Trouble In Tahiti + A Quiet Place by Bernstein, Tue 15 Oct 2024, From (2024/2024), Directed by Oliver Mears, Conductor Nicholas Chalmers, Royal Opera House, London, United Kingdom

With catchy tunes and show-stopping numbers, Leonard Bernstein’s musical theatre credentials shine through in Trouble in Tahiti. A Quiet Place marks a radical, daring departure. Oliver Mears brings Leonard Bernstein’s rarely-performed operas to the Linbury Theatre in a new production with a small ensemble arrangement, ideally suited to an intimate theatre space. Conductor Nicholas Chalmers makes his debut with The Royal Opera in both works, which star Henry Neill and Wallis Giunta – also debuting – in Trouble in Tahiti, and Grant Doyle, Henry Neill and Rowan Pierce in A Quiet Place. LEONARD BERNSTEIN Leonard Bernstein was a hugely influential figure of 20th-century musical and popular culture. A gifted conductor and a skilled music educator, he was responsible for introducing a new generation to classical music through his performances and televised musical lectures. As a composer, he found success in the world of musical theatre, composing the score of On the Town in 1944, and the award-winning music for West Side Story in 1957. MUSIC OF SATIRE AND SYMPHONY Bernstein satirises the American consumerist ideal in Trouble in Tahiti with a close-harmony trio who sing advertising slogans and jarringly jolly tunes, while Sam and Dinah struggle to find happiness. In A Quiet Place, the introspective instrumental sections contrast with the conflict-driven ensembles, where we see the family trading insults and accusations at breakneck speed. ART IMITATING LIFE? Bernstein wrote much of Trouble in Tahiti while on honeymoon with his wife, the actor Felicia Montealegre. Given that the opera is a study in marital discord, this an unusual choice. A Quiet Place was composed in the aftermath of Felicia's death from cancer and sees Bernstein pouring his grief into the music and the story. The opera also touches on themes of bisexuality – again, personal to Bernstein – through the character of François, who is married to Dede, but who has a romantic history with her brother, Junior.