Riders to the Sea & Empty the House
New Production
Music by Ralph Vaughan Williams / Libretto by Ralph Vaughan Williams & John Millington Synge
Music by Rene Orth / Libretto by Mark Campbell
Curtis Opera Theatre at the Perelman
Performed in English with English Supertitles
Rene Orth is a composer who "breaks new ground."—Opera News
Curtis Opera Theatre at the Perelman unites two powerful works into a single production that explores the stories of families in crisis.
In Riders to the Sea by Ralph Vaughan Williams, a grief-stricken widow laments the loss of her many sons to the sea, as it threatens to claim the life of her only remaining son.
It’s a poignant prelude to Empty the House, a 2016 opera composed by Curtis Institute of Music alum and Opera Philadelphia Composer in Residence Rene Orth, whose work “breaks new ground” (Opera News), and featuring a libretto by Mark Campbell (Elizabeth Cree, Silent Night). In Empty the House, a daughter returns to her childhood home for a weekend with her mother and is confronted by painful memories.
Both works—premiered nearly 80 years apart—explore the complicated relationships between mothers and children, brothers and sisters, the loved and the lost.
Curtis Opera Theatre at the Perelman
in partnership with Opera Philadelphia and the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts
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Earlier in the series: Don Giovanni (March 2019)
MapPerelman Theater
Dates are May 2019.
| Thu, May 2 | 7:30 p.m. |
| Sat, May 4 | 2:30 p.m. |
| Sat, May 4 | 7:30 p.m. |
| Sun, May 5 | 7:30 p.m. |
Approximately one hour and 40 minutes with no intermission.
The Curtis Opera Theatre season is sponsored by the Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation and the Wyncote Foundation.
Empty the House is generously supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, an independent federal agency.
Cast & Creative Team
The Composer
Rene Orth & Mark Campbell
Rene Orth is a composer that "breaks new ground" (Opera News), writing music described as “...always dramatic, reflective, rarely predictable, and often electronic” (Musical America). She currently serves as Opera Philadelphia’s 6th Composer in Residence, a post that she will hold through the 2018-19 season. Learn more about Rene Orth.
Mark Campbell’s work as a librettist is at the forefront of this country’s current boon in contemporary opera. The fifteen plus librettos he has written—and the five new operas he premiered in 2017—demonstrate a versatility in subject matter, style, and tone, an adeptness at creating successful work for both large and intimate venues. Learn more about Mark Campbell.