''The Telephone, or L'Amour à trois'' is an English-language

comic opera Comic opera, sometimes known as light opera, is a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending and often including spoken dialogue. Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a ne ...

in one act by

Gian Carlo Menotti Gian Carlo Menotti (, ; July 7, 1911 – February 1, 2007) was an Italian composer, librettist, director, and playwright who is primarily known for his output of 25 operas. Although he often referred to himself as an American composer, he kept h ...

, both words and music. It was written for production by the

Ballet Society Ballet Society is a non-profit educational institution founded in 1946 by Lincoln Kirstein and George Balanchine. At its founding, Balanchine was the Artistic Director and Kirstein served as the Secretary. The president of Ballet Society is Nanc ...

and was first presented on a double bill with Menotti's ''

The Medium ''The Medium'' is a short (one-hour-long) two-act dramatic opera with words and music by Gian Carlo Menotti. Commissioned by the Alice M. Ditson Fund at Columbia University, its first performance was there on 8 May 1946. The opera's first profes ...

'' at the Heckscher Theater, New York City, February 18–20, 1947. The

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

production took place on May 1, 1947, at the

Ethel Barrymore Theatre The Ethel Barrymore Theatre is a Broadway theater at 241 West 47th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1928, it was designed by Herbert J. Krapp in the Elizabethan, Mediterranean, and Adam styles ...

. 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 ...

Company presented it once, at the Lewisohn Stadium, on July 31, 1965.

Roles

Synopsis

Ben, bearing a gift, comes to visit Lucy at her apartment; he wants to propose to her before he leaves on a trip. Despite his attempts to get her attention for sufficient time to ask his question, Lucy is occupied with interminable conversations on the telephone. Between her calls, when Lucy leaves the room, Ben even takes the risk of trying to cut the telephone cord, though his attempt is unsuccessful. Not wanting to miss his train, Ben leaves without asking Lucy for her hand in marriage. But Ben makes one last attempt: He calls Lucy from a

telephone booth A telephone booth, telephone kiosk, telephone call box, telephone box or public call box is a tiny structure furnished with a payphone and designed for a telephone user's convenience; usually the user steps into the booth and closes the booth ...

outside on the street and makes his proposal. She consents, and the two join in a romantic duet over the phone line, at the end of which Lucy makes sure that Ben remembers her phone number.

Recordings

;Film and video *In 1968 a film of the opera was made for SFB/

ORF ORF or Orf may refer to: * Norfolk International Airport, IATA airport code ORF * Observer Research Foundation, an Indian research institute * One Race Films, a film production company founded by Vin Diesel * Open reading frame, a portion of the ...

, in German.

Anja Silja Anja Silja Regina Langwagen (, born 17 April 1940) is a German soprano singer. Biography Born in Berlin, Silja began her operatic career at a very early age, with her grandfather, Egon Friedrich Maria Anders van Rijn, as her voice teacher. She ...

and Eberhard Wächter portrayed the young couple. It was conducted by Milo Chamberlain, and the production was directed by

Otto Schenk Otto Schenk (born 12 June 1930, in Vienna) is an Austrian actor, and theater and opera director. Life and career Schenk was born to Catholic parents. His father, a lawyer, had Jewish roots and therefore lost his job after the Anschluss in 1938. ...

*In 2006 a DVD was licensed by Decca Music Group and released by Video Artists International, with Carole Farley and Russell Smythe in the roles and

José Serebrier José Serebrier (born 3 December 1938) is a Uruguayan conductor and composer. He is one of the most recorded conductors of his generation. Early life Serebrier was born in Montevideo to Russian and Polish parents of Jewish extraction. He fi ...

conducting the

Scottish Chamber Orchestra The Scottish Chamber Orchestra (SCO) is an Edinburgh-based UK chamber orchestra. One of Scotland's five National Performing Arts Companies, the SCO performs throughout Scotland, including annual tours of the Scottish Highlands and Islands and S ...

. This DVD also includes a performance of

Francis Poulenc Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc (; 7 January 189930 January 1963) was a French composer and pianist. His compositions include songs, solo piano works, chamber music, choral pieces, operas, ballets, and orchestral concert music. Among the best-kno ...

's ''

La voix humaine ' (English: ''The Human Voice'') is a forty-minute, one-act opera for soprano and orchestra composed by Francis Poulenc in 1958. The work is based on the play The Human Voice, of the same name by Jean Cocteau, who, along with French soprano Denis ...

'', whose story also contains a telephone conversation. *In 2020,

Scottish Opera Scottish Opera is the national opera company of Scotland, and one of the five national performing arts companies of Scotland. Founded in 1962 and based in Glasgow, it is the largest performing arts organisation in Scotland. History Scottish Op ...

and the

Parea Series The Chatham pigeon (''Hemiphaga chathamensis''), also called the Chatham Island pigeon or parea, is a bird endemic to the Chatham Islands in New Zealand. Growing to 800g in weight and 55 cm in length, the Chatham Island pigeon is closely rel ...

each released a film of the opera; both were set in the 21st century with

smartphones A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, which ...

as the titular telephone, with the Parea Series film set specifically during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

Discography

* ''The Medium'', ''The telephone'', Elizabeth Hertzberg, Lorenzo Grante, Orchestra Filarmonica Italiana,

Flavio Emilio Scogna Flavio Emilio Scogna (born 16 August 1956 in Savona, Liguria) is an Italian composer and conductor. Biography After studying at the Conservatory of Genoa, Scogna subsequently went on to further his studies in composition and conducting, amo ...

, Brilliant Classics 95361, 2018.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Telephone, The Operas by Gian Carlo Menotti English-language operas One-act operas Operas 1947 operas Chamber operas