{{Short description|Opera by Joby Talbot}}{{Infobox opera |name = Everest |italic title = yes |composer = [[Joby Talbot]] |image = Everest kalapatthar crop.jpg |caption = Summit of Mount Everest from southwest |librettist = [[Gene Scheer]] |language = English |premiere_date = {{Start date|2015|01|30}} |premiere_location = [[Dallas Opera]] '''Characters''' * Jan Arnold ([[mezzo-soprano]]) * Meg Weathers, ''young girl'', (mezzo-soprano) * [[Rob Hall]] ([[tenor]]) * Doug Hansen ([[baritone]]) * [[Beck Weathers]] ([[bass-baritone]]) * Guy Cotter (baritone, enhanced with [[walkie-talkie]] effect) * Mike Groom (baritone) * The Dead of Everest ([[Choir]], [[SATB]], at least 16 singers) }}
'''''Everest''''' is a one-act [[opera]] by [[Joby Talbot]] to an English-language [[libretto]] by [[Gene Scheer]]. It was composed in 2014 and premiered on January 30, 2015, at the [[Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House]] of [[Dallas Opera]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Waleson |first1=Heidi |title=Tragedy Makes for the Peak of Drama |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/tragedy-makes-for-the-peak-of-drama-opera-review-of-everest-1423007904 |accessdate=November 12, 2019 |work=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |date=February 3, 2015}}</ref> The content deals with a real event, the [[1996 Mount Everest disaster]], in which several mountaineers died after a severe storm hit during their summit bids. It is based on interviews with survivors and shows in two strands the deaths of [[Rob Hall]] and Doug Hansen and the emotional world of [[Beck Weathers]].
== History ==
''Everest'' was commissioned by [[Dallas Opera]] in 2014. At the world premiere on January 30, 2015 in Dallas<ref name="musicsalesclassical" /> [[Sasha Cooke]] (Jan Arnold), Julia Rose Arduino (Meg Weathers), Andrew Bidlack (Rob Hall), Craig Verm ([[Doug Hansen (Everest)|Doug Hansen]]), [[Kevin Burdette]] (Beck Weathers), John Boehr (Guy Cotter) and Mark McCrory (Mike Groom) sang.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Womack |first1=Catherine |title=With ''Everest'', The Dallas Opera Looks Forward |journal=[[D Magazine]] |date=February 2, 2015 |url=https://www.dmagazine.com/arts-entertainment/2015/02/with-everest-the-dallas-opera-looks-forward/ |accessdate=November 12, 2019}}</ref> The musical direction was by Nicole Paiement. The production was directed by [[Leonard Foglia]],<ref name="opernwelt2015">Heidi Waleson, Marc Staudacher (Übersetzung): "Fragmente der Verzweiflung", review of the premiere in Dallas, 2015, in: ''[[Opernwelt]]'', March 2015, p. 44.</ref> the set design by Robert Brill ([[Betty Award]]),<ref name="CalgaryHerald">{{cite news |last1=Hobson |first1=Louis B. |title=Billy Elliot en pointe with Five Betty Awards |url=https://calgaryherald.com/entertainment/theatre/billy-elliot-en-pointe-with-five-betty-mitchell-awards |accessdate=November 12, 2019 |work=[[Calgary Herald]] |date=June 24, 2019 |ref=CalgaryHerald}}</ref> costume design by David C. Woolard<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kucharski |first1=Joe |title=The Costumes of Dallas Opera's Everest |url=http://tyrannyofstyle.com/costume-design-dallas-opera-everest |website=Tyranny of Style |accessdate=November 12, 2019}}</ref> and projection design by [[Elaine J. McCarthy]] ([[Betty Award]])<ref name="CalgaryHerald" />
On May 5, 2017, on the occasion of the [[Opera America]] Conference 2017, there was a concert performance at the Winspear Opera House under the direction of [[Emmanuel Villaume]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Cantrell |first1=Scott |title=Dallas Opera's 'Everest' is revived in semi-staged form with a new Prelude for national opera conference |url=https://www.dallasnews.com/arts-entertainment/performing-arts/2017/05/06/dallas-opera-s-everest-is-revived-in-semi-staged-form-with-a-new-prelude-for-national-opera-conference/ |accessdate=November 12, 2019 |work=[[The Dallas Morning News]] |date=May 6, 2017}}</ref> In November 2017, the original staging of the opera was performed by the [[Lyric Opera of Kansas City]] at the [[Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts]]<ref>{{cite web |last1=Portner |first1=Alan |title=BWW Review: EVEREST at Lyric Opera f Kansas City |url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/kansas-city/article/BWW-Review-EVEREST-at-Lyric-Opera-Of-Kansas-City-20171113 |website=[[BroadwayWorld]] |accessdate=November 12, 2019 |date=November 13, 2017}}</ref> and again in 2019 at [[Calgary Opera]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Rankin |first1=Bill |title=Hardy Opera Buffs Cheer Climbers in Harrowing ''Everest''|url=https://classicalvoiceamerica.org/2019/02/07/calgary-opera-rises-to-the-challenge-of-everest/ |website=Classical Voice North America |accessdate=November 12, 2019 |date=February 7, 2019}}</ref>
The European premiere took place on May 5, 2018 at the [[Theater Hagen]] in a production by [[Johannes Erath]] conducted by Joseph Trafton.<ref name="musicsalesclassical" /> Stage and costumes came from Kaspar Glarner. The leading roles were sung by Veronika Haller (Jan Arnold), Musa Nkuna (Rob Hall), Kenneth Maltice (Doug Hansen), Morgan Moody (Beck Weathers), and Elizabeth Pilon (Meg Weathers).<ref name="hagen">[[Theater Hagen]]: ''Everest'', program booklet Nr. 10, 2017/2018 season.</ref> For this production, director Corinna Jarosch attempted "to make the hallucinations of the mountaineers visible" rather than depict the mountain world realistically.<ref name="wp">Yvonne Hinz: [https://www.wp.de/staedte/hagen/oper-everest-laesst-hagener-theaterbesucher-froesteln-id214140941.html "Oper ''Everest'' lässt Hagener Theaterbesucher frösteln"], announcement of the 2018 Hagen production, in: ''Westfalenpost'', April 28, 2018, accessed July 7, 2018.</ref> The plot was moved to a mountain [[sanatorium]] in reference to [[Thomas Mann]]'s novel ''[[The Magic Mountain]]'',<ref name="opernwelt2018">Uwe Schweikert: "Kampf gegen den Absturz", review of the 2018 Hagen staging, in: ''[[Opernwelt]]'', July 2018, p. 71.</ref> published three months after the [[1924 British Mount Everest expedition]] by [[George Mallory]] and [[Andrew Comyn Irvine|Andrew Irvine]].<ref name="huesers" />
In 2021 the ''Opera Parallèle'' presented Everest in a graphic novel form<ref>{{Cite web |last=Salazar |first=Francisco |date=2021-03-17 |title=Opera Parallèle Announces 'Everest' Graphic Novel Opera Film |url=https://operawire.com/opera-parallele-announces-everest-graphic-novel-opera-film/ |access-date=2025-06-03 |website=OperaWire |language=en-US}}</ref> using studio recordings of the singers and a motion capture process to capture the motions of the singers. The film was released digitally through the Dallas Opera.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Everest - A Graphic Novel Opera • The Dallas Opera |url=https://dallasopera.org/performance/everest-tv/ |access-date=2025-06-03 |website=dallasopera.org |language=en-US}}</ref> In 2023, ''Opera Parallèle'' used the digital recordings for an in person show, Everest, An Immersive Experience.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Opera Parallèle - Everest: An Immersive Experience |url=http://www.zspace.org/everest |access-date=2025-06-03 |website=Z Space |language=en-US}}</ref> In 2024, the background animations were modified to be projected onto a dome and presented at the [[California Academy of Sciences]] planetarium.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Everest: Opera in the Planetarium - California Academy of Sciences |url=https://www.calacademy.org/events/special-events/everest-opera-in-the-planetarium |access-date=2025-06-03 |website=www.calacademy.org |language=en}}</ref> The planetarium version won a 2025 Dome Fest West award for Best Musical Feature Film.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dome Fest West 2025 Wrap-Up: Award Winners and Festival Highlights – Fulldome News |url=https://www.fddb.org/news/dome-fest-west-2025-wrap-up-award-winners-and-festival-highlights/ |access-date=2025-06-03 |language=en}}</ref>
== Plot ==
May 10, 1996: On the [[Hillary Step]] of Mt. Everest, pathologist [[Beck Weathers]] lies unconscious in a [[snowdrift]] as mountaineer [[Rob Hall]] leads his group to the [[summit]]. While they enjoy the view, Weathers hallucinates being at a barbecue with his daughter Meg. Hall helps one of the group members, [[Doug Hansen (Everest)|Doug Hansen]], to reach the top as the rest of the group heads back down. As Hall takes Hansen's picture, the action flashes back to show Hall's wife Jan awaiting his return in [[New Zealand]]. Jan has climbed Everest once before, but her [[pregnancy]] prevented her from making this trip. When the flashback ends, Hansen begins to have trouble breathing. Hall tries to reach the [[base camp]] by radio to get help and oxygen.
The scene shifts back to Weathers' hallucination of his daughter Meg playing jumprope. Not recognizing his daughter, Weathers takes the jumprope from Meg and straps himself to the rope. Back to consciousness, he realizes that the rest of the group has not returned. It begins to snow and the sunset is approaching. Mike Groom, another expedition member, finds Weathers and urges him to descend just as a storm breaks out. Meanwhile, Jan realizes her husband may be in trouble and she makes contact with the base camp. Mountain guide Guy Cotter, reporting from the camp, urges Hall to leave Hansen behind and save himself.
The members of the expedition discover the confused Weathers. While Jan waits for the next call, Hall tries to bring Hansen to safety. He is too late and Hansen joins the chorus, which represents those who have died climbing Mt. Everest. Hall reports Hansen's death to the base camp via radio and asks for Cotter's help in establishing telephone contact with Jan.
At 2:00 AM on May 11, the other members of the expedition begin to leave one by one. Hall contacts his wife. They agree on the name "Sarah" for their unborn child and assure themselves of their love just before Hall dies, joining Hansen in the chorus. Weathers, still hallucinating, hears his daughter calling for him in the distance and finally reaches the base camp.
== Structure ==
The authors stated they did not wish the opera to be a standard "heroic epic."<ref name="opernwelt2015" /> Thus, the plot is composed of individual report fragments and flashbacks, rather than being told in a linear fashion, and the characters' motivations are deliberately left unclear.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Weuste|first1=David|date=February 2015|title=Everest Brings Dallas Opera to New Heights|url=http://www.operapulse.com/opera-reviews/2015/01/31/everest-brings-dallas-opera-to-new-heights/|website=OperaPulse|accessdate=November 12, 2019}}</ref><ref name="deropernfreund">Rudolf Hermes: [https://www.deropernfreund.de/hagen-12.html "Muß man gesehen haben..."], review of the 2018 staging in Hagen 2018, in: ''Der Opernfreund'', May 6, 2018, accessed July 6, 2018.</ref>
The music sounds contemporary modern, but is nevertheless based on traditional harmonics and emotionally shaped.<ref name="deropernfreund" /> In the vocal parts, Talbot refers to traditional forms by means of indications such as "aria" or "quartet."<ref name="huesers" /> The orchestral sound fabric ties in with [[minimal music]] that is akin to that of [[John Adams (composer)|John Adams]].<ref name="operanews">Fred Cohn: [https://www.operanews.com/Opera_News_Magazine/2015/4/Reviews/DALLAS__Everest,_La_Wally.html "''Everest'' & ''La Wally''"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180707174554/https://www.operanews.com/Opera_News_Magazine/2015/4/Reviews/DALLAS__Everest,_La_Wally.html |date=2018-07-07 }}, review of the premiere in Dallas 2015, in: ''[[Opera News]]'', January 30, 2015, accessed July 6, 2018.</ref><ref name="opernwelt2015" /> At the same time, there are references to [[Giacomo Puccini]], [[Leonard Bernstein]], [[Benjamin Britten]] or [[Igor Stravinsky]]. There is a focus on rhythm and the spectrum of timbres, with numerous sound effects such as the crackling radio or the howling of the wind.<ref name="huesers">Francis Hüsers: "Ein Berg als Metapher – Everest in Hagen", in: [[Theater Hagen]]: ''Everest'', program booklet Nr. 10, 2017/2018 season, pp. 11–13.</ref><ref name="deutschebuehne">Andreas Falentin: [http://www.die-deutsche-buehne.de/Kritiken/Musiktheater/Joby+Talbot/Everest/Magic+Mountain "Magic Mountain"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180707172451/http://www.die-deutsche-buehne.de/Kritiken/Musiktheater/Joby+Talbot/Everest/Magic+Mountain |date=2018-07-07 }}, review of the 2018 staging in Hagen, in: ''[[Die Deutsche Bühne]]'' May 7, 2018, accessed July 6, 2018.</ref> The mountain itself has its own voice, produced by the low wind instruments and percussion,<ref name="deropernfreund" /> and inspired by the slow cracking movements of glacial masses over rocky ground.<ref name="jarosch">Corinna Jarosch: "Joby Talbot: Mit Musik Geschichten erzählen", in: [[Theater Hagen]]: ''Everest'', program booklet Nr. 10, 2017/2018 season, pp. 9–10.</ref>
Elements of dance music were particularly considered in the 2018 Hagen production.<ref name="huesers" />
=== Instrumentation ===
The instrumentation consists of:<ref name="musicsalesclassical">[http://www.musicsalesclassical.com/composer/work/51141 Production information] at Music Sales Classical, accessed July 6, 2018.</ref>
* [[woodwinds]]: three [[Western concert flute|flute]]s (2. also [[piccolo]], 3. also piccolo and alto flute); three [[oboe]]s (3. also [[English horn]]); three B{{music|b}}-[[clarinet]]s (1. also [[A clarinet]], 2. also [[E-flat clarinet]] and [[bass clarinet]], 3. also bass clarinet and double bass clarinet); two [[bassoon]]s (2. also [[contrabassoon]]) * [[brass instrument|brass section]]: four [[horn (instrument)|horns]] in F, three [[trumpet]]s in C, two [[tenor trombone]]s, [[bass trombone]], [[tuba]] * [[timpani]] (also [[big drum]], big hanging [[cymbal]], [[China cymbal]], tuned [[gong]] in F sharp) * [[percussion]] (four players): ** [[vibraphone]] ** [[aluphone]] ** [[marimba]] ** [[tubular bells]] ** [[crotales]] ** tuned gongs (one octave Turandot gongs and low B and C sharp) ** China basin ** Sizzle basin ** Ride basin ** two hanging basins (large and small) ** thunderpanel ** [[snare drum]] (preferably piccolo snare) ** [[Wooden fish|temple block]]s (high, medium, low) ** [[tambourine]] ** [[Music of Hawaii|pu`ʻli (split bamboo sticks)]] ** little [[triangle (musical instrument)|triangle]] ** [[egg shaker]] (for the effect of a ticking wristwatch) ** deep [[Woodblock (instrument)|wood block]] ** wood birds ** [[Rattle (percussion instrument)|rattle]] ** [[Zill|finger cymbal]] ** [[flexatone]] ** two large drums (1 with snare effect by double bass strings glued to the underside) ** two [[tamtam]]s (large and small) ** [[wind machine]] * sound effects ([[Sampling (music)|samples]]), [[piano]], [[celesta]] (also [[MIDI keyboard]]), [[harp]] * [[string section|strings]]: twelve first [[violin]]s, ten second violins, eight [[viola]]s, eight [[cello]]s, six [[double bass]]es
== References == {{Reflist}}
==Further reading== * {{cite news |author=Heidi Waleson |date=February 3, 2015 |title=Tragedy Makes for the Peak of Drama |work=The Wall Street Journal |page=D5}} * {{cite news |author=Bill Zeeble |date=February 7, 2017 |title=The Cold Wrath Of Nature, Given Operatic Voice |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/deceptivecadence/2015/02/04/383888665/the-cold-wrath-of-nature-given-operatic-voice |work=Weekend Edition Saturday |publisher=National Public Radio}} * {{cite news |author=Kenneth DeLong |date=February 8, 2019 |title=Review: Everest scales new heights in innovative opera |url=https://calgaryherald.com/entertainment/music/review-everest-scales-new-heights-in-innovative-opera |work=Calgary Herald}}
== External links == * [https://issuu.com/scoresondemand/docs/everest_51141 Score] on [[issuu]]
{{Joby Talbot}} {{Portal bar|Theatre|Opera}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Everest}} [[Category:English-language operas]] [[Category:One-act operas]] [[Category:2015 operas]] [[Category:Operas set in the 20th century]] [[Category:Mount Everest in fiction]] [[Category:Operas]] [[Category:Operas set in Asia]] [[Category:Fiction set in 1996]]