The Consul

Gian Carlo Menotti

Operas The Old Maid and the Thief (1939) The Island God (1942) The Medium (1946) ''The Telephone, or L'Amour à trois (1947) The Consul (1950) Amahl and the Night Visitors (1951) The Saint of Bleecker Street (1954) Maria Golovin (1958) The Boy Who Grew Too Fast (1982)

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The Consul is an opera in three acts with music and libretto by Gian Carlo Menotti, his first full-length opera. Its first performance was on March 1, 1950, in Philadelphia, with Patricia Neway as the lead heroine Magda Sorel and Rosemary Kuhlmann as the Secretary of the consulate . The opera opened one month later in New York City. Neway also performed the role in the UK at the Cambridge Theatre in February 1951, with other members of the cast including Marie Powers, Norman Kelley, and Gloria Lane.^[1][2] The opera enjoyed a successful opening run in New York City.^[3]

Zechariah Chafee, Jr. noted the topicality of the opera by analogy to the real-life situations of how non-American scientists were hindered from entering the United States in the early 1950s.^[4]

For The Consul, Menotti won the 1950 Pulitzer Prize in Music and also the 1950 New York Drama Critics Circle award for Best Musical.

Roles

• Magda Sorel (soprano)
• Secretary of the consulate (mezzo-soprano)
• Mother, mother to John Sorel (contralto)
• John Sorel, husband to Magda (baritone)
• Secret Police Agent, villain (bass)
• Nika Magadoff, magician (tenor)
• Mr. Kofner (bass-baritone)
• Foreign Woman (soprano)
• Anna Gomez (soprano)
• Vera Boronel (contralto)
• Assan (baritone)

Synopsis

The three acts divide into 6 scenes. The setting is an unidentified European totalitarian country.

Act I

• Scene 1: The political dissident John Sorel is on the run from the secret police. At his home, his wife Magda and his mother hide him. The police arrive and search, but cannot find him. John says that he will escape to the border, and tells Magda to apply for a visa to leave the country. He will wait to cross the border until his wife, mother and child are safe.
• Scene 2: At the consul's office, many people are waiting to obtain visas. Magda applies and joins the crowd, but the secretary cannot promise anything.

Act II"

• Scene 1: The child is ill, and John's mother sings to comfort the child. The police try to extract information from Magda on her husband's compatriots, but she refuses. A message then arrives from John urging Magda to hurry with the visa.
• Scene 2: At the consulate, Magda is desperate to see the consul. The secretary says that she may see him once an "important visitor" has finished his business. This visitor proves to be the chief of police. Magda's fears increase.

Act III"

• Scene 1: Magda's child and mother-in-law have died. At the consul's office, Magda learns that John is planning to risk his life and return for her. Magda thinks of suicide to try to protect John, and leaves the consulate. As the office is about to shut down for the day, John suddenly arrives, but with the police in pursuit. The police capture John, and the secretary gets on the phone to try to contact Magda.
• Scene 2: Despondent, and with visions of her past crowding her mind, Magda turns on the gas in the oven to kill herself. Her telephone then rings, the secretary trying in vain to contact her.

Abridged Discography

• Newport Classic NPD 85645/2
• Chandos CHAN 9706: Susan Bullock, Louis Otey, Jacalyn Kreitzer, Charles Austin, Victoria Livengood, Herbert Eckhoff, Giovanna Manci, Robin Blitch Wiper, Malin Fritz, John Horton Murray, Graeme Broadbent; Spoleto Festival Orchestra; Richard Hickox, conductor^[5]

Videography

• Neway, Ludgin; Torkanowsky, Dalrymple, 1960 (VAI)

References

Source

• The Oxford Dictionary of Opera, by John Warrack and Ewan West (1992), 782 pages, ISBN 0-19-869164-5