Breaking the Waves is an opera in three acts by Missy Mazzoli with a libretto by Royce Vavrek. It is based on the 1996 film of the same name by Danish auteur Lars von Trier. [1] The opera was first performed on September 22, 2016, by Opera Philadelphia.
The opera was commissioned and premiered by Opera Philadelphia. [2] The work was co-commissioned by Beth Morrison Projects. [3] The New York City Prototype Festival showed this production in three performances in January 2017 at the Skirball Center for the Performing Arts. [4]
The opera received its European premiere on 21 August 2019 as part of the Edinburgh International Festival in a new co-production between Opera Ventures, Scottish Opera and Houston Grand Opera, in association with Bristol Old Vic. The production ran for three performances and was directed by Tom Morris, Sydney Mancasola sang Bess, Wallis Giunta sang Dodo, Susan Bullock sang Bess's Mother. [5] In 2024, the production was performed at Detroit Opera. [6]
| Role | Voice type | Premiere cast, 22 September 2016 (Conductor: Steven Osgood) |
|---|---|---|
| Bess McNeill | soprano | Kiera Duffy |
| Jan Nyman | baritone | John Moore |
| Dodo McNeill | mezzo-soprano | Eve Gigliotti |
| Mrs. McNeill | soprano | Patricia Schuman |
| Dr. Richardson | tenor | David Portillo |
| Terry | bass-baritone | Zachary James |
| Minister | bass-baritone | Marcus DeLoach |
| Sadistic Sailor | baritone | John David Miles |
| The Runt | tenor | George Ross Somerville |
| The Stone Thrower | tenor | Daniel Taylor |
Set in the Scottish Highlands in the early 1970s, Breaking the Waves tells the story of Bess McNeill, a religious young woman with a deep love for her husband Jan, a handsome oil rig worker. When Jan becomes paralyzed in an off-shore accident, Bess's marital vows are put to the test as he encourages her to seek other lovers and return to his bedside to tell him of her sexual activities. He insists that the stories will feel like they are making love together and keep him alive. Bess's increasing selflessness leads to a finale of divine grace, but at great cost. [3]
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Breaking the Waves was widely seen by critics as a major success. It won the inaugural Best New Opera Award from the Music Critics Association of North America, and was shortlisted for "Best World Premiere" Prize at the International Opera Awards. [7]
"Missy Mazzoli's Breaking the Waves, which had its world premiere at Opera Philadelphia on Thursday, is savage, heartbreaking and thoroughly original. The 1996 Lars von Trier film on which it is based has a disturbing undercurrent of violent misogyny, but the operatic Bess McNeill, for all her frailties, is no victim. Classic tragic opera heroines may weep and die, but Bess, as conceived by Ms. Mazzoli and librettist Royce Vavrek, and sung by the extraordinary Kiera Duffy, is an evolving, unforgettable character". Heidi Waleson, The Wall Street Journal [8]
"...the desperate scenario of self-destruction and redemption seems to be a projection of Bess's will to believe, her reshaping of the fabric of the world. Mazzoli’s score supports that dynamic by wedding strong lyric invention to an unsettled, insidiously dissonant chamber-orchestra texture that evokes the jagged beauty both of Skye and of Bess's inner landscape. Benjamin Britten is a palpable influence, particularly in thrashing orchestral tempests and some melismatic, Peter Quint-like writing for tenor. Yet Mazzoli absorbs these and other elements into her own spare, propulsive voice". Alex Ross, The New Yorker [9]
"It is not easy to find new operas that command attention, tell their story lucidly and create a powerful, permeating mood. Dark and daring, Breaking the Waves does all this with sensitivity and style". Zachary Woolfe, The New York Times . [10]
At its European premiere, in a new production directed by Tom Morris for Scottish Opera and John Berry's Opera Ventures at the Edinburgh International Festival, the work again was praised including a five star review in The Scotsman calling it "operatic gold". [11] Soprano Sydney Mancasola was awarded a Herald Angel Award for her performance as Bess, a prize awarded by The Herald , Glasgow, to stand-out contributions among all of the summer festivals in the Edinburgh. [12]
Breaking The Waves is a 1996 psychological romantic melodrama film directed and co-written by Lars von Trier and starring Emily Watson in her feature film acting debut, and with Stellan Skarsgård, a frequent collaborator with von Trier.
Royce Vavrek is a Canadian-born Brooklyn-based librettist, playwright, dance scenarist, musical theatre writer and filmmaker known for his collaborations with composers David T. Little, Missy Mazzoli, Mikael Karlsson, Ricky Ian Gordon, Paola Prestini and Du Yun, soprano Lauren Worsham, producers Beth Morrison and Lawrence Edelson, and conductors Steven Osgood, Julian Wachner and Alan Pierson.
Dog Days is an opera by David T. Little, to a libretto by Royce Vavrek after the short story by Judy Budnitz.
Thaddeus Strassberger is an American, Italian and Cherokee Nation citizen who works as an opera director and scenic, costume, lighting and video designer in over fifteen countries around the world.
Missy Mazzoli is an American composer and pianist who is a member of the composition faculty at the Mannes College of Music. She has received critical acclaim for her chamber, orchestral and operatic work. In 2018 she became one of the first two women to receive a commission from the Metropolitan Opera House. She is the founder and keyboardist for Victoire, an electro-acoustic band dedicated to performing her music. From 2012-2015 she was composer-in-residence at Opera Philadelphia, in collaboration with Gotham Chamber Opera and Music-Theater Group. Her music is published by G. Schirmer. Mazzoli received a 2015 Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists Award, a Fulbright Grant to the Netherlands, and in 2018 was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of Best Classical Composition. In 2018, Mazzoli was named for a two-season term as the Mead Composer-in-Residence with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Mazzoli was named the Bragg Artist-in-Residence at Mount Allison University beginning in 2022.
27 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. The full cast of five singers was featured on the cover of the June 2014 issue of Opera News. 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. The world premiere was recorded by Albany Records.
Wallis Giunta is a Canadian mezzo-soprano opera singer performing at leading theatres and opera companies around the world.
John Edward Berry is a British-born musician and arts administrator.
Kiera Duffy is an American opera singer born in Philadelphia. A soprano, Duffy is also an accomplished pianist. She has earned bachelor's and master's degrees from Westminster Choir College.
Gregory Spears is an American composer of instrumental and operatic works that blend aspects of romanticism, minimalism, and early music. Among his best known works are the operas Fellow Travelers and Paul's Case, as well as his Requiem.
Angel's Bone is an opera by composer Du Yun and librettist Royce Vavrek in one act that follows the plight of two angels discovered on earth who are forced into spiritual and sexual slavery at the hands of a financially troubled couple. The work is a contemporary parable that explores the dark effects behind modern-day slavery, and human trafficking and probes the psyche of traffickers. Du Yun draws her inspiration from a range of musical genres – from classical to punk to the cabaret.
JFK is an opera in three acts by American composer David T. Little, with an English-language libretto by Royce Vavrek. The opera's story is based on the final night of American president John F. Kennedy's life that was spent in at the Hotel Texas in Fort Worth, prior to his assassination in Dallas, on November 22, 1963.
Steven Osgood is an American classical music conductor.
Song from the Uproar: The Lives and Deaths of Isabelle Eberhardt is an opera in one act by Missy Mazzoli with a libretto by Royce Vavrek and Mazzoli. It is inspired by the life of Swiss explorer and writer Isabelle Eberhardt.
Abigail Fischer is an American mezzo-soprano.
Beth Morrison is an American producer of contemporary opera.
The Music Critics Association of North America gives an Award for Best New Opera annually to given to a composer and librettist.
Talise Trevigne is an American operatic soprano.
Sydney Mancasola is an American operatic soprano singer.
Prototype Festival is an annual, weeklong contemporary opera and musical theater festival held in New York City.
