Opera Orlando will present a new revised version of “Lizbeth,” an opera composed by Professor Emeritus of Composition and Musical Theatre and Producing Artistic Director (retired) of Shenandoah Summer Music Theatre Thomas Albert, D.M.A., with a libretto by the late Lindé Hayen Herman next month as part of its Opera on the Town series. “Lizbeth” is the second work of the series and will be performed at Harriett’s Orlando Ballet Centre in Orlando, Florida, on Friday, May 20, and Sunday, May 22. It is a music drama exploring the life of accused axe-murderer Lizzie Borden from her perspective. This production is led by stage director Eve Summer and conductor Noam Aviel.
“Lizbeth” was commissioned by Shenandoah Conservatory in 1976, with support of a grant from the National Endowment of the Arts. Other notable productions of “Lizbeth” include the premiere at Shenandoah College and Conservatory of Music in November 1976 (Harold Herman, director; Professor Emeritus of Conducting James Laster, Ph.D., music director; and Professor Emeritus of Music Theory Donald Black, M.F.A., conductor); the performance at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., in March 1988 as performed by Shenandoah Conservatory faculty and students (Herman, director; Black, music director and conductor); the Shenandoah Conservatory performance in December 2005 (Herman, director; Conductor, Director of Orchestral Studies and Professor of Conducting Jan Wagner, Diploma and Korrepetitions Praxis, Academy of Music in Vienna (Austria), music director and conductor); and the Microscopic Opera Company in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in September 2012 (Gregory Lehane, director; Andres Cladera, music director and conductor).
