Alice's Adventures Under Ground (opera)

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Page from the original manuscript copy of Alice's Adventures Under Ground, 1864, held in the British Library Alice's Adventures Under Ground - Lewis Carroll - British Library Add MS 46700 f45v.jpg
Page from the original manuscript copy of Alice's Adventures Under Ground , 1864, held in the British Library

Alice's Adventures Under Ground is a 2016 one-act opera by Gerald Barry to his own libretto, based on Lewis Carroll's 1865 children's book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (the original manuscript of which had the title of Alice's Adventures Under Ground) and its 1871 sequel Alice Through the Looking-Glass . First performed in a concert staging at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles on 22 November 2016 (a performance repeated with the same cast and conductor, Thomas Adès, at the Barbican Centre in London a few days later), [1] [2] it received its stage premiere at the Royal Opera House on 3 February 2020. [3] The staging was a joint production by the Royal Opera House, Irish National Opera and Dutch National Opera, and was directed by Antony McDonald. [4]

Contents

The 54 roles in the opera are sung by a cast of seven. [5]

Roles

Role Voice type Concert premieres
Walt Disney Concert Hall / Barbican Centre
November 2016
Conductor:
Thomas Adès [1] [2]
Stage premiere
Royal Opera House
3 February 2020
Conductor:
Thomas Adès
(double cast) [5]
Alice soprano Barbara Hannigan Jennifer France / Claudia Boyle
Red Queen/Queen of Hearts/Duchess
Mock Turtle/Passenger1/Oyster1
mezzo-soprano Allison CookAllison Cook / Clare Presland
Red Knight/Humpty Dumpty/King of Hearts
Bottle 4/Cake 4/Baby 4/Oyster 4
Passenger 6/Daisy 4
bass Joshua BloomAlan Ewing / Joshua Bloom
Dormouse/White Queen/Tiger-Lily/Mock Turtle
Cook/Passenger 2/Oyster2
contralto Hilary Summers Carole Wilson / Hilary Summers
White Rabbit/White King/Mad Hatter
Tweedledum/Frog Footman/Fawn/Bottle 1
Cake 2/Baby 1/Passenger 3/Daisy 1
tenor Allan Clayton Nicky Spence / Sam Furness
White Knight/Cheshire Cat/Soldier/Bottle 3
Cake 3/Baby 3/Oyster 3/Passenger 5/Daisy 3
baritone Mark Stone Stephen Richardson / Mark Stone
March Hare/Tweedledee/Fish Footman/Guard
Messenger/Bottle 2/Cake 1/Baby 2
Passenger 4/Daisy 2
tenorPeter TantsitsRobert Murray / Peter Tantsits
Lewis Carroll(silent role)Lukas Hunt
Lorina Riddell(silent role)Bianca Hopkins
Edith Riddell(silent role)Eloise Hymas

Synopsis

The following synopsis is in accordance with the Royal Opera House production, 2020. [6]

The opera, which is in a single act and lasts for just under an hour, is a sequence of episodes or parts of episodes from both Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking-Glass. It begins with Alice falling through the Rabbit Hole and meeting many of the characters of the first book, including the White Rabbit, the Mad Hatter, the Mock Turtle and the King, Queen and Knave of Hearts. Some of the poetry from the books also features, including "Jabberwocky" which is sung in versions in Russian (to the tune of "It's a Long Way to Tipperary"), French and German. [1] Moving to Looking Glass Land, Alice moves across the chessboard, meeting among others Humpty Dumpty and Tweedledum and Tweedledee, becoming a queen when she reaches the eighth square.

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References

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Swed, Mark (23 November 2016). "Review: The craziest opera yet: Gerald Barry's 'Alice's Adventures'". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  2. 1 2 Nice, David (29 November 2016). "Alice's Adventures Under Ground, Barbican". theartdesk.com. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  3. "Alice's Adventures Under Ground". Royal Opera House . Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  4. Royal Opera House (2020b), p. [1]
  5. 1 2 Royal Opera House (2020a), p. 6
  6. Royal Opera House (2020b), p. [3]

Sources