Mira Spektor (1928-2021)
Passion of Lizzie Borden
Year: 1985
Duration (in minutes): 15'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: larger chamber ensembles - more than 4 players, musical theater, opera, solo voice(s) with solo instruments
Instruments: any female voice, any high voice, any medium voice, any string, any voice, any woodwind, celesta, cello, flute, mezzo soprano, narrator/speaker, piano, soprano
Description: Libretto by Ruth Whitman. Short opera about the famous murder case. Premiered 1985 Marymount Manhattan College, then Off-Broadway Golden Fleece, NYC, West End Opera Co. at SUNY Buffalo NY, Lincoln Center Outdoor and videotaped by Pratt Institute for Cable TV. Listed in National Music Theater Network. "A 'very short opera' to evocative poetry by Ruth Whitman...(Ms. Spektor) an interesting composer...an impassioned duet for Lizzie and her sister" John Rockwell - The New York Times