''Mourning Becomes Electra'' is an

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

in 3 acts by composer

Marvin David Levy Marvin David Levy (August 2, 1932 – February 9, 2015) was an American composer, best known for his opera ''Mourning Becomes Electra''. ''Mourning Becomes Electra'' was given its world premiere at the Metropolitan Opera in 1967. Although deemed ...

. The work uses an English language

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...

by Henry W. Butler after the 1931

play of the same name Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * Pla ...

Eugene O'Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama techniques of realism, earlier ...

. It premiered at the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is operat ...

in New York City on March 17, 1967 with

Zubin Mehta Zubin Mehta (born 29 April 1936) is an Indian conductor of Western classical music. He is music director emeritus of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) and conductor emeritus of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Mehta's father was the foun ...

conducting.

Michael Cacoyannis Michael Cacoyannis ( el, Μιχάλης Κακογιάννης, ''Michalis Kakogiannis''; 11 June 1922 – 25 July 2011), sometimes credited as Michael Yannis, was a Greek Cypriots, Greek Cypriot theatre and film director, writer, produce ...

directed the production and

Boris Aronson Boris Aronson (October 15, 1898 – November 16, 1980) was an American scenic designer for Broadway and Yiddish theatre. He won the Tony Award for Scenic Design six times in his career. Biography The son of a Rabbi, Aronson was born in Kiev, ...

designed the sets, costumes, and lighting. The original production was critically well received, returned for a second season at the Met, and was presented successfully in Germany. However, it then vanished from the stage. After thirty years, the opera was presented by Lyric Opera of Chicago in 1998 in a revised version that reduced the orchestration and simplified the harmonic language. A more drastic revision of the opera was subsequently premiered at the Seattle Opera on October 18, 2003. The orchestration was further cut down and electronic samplers added. A number of passages were re-written or omitted and a new finale was created. In addition, the opera was restructured from the original three acts (corresponding to the original O'Neill drama) into two. This version was subsequently mounted in 2004 at the New York City Opera . Mourning Becomes Electra at www.boosey.com
/ref> These more recent productions have been in general favorably received, not the least because of the performance in all of them of

Lauren Flanigan Lauren Flanigan (born May 18, 1958) is an American operatic soprano who has had an active international career since the 1980s. She enjoyed a particularly fruitful partnership with the New York City Opera, appearing with the company almost every y ...

as Christine Mannon. The

Florida Grand Opera Florida Grand Opera (FGO) is an American opera company based in Miami, Florida. It is the oldest performing arts organization in Florida and the seventh oldest opera company in the United States. FGO was created in 1994 from the consolidation of ...

staged it in November 2013 in Miami and Ft. Lauderdale.

Roles and premiere cast

*Christine Mannon...............

Marie Collier Marie Elizabeth Collier (16 April 19278 December 1971) was an Australian operatic soprano. Marie Collier was born in Ballarat, Victoria, to Thomas Robinson Collier (1894–1962), a railway employee, and his wife Annie Marie (née Bechaz). Sh ...

*Lavinia Mannon.................

Evelyn Lear Evelyn Shulman Lear (January 8, 1926 – July 1, 2012) was an American operatic soprano. Between 1959 and 1992, she appeared in more than forty operatic roles, appeared with every major opera company in the United States and won a Grammy Award in ...

*Orin Mannon....................

John Reardon John Henry Reardon (born July 30, 1975) is a Canadian actor and former university football player. Prior to 2015, Reardon starred as Blake Laviolette on the CBC Television series ''Arctic Air'' and had a recurring role as Greg Cameron on the Show ...

*Captain Adam Brant.............

Sherrill Milnes Sherrill Milnes (born January 10, 1935) is an American dramatic baritone most famous for his Verdi roles. From 1965 until 1997 he was associated with the Metropolitan Opera. His voice is a high dramatic baritone, combining good legato with an inc ...

*General Ezra Mannon............

John Macurdy John Macurdy (né John Edward McCurdy; – ) was an American operatic bass, who sang at the Metropolitan Opera 1,001 times from 1962–2000 (and also sang numerous performances in other opera houses). Among his teachers was the contralto Elisab ...

*Captain Peter Niles............

Ron Bottcher Ron Bottcher (11 May 1940 – 18 April 1991) was an American operatic baritone who was actively performing with both the New York City Opera (NYCO) and the Metropolitan Opera during the 1960s. A native of Sandpoint, Idaho, he earned music de ...

*Helen Niles....................

Lilian Sukis Lilian Sukis (born 29 June 1939, Kaunas Kaunas (; ; also see other names) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the largest city and the ...

*Jed............................

Raymond Michalski Raymond Michalski (born 8 June 1933) is an American operatic bass-baritone. Michalski was born in Bayonne, New Jersey. He studied voice with Rosalie Miller at the Mannes School of Music in New York City before making his professional stage debut ...

*Chorus of Soldiers, Servants, Townspeople, Sailors, Dockworkers, Fieldworkers

References

External links

Musical Excerpts from the Seattle production
1967 operas English-language operas Operas Operas by Marvin David Levy Operas set in the United States Opera world premieres at the Metropolitan Opera Operas based on plays Adaptations of works by Eugene O'Neill Operas based on Agamemnon (Aeschylus play) Works based on The Libation Bearers Works based on The Eumenides Modern adaptations of works by Aeschylus {{english-opera-stub