Karla
one-act opera by Leonard Lehrman
after "Notes from a Lady at a Dinner Party,"
story by Bernard Malamud (1914-1986)
in his Rembrandt's Hat collection,
dedicated to Karen Campbell (1953-2005)
composed as a companion piece for Idiots First,
presented in concert by Ithaca Opera Assn, Aug. 1974
with Marina Gilman, Bill Castleman, David Wyatt
Nanette Hanslowe, Ivor Francis, Yvonne Parkes,
and Theodora Hanslowe, dir./cond. by the composer;
premiered by Marc Blitzstein Opera Company,
Indiana University Jewish Studies Program
& Risley Review of Reviews, Monroe County Library
Bloomington Indiana, March 7 & 14, 1976,
dir. by Edward Crafts, cond. by Richard Duncan;
NYC premiere by Bel Canto Opera Company, Jan., 1978
dir. by E. Randahl Hoey, cond. by composer
Orchestral prem.: Center for Contemporary Opera,
Staged by Patricia Heuermann
Conducted by Richard Marshall
Mar. 1992 at New York University.
CAST
Clem: Rodney Miller
Ralph: Gregory Gunder
Ada: Patricia Dell'Ortone
Karla: Lori Ann Phillips
Shirley: Helene Williams
Max: Ronald Edwards
Stephanie: Julia Tomasz
Publisher: Theodore Presser
Watch a performance with orchestra on YouTube:
complete, or in segments:
Scene 1
Scene 2 Pt1
Scene 2 Pt2
Scene 3
Also on YouTube, Max's First Aria, sung by
Max Zander at the 2012 Halifax Summer Opera Workshop.
dir.: Patricia Heuermann, cond.: Richard Marshall.
At a dinner party given by Professor Clem Harris (Rodney Miller, far right)
for his former student Max Adler (Ronald Edwards, second from left),
Clem's secretary, Shirley Fisher (Helene Williams, third from left)
is very interested in Max, but Max proves to be much more interested in
Clem's new wife, Karla (Lori Phillips, second from right).
Photo Collage from 1976 & 1978:
Harry Musselwhite, Gale Johnson, James Anderson (1976, top L)
Janis Eckhart, Valerie Saalbach, Alan Glassman (1978, R)
Michael Harvey, Rona Klinghofer, Thomas Machen (1978, bottom L)
Indiana Curtain Call:
Harry Musselwhite, Faith Steinsnyder,
Director Edward Crafts shaking hands with Leonard Lehrman,
James Anderson, Gale Johnson,
Martha Jane Howe, Rebecca Zahara, Frank Ryken