Work Information
| Publisher |
G Schirmer Inc |
Category |
Opera and Music Theatre |
| Sub-Category |
Chamber Opera |
Year Composed |
1989 |
| Duration |
18 Minutes |
Solo Instrument(s) |
mezzo soprano |
| Orchestration |
fl, ob, cl, bn, hn, hp, pf, 2vn, va, vc
alt.: fl, ob, cl, bn, hn, pf |
Languages |
English |
| Availability |
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| Vocal Score(s): |
50481830 |
Vocal Score(s): |
HL50481830 |
Programme Note
Cast List:
JULIA CHILD: Mezzo-soprano
Synopsis:
A comic culinary extravaganza that taps the wit and antics of one of America's best-loved television personalities.
Librettist note:
Bon Appétit! was comprised of two icons of the television age: music draped over the words and gestures of Julia Child, the mother-of-all-foodies, in her black-and-white days; written for Jean Stapleton, famed original-cast, Broadway-musical comedienne, in her late career. The juxtaposition clicked for a few seasons, as a curtain-raiser for the more substantial Italian Lesson. The work lives on by virtue of flamboyant mezzos, piano-accompanied at gala occasions where great quantities of chocolate are consumed.
Two episodes of the second WGBH-TV season were conflated: the race between the whisk and the electric beater comes out of a different cake. Props have been used, or not. Hoiby's music deftly veers around Broadway chansons, early television, and Ravelian apotheosis to underline Julia Child's compelling domestic uplift.
— Mark Shulgasser, librettist
Reviews
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It is a credit to Hoiby's keen sense of theatricality that he did exactly what should be done given the material: create a solid, well-written work of sheer entertainment. For the "libretto" the composer essentially transcribed and combined a couple of Julia Childs's cooking show episodes. He was well aware of the main character's naturally melodious speaking voice, and rather than working against it as a more "serious" modern composer might have done, he built on it, turning her inflections into song. Then, as if baking a cake himself, he layered simple-yet-tasty melodies and harmonies, kneaded in clever musical references, and frosted it all with colorful orchestrations. BMO's [Boston Midsummer Opera's] particular recipe added Judy Kaye to the mix; she clearly owns the role, now that Jean Stapleton is no longer with us. Kaye's delivery was so natural and unencumbered by any self-conscious acting that, had she been taller, one could have believed it was Julia herself on the stage.
Tom Schnauber, Boston Music Intelligencer, 29/07/2010
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