Ken Ludwig's New Opera “Tenor Overboard” to Premiere at Glimmerglass Festival

I’m thrilled to report that this summer, the Glimmerglass Festival in Cooperstown, NY will premiere my new opera, Tenor Overboard, with a score by Gioachino Rossini.

Rossini is one of my heroes, and he is often considered the greatest composer of comic operas of all time. He lived from 1792 to 1868 and wrote a total of 39 operas, including Il Barbieri di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville), La Cenerentola (Cinderella), and L’Italiana in Algeri (The Italian Girl in Algeria). He’s also famous for the opera William Tell, whose overture includes the famous theme from The Lone Ranger.

The great French author Stendhal wrote a remarkable biography of Rossini, which you shouldn’t miss. The Barber of Seville is perhaps the most popular opera of all time (along with La Bohème and Tosca). And Rossini’s own hero was Mozart, of whom he wrote one of the most moving sayings I’ve ever read. He said “Mozart was the inspiration of my youth, the desperation of my mature years, and the consolation of my old age.”

Francesca Zambello, the Artistic Director of both Glimmerglass and the Washington Opera, called me to commission Tenor Overboard in late August; and with a winter deadline coming on fast, I’m writing little else at the moment.

There are woefully few comic operas in the entire history of opera (I count only ten great ones), so it thrills me to try and write a new original, in this case using a selection of numbers that Rossini wrote 200 years ago for his original creations. In a way, it’s not unlike writing Crazy For You, but in that case I used songs by George and Ira Gershwin.

I’ve been having enormous fun writing the story for Tenor Overboard. It follows two sisters, Susanna and Mimi, beginning in Little Italy in 1946, when they try to escape their overbearing father who wants Mimi to marry the wrong man. Their journey begins when they join a singing group that embarks that afternoon on the SS Lindoro for Sicily. And while onboard they find adventure, love, and a lot of music. As I write, I’m aided by the musical expertise of Maestra Zambello, the magnificent conductor Joseph Colaneri, and the enormously talented and knowledgeable Kelley Rourke. I’m grateful to all of them, and to Glimmerglass, for asking me to be part of this remarkable project.