Griffelkin

Griffelkin is an opera in three acts by Lukas Foss with a libretto by Alastair Reid. The opera was first performed on November 6, 1955, in a nationwide telecast by the NBC Opera Theatre.[1]

Griffelkin
Opera by Lukas Foss
The composer in 1960
LibrettistAlastair Reid
LanguageEnglish
Premiere
November 6, 1955 (1955-11-06) (telecast)
NBC Opera Theatre

Background

Following the success of Gian Carlo Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors, NBC decided to present new operas by other American composers and gave Foss a commission for the work. (Other composers involved in the project included Norman Dello Joio, Stanley Hollingsworth, and Leonard Kastle.)

Griffelkin's plot is based on a story that Foss's mother told him when he was a child. Foss composed an early version of the opera shortly afterward.

Roles
Roles, voice types, premiere cast
Role Voice type Premiere cast[1][2] November 6, 1955
Conductor: Peter Herman Adler[2]
Griffelkin soprano Adelaide Bishop
The Devil's Grandmother mezzo-soprano Mary Kreste
The Mother mezzo-soprano Alice Richmond
The Girl soprano Rose Gerenger
The Boy treble Oliver Andes
The Policeman bass-baritone Lee Cass
The Shopkeeper tenor Robert Holland
Uncle Skelter baritone Paul Ukena
The Statue silent role Margery Gray
The Voice of the Statue mezzo-soprano Mignon Dunn
The Letter Box silent role Gerald Arpino
The Voice of the Letterbox tenor Andrew McKinley
The Lion bass-baritone Chester Watson

Synopsis

Griffelkin is a young devil residing in hell's nursery. On his tenth birthday, he is allowed to spend a day on earth to do as many bad deeds as he can. To aid him in the task, he is given a magic potion that will bring objects to life.

Griffelkin arrives in a city and causes havoc by bringing a statue, a mailbox, and a pair of stone lions to life. He is soon drawn to a human girl about his age. To impress her, he transforms a storeful of toys into a ballet troupe. However, the girl runs home to check on her sick mother, leaving Griffelkin to search for her while being chased by the townspeople and the lions.

Later that evening, Griffelkin finds the girl and her brother mourning their mother's death. Moved by their plight, he secretly uses the last of his potion to bring the mother back to life. As the family is reunited, Griffelkin dissolves in tears.

His day on earth at an end, Griffelkin is summoned back to hell, where his outraged fellow devils place him on trial for his compassionate conduct. Griffelkin is found guilty; as punishment, he is transformed into a human boy and banished from hell.

Griffelkin then returns to the city and again finds the girl and her family, who remember the events only as a bad dream. When the family invites Griffelkin to live with them, he happily accepts.

Productions

The original 1955 NBC production starred Adelaide Bishop as Griffelkin and featured sets and costumes by Rouben Ter-Arutunian and choreography by Robert Joffrey. The opera's stage premiere took place the next year at the Tanglewood Music Festival with Mildred Allen in the title role. The opera has received several revivals, most notably by the New York City Opera in 1993 and the Manhattan School of Music in 2007.

In 2002, the Boston Modern Orchestra Project presented Griffelkin at Tanglewood in a concert performance honoring Lukas Foss's 80th birthday. The group recorded the opera shortly thereafter.

Recordings

See also

References
  1. Howard Taubman (November 7, 1955). "Griffelkin Has Premiere on N.B.C.-TV; Fantasy Is Marked by Charm, Tenderness". The New York Times. p. 33.
  2. "NBC Opera Theatre: Griffelkin". Paley Center for Media. Retrieved April 4, 2021.
  3. "Foss Griffelkin, review by Peter Dickinson of Gil Rose's 2003 recording for Chandos, Gramophone, July 2003
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