The Shadow

OVERVIEW

Title: The Shadow

Composer: Omar Daniel

Librettist: Alex Poch-Goldin

Commissioned By: Tapestry Opera

Language: English

Producer: Tapestry Opera

Run Time: 90

Roles:

Role	Voice Type	Range ?	Character Description
Allegra	high	A#3-Bb5	An unmarried rich girl, controlled by her father and yearning for love. 18 years old.
Don Paulo	low	G2-D4	A mafia Don, wealthy and powerful. 45-60 years old.
Waiter	middle	C#3-D5	Proud and efficient. 25-40 years old.
Raoul	middle-low	Gb2-C5 (falsetto)	A dissatisfied mailman, yearning to be a person of substance. In love with Allegra, and seeking to win her heart. 30 years old.
Allegra's Father	low	G#2-D4	Intolerant and traditional. 45-60 years old. Not seen.
The Shadow	middle-high	C4-G#5	A tuxedo-clad henchman of Don Paulo, who publlicly humiliates debtors. 30-45 years old.

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Orchestration: Clarinet in Bb/Bass Clarinet, Trumpet, Percussion 1, Percussion 2, Piano/Electric Organ, Violin, Cello

SYNOPSIS

Barcelona, 1900. Against the backdrop of Gaudi’s surrealist Parc Guell, Raoul, a humble postman, falls for the beautiful Allegra, whose father is a wealthy aristocrat on his mail route. To impress Allegra, Raoul disguises himself as Hernando, a “wealthy suitor,” and borrows money from the local mafia to impress the girl. Raoul goes deeply into debt, and when he cannot meet his payments, The Shadow appears. Dressed in a top hat and tails, The Shadow exposes Raoul as a welcher and charlatan, hunting him down and humiliating him in public until the debt is paid. Raoul’s mounting tragi-comedic desperation leads to murder, and a surprise ending as Raoul struggles to hide the truth of his identity from Allegra. With abundant humour and a Jungian flourish, The Shadow illuminates how we seek to suppress the darker side of our tortured conscience.

MUSIC DESCRIPTION

A tour-de-force for instrumentalists and singers alike, Daniel’s score demands fearless bravura from each ensemble member. The dramatic choice to use a countertenor as the title character is notable for the composition. It further emphasizes the character’s menacing presence by juxtaposing it against the lower tessitura of the baritone.

SCORES FOR PURCHASE

Libretto:

The Shadow – Libretto

Purchase This Score

Arias & Excerpts:

The Shadow - Prologue

Spring has sprung in Barcelona.

Character	Voice Type	Range ?
Allegra	high	D4-A5
Don Paolo	low	B2-E4
Waiter	middle	C3-D5

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The Shadow - Scene 1

Raoul the mailman is in love with Allegra. He arrives at her house and they flirt, but are interrupted by Allegra's father. Raoul vows that he will win over Allegra by disgusing himself as a wealthy merchant named Hernando.

Character	Voice Type	Range ?
Raoul	middle-low	F#2-A4
Allegra	high	C4-F5
Father	low	G#2-D4

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The Shadow - Scene 2

Disguised as Hernando, Raoul asks out Allegra.

Character	Voice Type	Range ?
Raoul	middle-low	B2-C5
Allegra	high	A#3-F#5
Father	low	C3-B3

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The Shadow - Scene 3

Raoul and Allegra go out on their date and order a feast. The bill arrives and Raoul cannot pay it. He tries to escape, but in the process stabs the waiter in the neck with a fork. Raoul and Allegra leave the restaurant, Allegra is unaware of what has just happened.

Character	Voice Type	Range ?
Waiter	middle	C#3-A4
Raoul	middle-low	F2-D#4
Allegra	high	D#4-G#5
The Shadow	middle-high	E4-F5

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The Shadow - Scene 4

Raoul goes to see Don Paulo for a loan. Before he approves, Don Paulo warns Raoul about a shadow that haunts people who have not paid their debts.

Character	Voice Type	Range ?
Raoul	middle-low	A2-E4
Don Paolo	low	G#2-D4
The Shadow	middle-high	C4-E5

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The Shadow - Scene 5

Raoul, dressed as Hernando, proposes to Allegra and gives her an engagement ring.

Character	Voice Type	Range ?
Raoul	middle-low	B2-E4
Allegra	high	E4-E5

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The Shadow - Scene 6

Allegra has lost her engagement ring.

Character	Voice Type	Range ?
Allegra	high	A#3-A#5

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The Shadow - Scene 7

Raoul still hasn't paid off his debt. Allegra arrives and tells him she has lost the ring, not knowing that he is also Hernando.

Character	Voice Type	Range ?
Raoul	middle-low	A2-D#4
Allegra	high	Spoken

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The Shadow - Scene 8

The Shadow arrives to haunt Raoul.

Character	Voice Type	Range ?
Raoul	middle-low	Silent
The Shadow	middle-high	B3-C#6

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The Shadow - Scene 9

Raoul (as Hernando) confronts Allegra about the missing ring. She tells him it's being polished.

Character	Voice Type	Range ?
Raoul	middle-low	B2-E4
Allegra	high	D4-A5
The Shadow	middle-high	Silent

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The Shadow - Scene 10

The Shadow arrives and tells Allegra the truth about Hernando/Raoul.

Character	Voice Type	Range ?
The Shadow	middle-high	G#3-G5
Allegra	high	D4-Bb5
Raoul	middle-low	C#3-D4

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The Shadow - Scene 11

Raoul, as Hernando, arrives at Allegra's balcony but sees her with The Shadow.

Character	Voice Type	Range ?
Raoul	middle-low	F#2-A4
Allegra	high	D#4-E5
The Shadow	middle-high	D4-G5

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The Shadow - Scene 12

Raoul attacks and kills The Shadow.

Character	Voice Type	Range ?
Raoul	middle-low	F#2-F#4
The Shadow	middle-high	G3-G5

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The Shadow - Scene 13

Raoul (as himself) sits on a bench. Allegra arrives and wonders if she'll ever find love. She leaves for mass to ask for forgiveness.

Character	Voice Type	Range ?
Raoul	middle-low	F#2-F#4
Allegra	high	Bb3-Ab5

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PREMIERE PRODUCTION INFORMATION

Premiere Production: May 21-30, 2009 at Berkeley Street Theatre, Toronto ON

Producers: Tapestry Opera

Cast:

Role	Name
Allegra	Carla Huhtanen
Don Paulo	Theodore Baerg
Waiter	Keith Klassen
Raoul	Peter McGillivray
Allegra's Father	Theodore Baerg
The Shadow	Scott Belluz

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Premiere Production Team:

Role	Name
Music Director	Wayne Strongman
Director	Tom Diamond
Designer	Camellia Koo
Lighting Designer	Robert Thomson

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CREATION

DEVELOPMENT

Graduates of the Tapestry 2001 LIBLAB, Alex Poch-Goldin and Omar Daniel were already collaborating within a year. Tapestry staged their first short opera, Lisa, for the company’s first Opera to Go, produced at the new Isabel Bader Theatre for the 2002 Opera America Conference.

The team maintained their momentum and in April 2004, Tapestry mounted the first workshop of The Shadow. As the story evolved over the next couple of years, deeper psychological implications began to emerge, informing the character development. These developments influenced Omar’s compositional process, including choice of instrumentation and thematic vocabulary. Early on, one of those choices was a distinctly spare medieval movement, which remained in the final production. Other choices faded or morphed as the characters grew and changed.

QUOTATIONS FROM MEDIA

"Engrossing..."

- Globe and Mail

“Complex characters, a suggestive score and a timely theme about unpaid debts make Alex Poch-Goldin and Omar Daniel's The Shadow a contemporary opera worth singing about.”

- Glenn Sumi, NOW, May 27, 2009 (5 “N’s”)

“A clever mix of comic opera and high melodrama, this humorous and heightened world premiere seems designed to be enjoyed by opera aficionados and lay-folk alike.”

- Byron Laviolette, Eye Weekly, May 22,2009

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