Organization

Conductor

Benjamin T Berman

Stage director

Anna Stefanelli

Pianist

Kate Lim

Stage Manager

Maria Balboa

Singer

Tenor

Max Zander

Le matelot

Soprano

Amy Maples

La femme

Baritone

Tom Sitzler

L'ami

Bass

Jason Adamo

Le beau-père

Hub City Opera and Dance Company

Le pauvre matelot -  (The Poor Sailor)

New Jersey

United States

Avenel Performing Arts Center

Le pauvre matelot Milhaud

Public

The Poor Sailor

Approved

A sailor and his wife are having a very special reunion after 15 long years of separation. What could be more joyful? Not so fast. The sailor returns home incognito and decides to test his wife by posing as her husband's wealthy friend. Her husband, he claims, is poor and haunted by his creditors. Eager for her husband's return, she decides on a plan to welcome him back. 
Darius Milhaud's short opera is based on a libretto by Jean Cocteau, whose masterful storytelling combines elements of classical Greek drama, fairytale, and satire. No spoiler alert: Expect the unexpected.

The composer Darius Milhaud was born in 1892. He studied under Dukas, Widor, and Leroux. Many of his formative years were spent abroad. He spent two years in South America as secretary to Claudel, French Minsiter to Brazil. A visit to London in 1920 exposed him to Bily Arnold, and two years later he toured the U.S. The influence of Jazz was a constant presence in his output. Later on, his travels included visits to Russia, Syria, Sardinia, and Spain. Milhaud excelled in short forms, and put forth a series of chamber operas, of which Le pauvre matelot  is an exemplar. The very short chamber symphonies are companions and contemporaries to the operas. Like Pergolesi, he was at the forefront of musical taste, and the legacies of both composers shaped musical invention for generations.

English

The Poor Sailor by Milhaud, From (2022/2022), Directed by Anna Stefanelli,, Conductor Benjamin T Berman, Avenel Performing Arts Center, New Jersey, United States

Performance credits (Cast & Crew )

Cast

Crew

Programme, About & Synopsis

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Further reading

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