The Making of the Representative for Planet 8 (opera)
{{Short description|1988 opera by Philip Glass}}
{{Infobox opera
| name = The Making of the Representative for Planet 8
| composer = Philip Glass
| image = Philip Glass in Florence, Italy - 1993.jpg
| image_upright =
| caption = Glass in 2006
| librettist = Doris Lessing
| based_on = Lessing's novel of the same name
| premiere_date = {{Start date|1988|07|08}}
| premiere_location = Houston Grand Opera
}}
The Making of the Representative for Planet 8 is a full-scale opera by Philip Glass with a libretto by Doris Lessing based on her novel of the same name, first performed in 1988. Together with Glass's 1997 opera The Marriages Between Zones Three, Four and Five, it is part of a planned trilogy of operas based on Lessing's Canopus in Argos novels.{{cite web |title=The Marriages Between Zones Three, Four and Five |url=https://philipglass.com/compositions/marraiges_between_zones_3-4-5/ |website=Philip Glass |accessdate=17 September 2019}}
The opera was co-commissioned by English National Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Het Muziektheater, Amsterdam, and Theater Kiel, and co-produced with Artpark, Lewiston, New York State.
Performance history
The opera was first performed at Houston Grand Opera on 8 July 1988.Houston Grand Opera program notes The British premiere was 9 November 1988 by English National Opera at the London Coliseum.English National Opera programme notes. Henrietta Bredin (editor), Battley Brothers Printers, London. This production was broadcast live in the UK on BBC Radio 3 on 13 December 1988.
Roles
| class="wikitable" | |
| Role
!Houston premiere, 8 July 1988 | London premiere, 9 November 1988 (conductor: Michael Lloyd)[https://web.archive.org/web/20160305050138/http://opera.archive.netcopy.co.uk/article/january-1989/15/planet-8-a-total-mismatch "Planet 8: a total mismatch"] by Andrew Clements, Opera, January 1989, p. 15. |
|---|---|
| Doeg Memory-maker and Storyteller
| baritone | Harlan Foss | Andrew Shore |
| Johor Canopean agent
| bass | Timothy Breese | Richard Angas |
| Alsi a young woman
| soprano | Louise Edeiken | Lesley Garrett |
| Marl Keeper of the Herds
| baritone | David Langan | Simon Masterton-Smith |
| Bratch Guardian of Health
| Julia Parks | Tamsin Dives |
| Pedug Teacher of the Young
| baritone | Richard Sutliff | John Kitchiner |
| Rivalin Custodian of the Lake
| mezzo-soprano | Patricia Shockler | Jady Pearl |
| Masson the Builder
| tenor | Edgar Moore | Peter Bamber |
| Klin Tender of Fruits and Plants
| soprano | Edrie Means | Gloria Crane |
| Nooni a young man
| tenor | Jason Alexander | Christopher Gillett |
Synopsis
The people of Planet 8 are peaceful and content, until one of the Canopean Agents arrives and tells them to prepare for an impending ice age. The embattled population fights courageously in the face of certain death, and their efforts are transformed when they become the one single "representative" of the planet's people and culture.
Recordings
Unlike many of Philip Glass's other operas, The Making of the Representative for Planet 8 has not been recorded for CD sale.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://philipglass.com/compositions/making_rep_for_planet_8/ Dedicated page on the official web site of Philip Glass]
- [http://www.dorislessing.org/therepresentative.html Details of the opera, including production photographs], dorislessing.org
- [https://www.nytimes.com/1988/07/11/arts/reviews-music-new-opera-by-lessing-and-glass.html "Reviews/Music; New Opera By Lessing And Glass"] by John Rockwell, The New York Times, 11 July 1988
{{Philip Glass}}
{{Doris Lessing}}
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Category:Fiction set around Canopus
Category:Opera world premieres at Houston Grand Opera
Category:Operas by Philip Glass
Category:Science fiction operas
Category:Operas set in outer space
Category:Operas based on novels