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''Patience and Sarah'' is a 1998 opera by Paula M. Kimper. The libretto is by Wende Persons, based on the novel of the same name by Isabel Miller. It has been described as the first lesbian opera and as the first mainstream gay-themed opera.〔 ==History== Persons began writing the libretto in 1981, after a lesbian opera singer, upon whom Persons had a crush, mentioned that she had trouble identifying with the straight characters she played. "She never got to be who she really was and sing of her love for women," Persons says. "I thought about it and said to myself, wouldn't it be great to do this?" Persons finished the first draft in three weeks in order to impress the singer.〔 In 1989, she asked her then-partner Kimper to collaborate; Kimper, a composer of incidental stage music and film scores, initially refused, but reconsidered after seeing a performance of the Ring Cycle at the Metropolitan Opera in 1993. Miller gave the pair permission to adapt her novel as an opera, and signed over the rights shortly before she died in 1996. Kimper and Persons cite Richard Strauss as an influence, and mention that their wish to make the opera "economically viable to produce" led to their choice of a small orchestra and no chorus.〔 The opera was formally commissioned by American Opera Projects, which presented readings of the work in development from 1994 to 1996. A semi-staged final version, accompanied by piano, was performed in July 1996. ''Patience and Sarah'' premiered on July 8, 1998, as part of the Lincoln Center Festival. Steven Osgood conducted the chamber orchestra, Douglas Moser directed, and Marie Anne Chiment designed the sets and costumes.〔 Some of the cast members were those from the 1996 semi-staged version, including Lori Ann Phillips and Elaine Valby as the title pair, though John G. Bellemer replaced Michael Hendrick as Edward White. Many lesbians, who unlike gay men are not known for opera patronage, attended, as well as other first-time operagoers.〔〔 The premiere coincided with a display at the American Folk Art Museum of the art of Mary Ann Willson, on whose story the novel was based.〔 The opera has been performed a number of times, in full stagings or in excerpts, in other locations. Laure Meloy, who premiered the role of Rachel, has often sung Patience in these performances and concerts. "I Want To Live," Patience and Sarah's Act II duet, appears on ''Lesbian American Composers'', the third album in Composers Recordings, Inc.'s "Gay American Composers" series. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Patience and Sarah (opera)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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