Leonard Bernstein (1918 1990) Trouble in Tahiti

Recorded live on18th March 2010. Duration 46 minutes TROUBLE IN TAHITI opera in one act seven scenes libretto by the composer UK premiere of reduced orchestration by Garth Sunderland Trouble in Tahiti is a brilliant pastiche of pop music and melodrama, showing Leonard Bernstein at his most bitingly ironic, and yet, at the same time, most personal and sincere. Ranging from the jinglelike crooning of the vocal trio to major, showstopping seriocomic arias for the main characters Sam and Dinah, the music pulls out every popcultural 1950s stop, while never losing sight of the genuine pathos of its characters: a couple in a troubled marriage, desperate to find the way back to that Quiet Place of their love for one another. The reduced orchestration behind the scenes A 45minute, oneact opera, with a small cast of five and minimal staging requirements, Trouble in Tahiti composed in 1952 is ideal for intimate venues and small companies. But a tricky obstacle ha