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Praise for American Opera Projects' Premiere Production of Lee Hoiby's This Is the Rill Speaking

Apr. 30, 2008

Lee Hoiby's This Is the Rill Speaking received its premiere production by American Opera Projects at SUNY Purchase and at New York City's Symphony Space in April. The opera, based on the play by Lanford Wilson and with a libretto by Mark Shulgasser, is in one act and perfectly suited for young voices.

Steve Smith writing for the New York Times comments:

This Is the Rill Speaking, a setting of a Lanford Wilson play, offers a vision of rural, small-town life through snatches of conversation patched together like a comfortable quilt. Mr. Hoiby's unfailingly gracious music mixes a nostalgic glow with moments of winking mischief and gentle seduction. Six singers fill eleven roles, accompanied by a string quartet, double bass, wind quintet and harp. Among a solid cast of young singers, Abigail Fischer, a mezzo-soprano, stood out for her attractive tone, abundant feeling and clear diction. Andrew Garland, a baritone, and William Ferguson, a tenor, also made strong impressions.

Jay Nordlinger in The New York Sun states:

Mr. Hoiby's opera is a one-acter, and a lovely, finely wrought thing. It is pleasant and endearing, but not sweety-sweet. It is playful, jazzy, casual, insouciant, earnest, and warm. It has the melodies and modulations typical of Mr. Hoiby. It is very American, though not the least unsophisticated. And it is very human.

For more on the music of Lee Hoiby, visit www.schott-music.com and www.leehoiby.com.

Lee Hoiby
This Is the Rill Speaking (1991)
S, 2Mz, T, 2B; 11111000-hp-str(2.1.1.1)
40'

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