THE TELEPHONE/THE MEDIUM

Coproduction of the Opera and Theater Madlenianum and Zagreb Opera b. b.

Premiere in Zagreb – 15th February 2009.
Premiere in Belgrade – 26th February 2009.

Conductor: Vladimir Kranjčević
Direction, scenography and video: Nenad Glavan
Costume design: Ivica Klarić
Orchestra of Madlenianum prepared by: Vesna Šouc-Tričković
Lightning design: Srđan Jovanović

 

It could be said for Giancarlo Menotti that he is the true Italian who made the American opera dream. He was born on July 7, 1911, and from his native Italian soil, he pulled a sense of melodiousness and belief that opera should be in the best sense the populist art. Therefore he creates a plenty of popular operas and upon his moving to America, two of them were even awarded with the Pulitzer Prize: Consul (1950) and The Saint of Bleecker Street (1955). After these successes, Menotti becomes worldly popular. He founds the Two Worlds Festival (in Spoleto in Italy and Charleston in USA) and writes his new works of art which make him famous. Menotti has also expressed himself in the big operas with numerous roles as well as in the chamber operas. Two of those chamber operas which proved themselves as the most popular are certainly The Medium (1946) and The Telephone (1947).

 

The Telephone is an especially witty opera sketch about a girl to whom a young man cannot express his love before going on a trip – due to constant ringing of the phone. Although the opera lasts only about fifteen minutes, there is acting, singing and the audience is entertained to their most. Ben loves Lucy. He is late for the train, but just when he wants to tell her his love, "someone unimportant" is on the line. When the third conversation ends, Lucy notices that Ben is not there. The phone rings again and Ben is on the telephone line...

 

What happens when in nowadays time the spiritual sessions of the fraud Madame Flora lose their control and become- real. That is what the opera The Medium talks about.  
The plot of this opera takes place in the apartment of a fortune teller known by her nickname Baba. The word is about Madame Flora who, with her daughter and a mute young man, Toby, launches a secret mechanism which should convince the credulous ones that ghosts appeared during the session.  Everything gets complicated when during the session of a married couple the Gobineaus Madame Flora really feels the “icy hand” of a wraith. She immediately quits the sessions and admits to be a fraud, but the Gobineaus come again and ask a favor of “inviting spirits”. Madame Flora turns them down and asks Toby to admit deceiving as well. By the way, she drinks more and more. She falls asleep, but twitches. The curtain next to her slowly moves, as Toby is hidden behind it. Madame Flora takes a gun, kills him and extremely upset calls Monica to tell her that she has killed a ghost…

 

 

THE TELEPHONE

One- Act Opera

(1947)

Characters:
Lucy: Lidija Horvat–Dunjko
Ben: Ronald Braus

 

THE MEDIUM
Two- Act Opera
(1946)

Characters:

Monica: Lidija Horvat Dunjko
Toby: Zoran Pribičević
Madam Flora: Zlatomira Nikolova
Mrs. Gobineau: Blanka Tkalčić–Breglec
Mr. Gobineau: Ronald Braus
Mrs. Nolan: Diana Hilje

Orchestra of the Opera and Theatre Madlenianum
Concert Master: Balint Varga