Thompson: Mask in the Mirror / Tucker, The Sanaa Opera Project

$21.99
Label
Navona
Release Date
February 8, 2019
Format
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    Featuring ⌄
    • COMPOSER
      THOMPSON, RICHARD
    • PERFORMER
      The Sanaa Opera Project, Tucker
    Product Details ⌄
    • RELEASE DATE
      February 08, 2019
    • UPC
      896931005098
    • CATALOG NUMBER
      NV6209
    • LABEL
      Navona
    • NUMBER OF DISCS
      2
    • GENRE
      Classical
    Works ⌄

    1. Prologue

      Composer: Richard Thompson

      Performer: Cameo Humes, Richard C. Thompson

      Conductor: Stephen Tucker

    2. Act I Scene 1: Paul at home in Dayton, Ohio (Paul, Alice)

      Composer: Richard Thompson

      Performer: Cameo Humes, Angela L. Owens, Richard C. Thompson

      Conductor: Stephen Tucker

    3. Act I Scene 2: Dean Howells, literary critic, at his gentleman's club (Howells, Paul)

      Composer: Richard Thompson

      Performer: Cameo Humes, John Polhamus, Richard C. Thompson

      Conductor: Stephen Tucker

    4. Act I Scene 3: Victoria's farewell party for Paul, at her home in Brooklyn (Victoria, Paul, Alice)

      Composer: Richard Thompson

      Performer: Richard C. Thompson

      Conductor: Stephen Tucker

    5. Act I Scene 4: Alice with her mother, Patsy Moore, at their home in New Orleans (Alice, Patsy)

      Composer: Richard Thompson

      Performer: Angela L. Owens, Lindsay Patterson, Richard C. Thompson

      Conductor: Stephen Tucker

    6. Act I Scene 5: In the office of Ms. Lyons, the new headmistress of a Brooklyn school (Alice, Ms. Lyons)

      Composer: Richard Thompson

      Performer: Angela L. Owens, Lindsay Patterson, Richard C. Thompson

      Conductor: Stephen Tucker

    7. Act I Scene 6: Paul at his London apartment with his friend Sarah (Paul, Sarah)

      Composer: Richard Thompson

      Performer: Cameo Humes, Natalie Mann, Richard C. Thompson

      Conductor: Stephen Tucker

    8. Act II Scene 1: Paul at a poetry reading in New York (Paul, Alice, Sales Representative)

      Composer: Richard Thompson

      Performer: Cameo Humes, Angela L. Owens, Roland Mills, Richard C. Thompson

      Conductor: Stephen Tucker

    9. Act II Scene 2: Paul in a Harlem bar (Paul, Drinking Buddy, Woman in the Bar)

      Composer: Richard Thompson

      Performer: Cameo Humes, Richard C. Thompson

      Conductor: Stephen Tucker

    10. Act II Scene 3: Paul and Alice at their friend Sally's apartment in Brooklyn (Paul, Alice)

      Composer: Richard Thompson

      Performer: Cameo Humes, Angela L. Owens, Richard C. Thompson

      Conductor: Stephen Tucker

    11. Act II Scene 4: Paul at home in Washington D.C. (Paul, Alice)

      Composer: Richard Thompson

      Performer: Cameo Humes, Angela L. Owens, Richard C. Thompson

      Conductor: Stephen Tucker

    12. Act III Scene 2: Paul, Alice, and Mathilde Dunbar at their home in Washington D.C. (Paul, Alice, Mathilde)

      Composer: Richard Thompson

      Performer: Cameo Humes, Angela L. Owens, Richard C. Thompson

      Conductor: Stephen Tucker

    13. Act III Scene 3: Leila and Patsy Moore at home in New Orleans (Leila)

      Composer: Richard Thompson

      Performer: Cameo Humes, Lindsay Patterson, Richard C. Thompson

      Conductor: Stephen Tucker

    14. Act III Scene 4: Paul at home in Dayton, Ohio (Paul, Alice)

      Composer: Richard Thompson

      Performer: Cameo Humes, Angela L. Owens, Richard C. Thompson

      Conductor: Stephen Tucker


Composer Richard Thompson’s three-act opera presents the life behind the name of Paul Laurence Dunbar, one of the most prominent African American poets of the early 20th Century. This dramatic performance, inspired by the hundreds of letters exchanged between Dunbar and his wife, Alice Ruth Moore, removes the masks of fame and social identity to investigate the psychological realities of the people underneath. Driven by pivotal moments in the poet’s life, the chamber opera follows the arc of Paul and Alice’s relationship, from their courtship through letters, secret engagement and marriage, to their final estrangement and Paul’s death from alcoholism and tuberculosis at age 33. Throughout these moments, the audience gets a look behind the known storyline into the psychological challenges occurring beneath the surface for both Paul and Alice. Both characters grappled with the fact that they came from troubled relational backgrounds filled with abuse and apathy — much of which was translated into their own marriage. In addition, both struggled with their racial identity in a culture that generally judged and discriminated before it sought to understand. The dramatic tension of their personal relationship and story, fused with the broader questions surrounding identity, appearance versus reality, and grappling with the person in the mirror, makes this a moving story on the operatic stage. Captivating, challenging, and compelling, The Mask In The Mirror is a necessary look into fame and identity as seen through this hero of African American poetry.