disgust, and the Lecturer's talk digresses even further into his home life: his wife is a dominating, ill-tempered woman he regrets the unfulfilled promises of his youth, and even his daughters make fun of him. At last, the explosion of his slide projector and the return of his wife ends his lecture, and he leaves the stage.

Performance History

Premiere: Orpheus Chamber Ensemble, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Brooklyn, NY; 19 May 1977. Lecturer: Vern Sutton. Cond.: Philip Brunelle. Stage dir.: Ian Strasfogel

Discography

A Water Bird Talk and Miss Havisham's Wedding Night. Shirley-Quick, Mabbs, Sinfonia of St. Cecilia/Watkins, 1997. Compact Disc. Koch 3-7388-2 H1.
A Water Bird Talk. Sutton, Manhattan Chamber Orchestra/Clark, 1996.
Compact disc: Newport Classics NCD 85602.

last update: 25 Nov. 2002