Bernstein: Trouble in Tahiti / Gyula Fekete: Roman Fever – premiere Presented by Liszt Academy

Its jazzy tone notwithstanding, the one-act Trouble in Tahiti has a dark musical world. It is one of Bernstein’s earliest works for the stage, and the only one whose libretto he wrote himself. This miniature drama has two characters, and portrays the most commonplace of situations, the deterioration of a marriage into routine, with bitter irony and a challenging stance that has lost none of its mordancy.

Gyula Fekete’s chamber opera, Roman Fever, is another compact drama for two characters, which starts with the carefree chat of two middle-aged ladies who consider their lives settled and satisfactory. What promises to be a pleasant tea in Rome grows more and more intense as facts from the two women’s lives are revealed. How does the past effect the present when you find yourself to be sharing a table with another party from a one-time love triangle? And what are the repercussions if you have been unaware of your role in it?