so noble a heart
episode 3
Tales from a Safe Distance, 2020
In lockdown, lovers are separated, individuals are stuck face to face with their demons, and unhealthy partnerships are pushed past the breaking point. This episode examines love yearned for, love tainted, and love that perhaps never really was. The virtual story sharing of “The Happy Hour” goes on: Love transcends life and death in Fila’s tale, “Orsa Ibernata”. Revenge leads to madness in Elena’s “Seven Spells”, and in “The Sky Where You Are”, Jo shows how the love of a friend reaches through an all-too-real darkness.
The Happy Hour (Interstitials)
by Peter Hilliard and Matt Boresi
Commissioned by the Decameron Opera Coalition
Orsa Ibernata
by Elizabeth Blood and Danny Brylow
Inspired by The Decameron Day 4, Story 1 & Day 4, Story 9
Commissioned by Milwaukee Opera Theatre - Milwaukee, Wisconsin
When a clandestine love affair begets tragic consequences, a woman resolves to reunite with her lost love, even at the price of death. Freely adapted from two of The Decameron’s most closely-related stories, “Orsa Ibernata” traces an emotionally penetrating journey through violence and heartbreak to spiritual transcendence against the backdrop of an ethereal and enigmatic woodland surrounding.
Seven Spells
by Donia Jarrar
Inspired by The Decameron Day 8, Story 7
Commissioned by Opera in the Heights - Houston, Texas
A celebrity named Elena joins an online dating service in search of some fun while stringing along another man. The tabloids snap some photos of her and it enrages her current lover, who seeks revenge through public humiliation. This concert aria takes on a dark and sinister quality and hints at mental health issues brought about by public humiliation of female celebrities.
The Sky Where You Are
by Maria Thompson Corley and Jenny O’Connell
in collaboration with Brenisen Wheeler, Women’s Advocates
Commissioned by An Opera Theatre - Minneapolis, Minnesota
Reyna has locked herself in her bathroom in order to contact her childhood friend, Jo. Reyna reveals to Jo for the first time that her husband has been emotionally abusive for years, and now, in the seclusion of quarantine, his abuse has turned physical. Reyna has decided to take the necessary steps to try and leave her abuser for a third time. With her husband becoming suspicious of the running shower, help, answers, and a plan are needed. Time is of the essence.