''Dolores Claiborne'' is an opera in two acts composed by

Tobias Picker Tobias Picker (born July 18, 1954) is an American composer, artistic director, and pianist, noted for his orchestral works ''Old and Lost Rivers'', ''Keys To The City'', and ''The Encantadas'', as well as his operas ''Emmeline'', ''Fantastic Mr. ...

to 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 ...

J. D. McClatchy J. D. "Sandy" McClatchy (August 12, 1945 – April 10, 2018) was an American poet, opera librettist and literary critic. He was editor of the ''Yale Review'' and president of The American Academy of Arts and Letters. Life McClatchy was born ...

. Based

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high s ...

's 1992 novel ''

Dolores Claiborne ''Dolores Claiborne'' () is a 1992 psychological thriller novel by Stephen King. The novel is narrated by the title character. Atypically for a King novel, it has no chapters, double-spacing between paragraphs, or other section breaks; thus, t ...

'', the opera was commissioned by the

San Francisco Opera San Francisco Opera (SFO) is an American opera company founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola (1881–1953) based in San Francisco, California. History Gaetano Merola (1923–1953) Merola's road to prominence in the Bay Area began in 1906 when he ...

and premiered in San Francisco on September 18, 2013. In 2017, the

New York City Opera The New York City Opera (NYCO) is an American opera company located in Manhattan in New York City. The company has been active from 1943 through 2013 (when it filed for bankruptcy), and again since 2016 when it was revived. The opera company, du ...

performed the world premiere of a new chamber version of the opera at the 59E59 Theater A, directed by

Michael Capasso Michael Capasso (born 1960) is an American opera impresario and stage director. Formerly the General Director of Dicapo Opera Theatre in New York City which he founded in 1981, he is presently the General Director of New York City Opera. Life and ...

. In 2019, it was produced by the

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Opera Institute.

Roles

Synopsis

Act 1

Dolores Claiborne is being interrogated about the recent death of Vera Donovan, a wealthy widow who employed Dolores as a maid for forty years. The police believe Dolores to be Vera's murderer, despite her claims to the contrary. While denying their accusations, she begins to tell the story of her life, her dead husband, and her estranged daughter. A series of flashbacks reveal that when she began working for Vera Donovan, Dolores was the victim of an abusive husband who, as she eventually learns, was also molesting their daughter. Vera and Dolores gradually develop a relationship during her first ten years of service. On the eve of a solar eclipse, Dolores confides in her employer about her husband and his abuse of both her and her daughter. Vera suggests Dolores take advantage of the up-coming eclipse to solve her problem, singing, "accidents can be an unhappy woman's best friend."

Act 2

The second act opens with Dolores preparing food and liquor for watching the solar eclipse with her husband. When her husband appears she provokes him into a rage, running off into the woods. While in pursuit, Dolores' husband falls into a well she had concealed with branches earlier. Dolores covers the well with planks, leaving her husband inside to die. Back in the present, the interrogation of Dolores continues. She is joined by Selena, her now adult daughter, who tells the police Dolores could not have murdered Vera as the two had become very close after 40 years together. Shortly after it is revealed that Vera left her entire estate to Dolores, though Dolores curses her name in response. Back at her home, Selena asks her mother what really happened to Vera Donovan. The next scene reveals that Vera took her own life, throwing herself down a flight of stairs when Dolores was not looking. In the end, Selena leaves Dolores alone yet again, still having not forgiven her for the murder of her father.

Reviews

There are lovely details throughout. Early in the first act, Vera’s admonition to her maids about properly hanging the sheets to dry, set to angular jitters, opens up into sumptuous ardor, then closes again into anxiety, with an ease of transition that recalls Janacek. The collaborators have invented an ingeniously creepy nursery rhyme for Joe (the resonant, fearless bass-baritone Wayne Tigges) to sing as he molests Selena, with a translucent, percussive accompaniment. Woolfe, Zachary (September 19, 2013)
"From the Page to the Stage, a Confession Receives an Operatic Turn"
''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
''. Retrieved May 27, 2014.

References

External links

*
''Dolores Claiborne'' at Schott Music

''Dolores Claiborne'' at Tobias Picker's official website
{{Authority control Operas by Tobias Picker English-language operas 2013 operas Operas set in the United States Operas Operas based on novels Opera world premieres at San Francisco Opera Stage shows based on works by Stephen King