64:. Opera Philadelphia gave its first performance of the opera, in a slightly revised form, on 5 February 2016. North Carolina Opera gave the opera its home state premiere on 28 September 2017. The Minnesota Opera staged the opera in 2018 as part of its New Works Initiative. The Virginia Opera also featured performances of the opera during February 2021 as part of its themed "Love is a Battlefield" 2020–2021 season.
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115:, at Opera Philadelphia, Higdon and Scheer made modest revisions. In late January 2016, Nathan Gunn withdrew from the Opera Philadelphia production because of a family medical emergency. Jarrett Ott, the understudy for Inman in both the Santa Fe Opera and Opera Philadelphia rosters, stepped into the role of Inman for the Opera Philadelphia performances.
84:
lived in the
Appalachia region of the US to assist Scheer with rendering portions of his libretto in a style of speech more authentic to the region, when needed: "I helped Gene 'southernize' the libretto. Gene's from New York, and he wasn't sure how to shape the language for the characters, so I took care of it. Those speech patterns felt very familiar.
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Inman encounters Veasey again, near a river whilst fleeing the Home Guard, and bargains with him for passage across the river. However, their vessel capsizes and the two drift down the river. The next morning, Lila and her three sisters see Inman and Veasey. Lila's husband drugs the two men before
483:
Ada later goes hunting in the woods. There, she and Inman reunite. The other characters whom Inman has encountered on his odyssey appear to Inman, and urge him to tell Ada about his adventures ("Tell her of the slave you met"; "Tell her how the boat went down"). The couple affirms their pledge to
83:
Santa Fe Opera subsequently rescued this commission, in conjunction with the Opera
Company of Philadelphia (now Opera Philadelphia) and the Minnesota Opera. Scheer began to write the libretto in autumn 2011, and Higdon began to compose the music in 2012. Higdon used her personal background of having
452:
Back at Black Cove Farm, Ruby finds her estranged father, Stobrod, a fiddler. Strobod is trying to steal food. Ruby wants nothing to do with her father, although he asserts that he has reformed his ways. Teague approaches, and Ruby hides her father. She later orders her father to stay away from
440:
W.P. Inman, a
Confederate soldier wounded at the Battle of Petersburg, decides to desert from the Confederate Army and return home to Ada Monroe, his beloved who lives at Black Cove Farm, in North Carolina. Inman is aware of the Home Guard, which hunts down deserters from the Confederate Army. The
91:
In advance of the premiere, four of the five scheduled Santa Fe Opera performances sold out. This led Santa Fe Opera to add one more performance. As well, Santa Fe Opera secured an agreement with the Dutch recording label
Pentatone to produce a commercial recording of the opera, captured live from
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Inman starts an insurrection among the chain gang. The guards shoot the entire chain gang, with a wounded Inman as the only survivor, chained to six dead prisoners. He relives the day he bid Ada farewell, when he thought that the war would last but six months. Inman then loses consciousness.
87:
Scheer estimated that 20 to 25% of the sung text in his libretto came directly from lines in the novel. Higdon took 20 months to complete her score. Workshops of the opera at the Curtis
Institute of Music occurred in December 2012 for act 1 and in December 2013 for act 2.
80:. However, complications related to securing the rights to adapt the novel, along with conflicts over financial demands and reports of clashes of working style with San Francisco Opera with respect to the creation of new operas, led to the lapsing of this commission.
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On his journey home, Inman meets
Solomon Veasey, whom he stops from committing murder. Meanwhile, Ada, once privileged, leads a life of material desperation. Ada meets Ruby, a mountain woman who teaches Ada about hunting and surviving.
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each other. Teague continues his pursuit. Ada and Inman consummate their love, on their final night together. Eventually, Teague and the Home Guard track down Inman. In the final battle, Inman is killed.
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At a campfire in the woods, Teague and his men confront
Stobrod and Pangle, shoot them and leave them for dead. Ada finds the two men, and expresses compassion for Stobrod ("I feel sorry for you").
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Back at Black Cove Farm, Stobrod and his traveling companion Pangle still rely upon Ruby and Ada for sustenance. Stobrod tries to convince Ruby that he is a changed man, but Ruby remains skeptical.
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Lucinda, a runaway slave, rifles through the pockets of the dead chain gang prisoners. Inman regains consciousness and awakens, which startles her. Lucinda frees Inman, who resumes his journey.
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is part of the company's "American
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At Black Cove Farm, Teague appears, with a copy of the newspaper that lists the names of deserters, on which Ruby sees her father's name.
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Inman meets Sara, a war widow, who is trying to comfort her baby. Inman helps her, gains her trust, and is invited to spend the night.
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76:. Over the period of 2009 to 2011, the creators had searched for various subjects to adapt, which led to the choice of the novel
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Tom
Huizenga, "Great Expectations: A New Season Of New Music". National Public Radio (Deceptive Cadence blog), 3 September 2014
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In acts 1 and 2, the time of the opera is the
American Civil War, 1865. The epilogue occurs 10 years after the close of act 2.
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makes East Coast Premiere February 5–14, 2016, at the Academy of Music." Opera Philadelphia press release, 5 January 2016
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96:, with set design by Robert Brill, lighting design by Brian Nason, costumes by David C. Woolard and projection design by
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The original commission for Higdon to compose her first opera, in collaboration with Scheer as librettist, came from the
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leader of the local Home Guard is Teague, who resorts to such practices as burying deserters alive.
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was the winner in the category of World Premiere at the International Opera Awards in London.
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the Santa Fe Opera production. The director of the premiere production at Santa Fe Opera was
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on 1 August 2015. This production coincided with the 150th anniversary of the ending of the
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giving them up to the Home Guard. Inman and Veasey are put on a chain gang of deserters.
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The next morning, Inman and Sara react quickly when Union soldiers appear.
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631:"Can the Violence of War Ever Break the Bonds of Love? Cold Mountain"
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is an American opera in two acts and an epilogue, with music by
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Nine years later, Ada is at her farm, with her child by Inman.
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was released in April 2016. It received two Grammy nominations.
827:"'Cold Mountain' opera ready to be scaled at Academy of Music"
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Mark Gresham, "Jennifer Higdon completes her new opera,
1008:: Student Singers Help to Shape a Major Modern Opera",
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at the Academy: Often stirring, if not always inspired"
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novelist Charles Frazier and librettist Gene Scheer"
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991:Kristin Tillotson, "Minnesota Opera co-commissions
1391:Musical compositions about the American Civil War
852:"Sideshow: Gunn out, Ott in as leading man for
658:"Santa Fe Opera ascends with Jennifer Higdon's
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687:"For OCP, a brisk pace and a bold repertoire"
526:opera review: Long-lost love among the ruins"
8:
943:– Philadelphia, Opera Philadelphia (2/7/16)"
802:"Mountain do: stage director Leonard Foglia"
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1012:(Curtis Institute of Music), Spring 2014
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502:List of compositions by Jennifer Higdon
44:. The opera is a co-commission between
1061:". EarRelevant blog, 17 September 2013
118:The Pentatone commercial recording of
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879:David Patrick Stearns (2015-04-04).
850:David Patrick Stearns (2016-01-27).
825:David Patrick Stearns (2016-02-04).
685:David Patrick Stearns (2011-08-14).
549:David Patrick Stearns (2015-08-02).
136:made its West Coast Premiere at the
107:With respect to Opera Philadelphia,
1039:"Jennifer Higdon writes an opera",
712:"Pasatiempo – Scaling new heights:
1052:". WRTI, 90.1 FM, 16 November 2012
14:
1436:Modern adaptations of the Odyssey
937:Shengold, David (February 2016).
806:Pasatiempo (Santa Fe New Mexican)
752:Pasatiempo (Santa Fe New Mexican)
578:Williams, Simon (November 2015).
16:Opera composed by Jennifer Higdon
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1048:Jim Cotter, "Jennifer Higdon on
885:turns the epic novel into opera"
800:Jonathan Richards (2015-07-30).
1416:Operas set in the United States
656:Ray Mark Rinaldi (2015-08-04).
1396:Operas set in the 19th century
1:
1327:On the Death of the Righteous
1084:, Blogs the Arts, 16 May 2016
742:Jennifer Levin (2015-07-31).
710:Bill Kohlhaase (2015-07-31).
551:"Review: Higdon's new opera,
520:James M Keller (2015-08-02).
159:Premiere cast, August 1, 2015
999:(Artcetera blog), 6 May 2014
1431:Operas based on the Odyssey
908:Peter Dobrin (2016-02-08).
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1066:Pentatone Records page on
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1082:The Philadelphia Inquirer
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860:The Philadelphia Inquirer
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559:The Philadelphia Inquirer
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997:Minneapolis Star Tribune
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393:Laura (a drugged woman)
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1411:Operas based on novels
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247:Anthony Michaels-Moore
140:2019 Summer Festival.
772:"Santa Fe Opera adds
1150:List of compositions
978:, jenniferhigdon.com
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598:La Fille du Régiment
590:La Finta Giardiniera
530:Santa Fe New Mexican
410:Nicholas Ottersberg
253:Stobrod / Blind Man
1335:All Things Majestic
1195:Percussion Concerto
881:"Jennifer Higdon's
744:"Words into music:
163:Miguel Harth-Bedoya
104:was the conductor.
102:Miguel Harth-Bedoya
74:San Francisco Opera
68:Composition history
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98:Elaine J. McCarthy
62:American Civil War
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431:
418:spoken role
407:spoken role
396:spoken role
385:spoken role
133:
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90:
86:
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20:
19:
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1426:2015 operas
727:19 December
382:Owens' Son
207:Emily Fons
178:Nathan Gunn
161:Conductor:
36:, based on
34:Gene Scheer
1385:Categories
1295:City Scape
959:2016-06-12
948:Opera News
923:2016-06-06
894:2016-06-06
865:2016-06-06
836:2016-06-06
811:2016-06-06
786:2016-06-06
757:2016-06-06
696:2016-06-06
671:2016-06-12
616:2016-06-12
605:Opera News
596:(8/4/15),
592:(8/8/15),
588:(8/6/15),
584:(8/5/15),
564:2016-06-06
535:2016-06-06
508:References
155:Voice type
1010:Overtones
600:(8/8/15)"
594:Rigoletto
374:baritone
304:baritone
296:Roy Hage
1372:Category
1260:Duo Duel
1176:Concerto
496:See also
488:Epilogue
428:Synopsis
328:soprano
317:soprano
282:soprano
268:Lucinda
242:baritone
173:baritone
52:and the
30:libretto
28:and the
1346:Chamber
1303:Machine
1078:scores"
371:Thomas
349:Claire
338:Olivia
227:Veasey
212:Teague
188:soprano
1421:Operas
1357:(2002)
1338:(2011)
1330:(2009)
1322:(2004)
1314:(2004)
1306:(2003)
1298:(2002)
1290:(1999)
1282:(1999)
1263:(2020)
1255:(2018)
1249:(2017)
1243:(2017)
1237:(2015)
1231:(2008)
1225:(2007)
1217:(2007)
1211:(2007)
1203:(2006)
1197:(2005)
1191:(2005)
1185:(2002)
1168:(2015)
1090:Portal
856:opera"
641:21 May
586:Salome
404:Birch
363:tenor
325:Katie
293:tenor
230:tenor
169:Inman
1157:Opera
1104:Opera
461:Act 2
453:her.
436:Act 1
314:Lila
290:Reid
279:Sara
216:tenor
199:Ruby
151:Role
144:Roles
1319:Loco
955:(10)
729:2019
643:2020
257:bass
184:Ada
612:(5)
32:by
1387::
1080:,
995:,
953:80
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