''The Yellow Sofa'' is an opera by the British composer

Julian Philips Julian Philips is a British composer. Philips' works have been performed at major music festivals, including The Proms, Tanglewood, Three Choirs Festival, at the Wigmore Hall, South Bank Centre and Berlin Philharmonic Chamber Music Hall and by ...

, with a

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 writer and director Edward Kemp, based on the novella '' Alves & Co.'' by Eça de Queiros. The opera was premiered by Glyndebourne Festival Opera in 2009, directed by Frederick Wake-Walker and conducted by Leo McFall. This premiere production was revived at Glyndebourne in autumn 2012 and then taken on a national tour that same year, including a performance at the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Op ...

, Covent Garden. Both productions attracted wide critical notice, with a range of reviews in ''

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'', ''

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'', ''

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'', and online.

Roles

* Amarela (

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middle C ...

) * Godofredo (

baritone A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the r ...

) * Machado (

tenor A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...

) * Ludovina (

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

) * Margarida (mezzo-soprano) * Neto (baritone) * Teresa (soprano) * Carvalho (baritone) * Medeiros (

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

) * Nunes Vidal (tenor)

Synopsis

Amarela, the eponymous sofa the opera, has seen many a love affair unfold on her plump cushions. Take Godofredo Alves for example, an everyday Lisbon business man, who comes home only to discover his wife, Ludovina, on the Yellow Sofa, in the clutches of his business partner, Machado. Godofredo's world then falls apart: he throws his wife out of their house, he consults his father-in-law Neto, and he turns to his friends Carvalho and Medeiros, in the hope that they might offer him a solution. Throughout the twisting and turning of Godofredo's newly awakened emotions, he converses with Amarela, the Yellow Sofa, contemplating a series of melodramatic solutions, including taking his own life, or challenging Machado to a duel. Eventually, Godofredo's feelings reach a peak of tension: and while he experiences his own dark night of the soul, his friends come to a collective decision on his behalf, offering a bathetic release from desperate heroics. And so Godofredo returns to his humdrum life but on re-encountering his wife at the opera, they are reconciled over his inability to wind up the family clock.

Forces

''The Yellow Sofa'' is scored for

string orchestra A string orchestra is an orchestra consisting solely of a string section made up of the bowed strings used in Western Classical music. The instruments of such an orchestra are most often the following: the violin, which is divided into first ...

, two guitars (one classical, one Portuguese) and piano. The opera is 80 minutes in duration and is published by Edition Peters.''The Yellow Sofa''
Edition Peters

References

External links

*
Julian Philips
Edition Peters {{DEFAULTSORT:Yellow Sofa, The 2009 operas Operas set in Portugal Operas based on novels English-language operas Operas by Julian Philips Operas set in the 19th century Operas