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EMPEROR NORTON Opera in 1 Act Libretto by John S. Bowman Voices: Instrumentation: Length: Diana and Michael arrive at a theatre to audition for a play about Emperor Norton, and are soon interrupted by the arrival of Marla, the playwright. She is astonished that they have been invited to audition, since the play is unfinished, but decides she can use their talents to work out the more difficult scenes of the play. A man emerges from the wings dressed as a nineteenth-century emperor, protesting that the scene bears little resemblance to Norton’s actual death. He also challenges their perceptions of other episodes in the play. Marla, Diana and Michael begin to see how the threads of the mystery come together. Marla, won over, demands that they restage the scenes, and she joins her destiny with his; Empress to his Emperor, in the realm of fantasy, spirit, art, and love. Commissioned by the San Francisco Opera Company and the Kurt Herbert Adler Award Fund for "Brown Bag Opera." REVIEWS " Henry Mollicone 's
operas--at least those that have been produced in the Washington
area--have the virtues of succinctness, distinctive melody and
a strongly developed sense of style that matches the composer's
eclectic tastes. His most popular work so far...seems to be The
Face on the Barroom Floor, produced a few years
ago by Opera Southwest, but Emperor Norton,
as performed by the same company, is an even more effective work
of art... Norton is more recent than Barroom and seems to show substantial
growth in Mollicone's mastery of the difficult form of one-act
opera. Its emotions, ranging from near-slapstick comedy to pathos,
are good raw material for his eclectic, easily accessible style..." "With Emperor
Norton, composer
Henry Mollicone has succeeded where the likes of Mozart, Wagner,
Verdi and Puccini failed: He has produced an opera with just
too many tunes. At least the kind that linger in the ear, resonate
in the mind, and provide the variety of mood and feeling that
characterize lyric theater at its best...offers up a genuine
testimonial to qualities all too painfully lacking among opera
composers of the younger generation--craftsmanship, fluency and
accessibility. Little things like that. Mollicone, who has achieved
something of an underground reputation for The
Face On The Barroom Floor, has brewed this San
Francisco Opera commission for domestic consumption...It is expressively
and even beautifully written for the voice and the ensembles
are cohesive, soaring affairs." "While the plot device
is complicated for such a short work, Mollicone manages, by his
expert, assured craftsmanship, to produce coherence and several
touching scenes...the two big set pieces--'He was an Emperor'...and
the canon quartet finale, in which 'He was an Emperor' returns,
are powerfully worked out in a Straussian vein of soaring lyricism.
Two other fine moments are the Chinese girl's lament and a humorous
tarantella that accompanies Lola Montez' 'spider dance.'" OPERA
NEWS - Stephanie Von Buchau "Mollicone shows some
genius as a miniaturist in these two short operas." "From its first notes
through its various pairings of voices in vignettes real and
imagined about the life of one of San Francisco's great characters,
to its poignant and wonderfully conceived ending, this is a work
that sneaks up on you and subtly ensnares you in its magic. The
music is filled with long, lyric melodies, sweet and sour harmonies
and total honesty. ...it also supports John S. Bowman's admirable
libretto completely, blending words and music in a way that renders
one all but indistinguishable from the other. This is no mean
accomplishment, and Emperor Norton deserves
a wider audience than it has received since its premiere a decade
or so ago." THE PENINSULA TIMES TRIBUNE (PALO
ALTO ) - Norman
Lombino "Mollicone's score
is rooted in Broadway as well as in opera. Using only piano,
violin and cello, it is lyrical without being mushy, with enough
slightly acerbic harmonies to identify its contemporaniety. It
is good music, and the final scene gave me cold chills."
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