The Seagull is an opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

 in 3 acts by Thomas Pasatieri

Thomas Pasatieri

Thomas Pasatieri is an American opera composer.He began composing at age 10 and, as a teenager, studied with Nadia Boulanger...

 to an English libretto

Libretto

A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...

 by Kenward Elmslie

Kenward Elmslie

Kenward Gray Elmslie is an American writer, performer, editor and publisher associated with the New York School of poetry.-Life and career:...

. The plot is based on Anton Chekhov

Anton Chekhov

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...

's 1896 play, The Seagull

The Seagull

The Seagull is the first of what are generally considered to be the four major plays by the Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov. The Seagull was written in 1895 and first produced in 1896...

.

Performance History

The work had its world premiere at Houston Grand Opera

Houston Grand Opera

Houston Grand Opera Houston Grand Opera was founded in 1955 through the joint efforts of Maestro Walter Herbert and cultural leaders Mrs. Louis G. Lobit, Edward Bing and Charles Cockrell...

 on 5 March 1974 conducted by Charles Rosekrans. Notable later productions include Seattle Opera

Seattle Opera

The Seattle Opera is an opera company located in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1963 by Glynn Ross, who served as the company's first general director through 1983, Seattle Opera's season runs from August to late May, with five or six operas offered and with eight to ten performances each, often...

 (1976), Washington National Opera

Washington National Opera

The Washington National Opera is an opera company in Washington, D.C., USA. Formerly the Opera Society of Washington and the Washington Opera, the company received Congressional designation as the National Opera Company in 2000. Performances are now given in the Opera House of the John F...

 (1978), Atlanta Civic Opera (1980), Fort Worth Opera

Fort Worth Opera

According to the company, Fort Worth Opera is the oldest, continually performing opera company in the state of Texas and among the oldest in the United States. While originally presenting operas one at a time over a fall/winter season, it changed to a "festival" format in 2007...

 (1982) and the Manhattan School of Music

Manhattan School of Music

The Manhattan School of Music is a major music conservatory located on the Upper West Side of New York City. The school offers degrees on the bachelors, masters, and doctoral levels in the areas of classical and jazz performance and composition...

 (2002). On 23 April 2004, a revised version premiered on at the San Francisco Opera Center, a resident artist program of San Francisco Opera

San Francisco Opera

San Francisco Opera is an American opera company, based in San Francisco, California.It was founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola and is the second largest opera company in North America...

. In September 2010 The Seagull was performed at Dicapo Opera

Dicapo Opera

Dicapo Opera Theatre was co-founded in 1981 by General Director Michael Capasso and Artistic Director Diane Martindale. Aside from the Metropolitan Opera and New York City Opera, it is the only professional non-profit opera company in New York City presenting an annual season of opera productions,...

 in New York City as part of the international Armel Opera Competition and Festival. A European premiere will follow in November from the National Theatre of Szeged

National Theatre of Szeged

The National Theatre of Szeged is the main theatre of Szeged, Hungary. It was built in 1883 by the well-known company of Ferdinand Fellner and Hermann Helmer in Eclectic and Neo-baroque style.-Theatre in Szeged:...

 in Hungary; this production will be televised live to more than 40 countries and streamed live across the web.

Roles

Role	Voice type Voice type A voice type is a particular kind of human singing voice perceived as having certain identifying qualities or characteristics. Voice classification is the process by which human voices are evaluated and are thereby designated into voice types...	Conductor Conducting Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble... : Charles Rosekrans
Masha	soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...	Patricia Wells/Catherine Malfitano Catherine Malfitano Catherine Malfitano is an American operatic soprano. She is generally considered to be one of America's leading operatic sopranos...
Medvedenko	tenor Tenor The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...	Michael Best Michael Best Michael Best is an operatic tenor and voice teacher. A native of North Carolina, he was a solo artist at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, singing 297 performances in 17 seasons. Best received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Duke University in 1962 and teaches voice at Roosevelt University's...
Constantine	baritone Baritone Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...	Richard Stilwell/Robert Shiesley
Sorin	bass-baritone Bass-baritone A bass-baritone is a high-lying bass or low-lying "classical" baritone voice type which shares certain qualities with the true baritone voice. The term arose in the late 19th century to describe the particular type of voice required to sing three Wagnerian roles: the Dutchman in Der fliegende...	David Rae Smith
Nina	mezzo-soprano Mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above...  or soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...	Frederica von Stade Frederica von Stade Frederica von Stade is an American mezzo-soprano. Born in Somerville, New Jersey, she acquired the nickname "Flicka" in her childhood. Von Stade attended the Mannes College of Music in New York City. She made her debut with the Metropolitan Opera in 1970 and in 1971 appeared as Cherubino in The... /Evelyn Petros (mezzo)
Irina Arkadina	soprano	Evelyn Lear Evelyn Lear Evelyn Lear is an American soprano and opera singer.During her career between 1959 and 1992, Evelyn Lear appeared in more than forty operatic roles, appeared with every major opera company in the US and won a Grammy Award in 1966... /Dolores Strazicich
Boris Trigorin	baritone Baritone Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...	John Reardon/Ronald Hedlund
Shamrayeff	bass baritone	Jon Enloe
Pauline	mezzo-soprano	Dana Krueger
Doctor Dorn	tenor	Jack Trussel
Director		Frank Corsaro Frank Corsaro Frank Corsaro is one of America's foremost stage directors of opera and theatre. His Broadway productions include The Night of the Iguana ....
Set and costume designer		Allen Charles Klein

Recording

The first (and only) complete commercial recording of the opera is based on the live performance of the work's New York City premiere at the Manhattan School of Music.

• Thomas Pasatieri: The Seagull – Keri Behan (Masha), Isai Jess Munoz (Medvedenko), Raymond Ayers (Constantine), Maxime Alvarez de Toledo (Sorin), Amy Shoremount-Obra (Nina), Amy Gough (Arkadina), Matthew Worth (Trigorin), Thomas Pertel (Shamrayeff), Sarah Kraus (Pauline), Alvaro Vallejo (Dr. Dorn); Manhattan School of Music Chorus and Orchestra, conductor David Gilbert. Albany Records TROY579-80

Sources

• Davis, Peter G., An Opera That Flies, New York Magazine, 6 January 2006. Review of the Manhattan School of Music performance (accessed 5 October 2007)
• Dyers, Richard, Reunion: Thomas Pasatieri, Opera News
  Opera News
  Opera News is an American classical music magazine. It has been published since 1936 by the Metropolitan Opera Guild, a non-profit organization located at Lincoln Center which was founded to support the Metropolitan Opera of New York City...
  
  , April 2007, vol 71, no. 10 (accessed 5 October 2007)
• Midgette, Anne, Finding the Musical Romance in a Chekhov Play, The New York Times
  The New York Times
  The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
  
  , 14 December 2002. Review of the Manhattan School of Music performance (accessed 5 October 2007)
• Thomas Pasatieri official website (accessed 5 October 2007)