Opera Philadelphia's Aurora Series for Chamber Opera has produced five seasons of cutting-edge productions at the Perelman Theater, and this June the Opera continues its bold programming with the company premiere ofPowder Her Face, composer Thomas Adès's provocative debut opera based on a real-life sex scandal that rocked the British aristocracy in the 1960s. Tickets from $20 are available via Ticket Philadelphia at 215.893.1018 or operaphila.org.
"
She is a beast to an exceptional degree. She is a Don Juan among women. She is insatiable, unnatural and altogether fairly appalling." These are just some of the epithets hurled at
Margaret Campbell, Duchess of Argyll, in Adès's high-society satire. The then 24-year-old composer based his 1995 work on Britain's so-called "Dirty Duchess," whose sensational divorce trial, complete with explicit Polaroids and allegations of depraved sexual exploits, riveted the U.K. in 1963.
The Duke bitterly divorced Margaret on grounds of her nymphomania, producing in court those compromising photos along with a list of her 88 alleged "conquests," including three members of Britain's Royal Family and Hollywood stars like
Bob Hope,
Maurice chevalier,
Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., and
David Niven. In her prime, the Duchess's beauty was so well known she was mentioned in
Cole Porter's song "You're the Top." She and the Duke lived in Scotland's Inveraray Castle, a grand estate featured this past season on the hit BBC TV series
Downton Abbey.
Adès and librettist Philip Hensher revel in the licentiousness that spilled into the British tabloids, presenting Margaret's rise as a wealthy, vain party girl - a Lindsay, Paris and Kim lusting for status in the pre-paparazzi, pre-Internet age. The opera is perhaps most infamous for its musical depiction of a sex act between the Duchess and a waiter. The audience will see the aging "It Girl" living alone in a luxury hotel room she cannot afford, surrounded by the possessions she has accrued through a lifetime of materialism. One by one, six decades worth of memories emerge from various wardrobes, dressers and doors, recounting her story for the audience until the excesses of her life threaten to swallow her up.
"In an original and very personal style,
Powder Her Face combines elements derived from twentieth century opera, particularly Britten, Weill, Berg, and Stravinsky," said David B. Devan, General Director and President of Opera Philadelphia. "Thomas Adès combines these with aspects of stage musicals and jazz tradition with references to Piazzolla's tangos and
Cole Porter's melodies, creating a truly bold and original work."
While the opera has gained notoriety for its racier moments, Devan believes the heart of
Powder Her Face can be found in the opera's dramatic depiction of the Duchess's fall into obscurity. "Director
William Kerley and set and costume designer
Tom Rogers have created a fabulous production that dashes back and forth from the 1930s to 1990 in a stylish, artful way."
"
Powder Her Face does what opera does best: uses brilliant music and bold theatricality to tell a tragic story - a story that sheds a piercing light on our strongest hopes and our deepest delusions," said director
William Kerley, who directed
Benjamin Britten's
The Rape of Lucretia at the Perelman Theater in 2009. "I can't wait to help tell this tale at Opera Philadelphia."
Celebrated soprano
Nancy Gustafson, renowned for leading performances at the Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera Covent Garden and La Scala, among others, makes her Opera Philadelphia debut in the title role. Her three co-stars perform multiple roles. Bass Ben Wager, an Academy of Vocal Arts alumnus who made his company debut in 2009's
The Rape of Lucretia and appeared as The Speaker in April's
The Magic Flute, returns as the Hotel Manager and the Duke. Tenor Christopher Tiesi, a Curtis Institute alumnus who made his Opera Philadelphia debut as Gastone in
La traviata in 2010, is the Electrician and Waiter. Soprano Ashley Emerson, heard this season at The Metropolitan Opera in
Le nozze di Figaro and
Le Comte Ory, is featured as the Maid, the Duke's mistress, and a society journalist. Maestro Corrado Rovaris leads the Opera Philadelphia Orchestra.
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