Opera North’s critically acclaimed production of Trouble in Tahiti has been acquired by Sky Arts as part of global celebrations marking the 100th anniversary of the legendary American composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein’s birth.
The production is scheduled to be broadcast by Sky Arts on Monday 1 October at 10.00pm and will be available to view on demand through Sky platforms from the same date.
Captured for the screen by digital commissioning agency The Space, Trouble in Tahiti was filmed live at Leeds Grand Theatre in October 2017 and directed by Ross MacGibbon. The production, which is directed for the stage by Matthew Eberhardt and conducted by Tobias Ringborg, formed part of Opera North’s award-winning series of short operas, The Little Greats.
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A satire on the American Dream, Trouble in Tahiti is set in 1950s suburbia, where Sam and Dinah appear to have the perfect life in their little white house. But their growing detachment exposes a mutual feeling that they are trapped in a life that has turned into a lie. Sam escapes to the hyper-masculine, win-or-lose world of work and the gym, while Dinah loses herself in the movies, where the hit picture of the day is the ominously-titled Trouble in Tahiti.
It stars Canadian mezzo-soprano Wallis Giunta, winner of the Young Singer Award at the International Opera Awards 2018, and Dutch baritone Quirijn de Lang, who is appearing as Danilo in the autumn season production of The Merry Widow.
Lasting only 45 minutes, it is a lesser-known Bernstein work in comparison to West Side Story or On The Town, but like his most famous musicals, Trouble in Tahiti combines the composer’s genius for melodic invention and heartfelt emotion with the distinctively American sound of Hollywood and Broadway.
Trouble in Tahiti is also still available to stream online via OperaVision who first showed it on 25 August, the composer’s birthday, and who will keep the film on the site until the end of November.
