Quick Facts About The Libation Bearers

 

The Opera

Story:    Orestes, Agamemnon’s son, returns to Argos to avenge his father’s murder by killing his mother Klytemnestra, who plotted her husband's murder with her lover Aegisthus (based on Aeschylus' tragedy The Libation Bearers)
Date of Composition: 2001-2003
Composer:  Andrew Earle Simpson
Librettist: Sarah Brown Ferrario
Language of Libretto: English (translated directly from the ancient Greek)
Supertitles: Computerized supertitles available for use
Number of Acts: One
Number of Scenes: Eight
Performance Time: Approximately 60 minutes (no intermission)
Cast: 7 principal roles (2 sop, 1 contr, 2 tnr, 1 bar, 1 bs bar); Chorus leader (alto), SSAA chorus (12-16 members) (NB: in concert performances, it is possible to combine the two bass/bass-baritone roles of the Slave and Pylades.)
Dancers: Recommended: 5-7 dancers (in staged productions)
Film: Original film sequences by Nicholas Ferrario available for projection
Instrumental Scoring: Chamber Ensemble version: fl/ob/vn/va/vc/pno/1 perc (Scores/parts and recording of Workshop production available on request from the composer)
Workshop Production (chamber version): Concert performance, March 19-20, 2004.  Ward Hall, The Benjamin T. Rome School of Music, The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC; Samuel Bill, conductor; Sibylla, women's chorus; Nicholas Ferrario, film writer and director

 

The Roles

 

Orestes, son of Agamemnon and Klytemnestra; exiled prince of Argos Tenor 
Pylades, friend of Orestes Baritone
Elektra, daughter of Agamemnon and Klytemnestra; princess of Argos Soprano
Chorus Leader, Trojan slave in the palace of Argos Alto
Slave, doorkeeper in the palace of Argos Bass-baritone

Klytemnestra, queen of Argos; former wife of Agamemnon, lover of Aegisthus

 Soprano

Nurse of Orestes; servant in the palace of Argos

 Contralto
Aegisthus, de facto king of Argos in Agamemnon's place; lover of Klytemnestra Tenor

                                

Chorus

 

SSAA                                      12-16 members

 

Dancers

 

A troupe of at least 5 dancers has been employed in both workshop and full-stage productions of Agamemnon, the first opera of the Oresteia trilogy, of which The Libation Bearers is part two.  Dance is conceived of as an integral part of all staged performances of the Oresteia operas.