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Ausrine Stundyte as Cio-Cio-San, Elizabeth Janes as Butterfly’s child and Sarah Larsen as Suzuki in Seattle Opera's production of Puccini's Madama Butterfly. Photo by Elise Bakketun.
North American Works Directory Listing
Song of Majnun
Composer: Bright Sheng
Librettist: Andrew Porter
Other Artistic Personnel: Colin Graham (Director)
Richard Buckley (Conductor)
Marie Anne Chiment (Set/Costume Designer)
Todd Hensley (Lighting Designer)
Original Cast: Rodrick Dixon (Majnun)
Yan Yan Wang (Layla)
Jonathan Oehler (Majnun's father)
Eleni Matos (Layla's mother)
Elias Mokole (Ibn Salam)
Beverly Thiele and Julia Bentley (Gossips)
Salvatore Spina (Pianist)
Keith Conant (Violist)
Premiere Date: April 09, 1992
Producing Company: Lyric Opera of Chicago
Description: Majnun and Layla meet and fall in love, but Layla's mother and father have already engaged her to Ibn Salam, their spouse of choice. Majnun is hopelessly smitten (Majnun in Arabic means insane or infatuated) and goes mad for love. His father suggests a pilgramage but this cannot take his mind off of Layla. Layla accepts the hopelessness of her situation and bids farewell to life. She asks her mother to treat Majnun kindly when he visits her tomb. During Layla's funeral rites, Majnun appears and sings his last love song to Layla.
Character List (Major): Majnun(t)
Layla(s)
Character List (Minor): First Gossip(mz)
Second Gossip(mz)
Layla's Mother(mz)
Layla's Father(bar)
Ibn Salam(bar)
Majnun's Father(b)
Bit Parts: The Bird
Ensemble of Townspeople
Reviews: Opera News, Thomas C. Willis, October 1992; Chicago Daily Defender, Earl Calloway, 6-6-92; L.A. Weekly, Alan Rich, 4-24-92; Opera News, Andrew Porter, 3-28-92 (article discussing sources for the libretto)
Length: 01:00
Total Acts: Not Available
Chorus: Chorus
Orchestration: 2 fl(2 picc, afl), 1 ob(Eng Hrn), 1 cl(bcl), 1 bsn(cbn) - 2 hrn, 1 tpt, 1 tbn - 2[=3] perc - hp, pf - str
Musical Style: Lyric; melodious
Contact: G. Schirmer, Inc.
Address: 257 Park Avenue South, 20th Floor
New York, NY 10010
E-mail Address: pm@schirmer.com
Phone: 212-254-2100
Publisher Web Site: http://www.schirmer.com

Spring 2013 Magazine Issue
  • Letter from the President/CEO
  • Of One: The Quest for Asian Fusion in the Opera House
  • Vancouver: Where Nature Nurtures Art
  • Inheriting the Wind
  • My First Time
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