Three Decembers CD

Jake Heggie: Three Decembers

World Premiere Recording — Houston Grand Opera, March 2008

Listen to clips from Three Decembers—"What Do You Remember About Dad?" "The Moon's Lullaby"

Listen to HGO Dramaturg Colin Ure's Interview with Frederica von Stade and Jake Heggie (32 MB)
Download the Press Release

Three Decembers was commissioned by Houston Grand Opera in association with San Francisco Opera and Cal Performances
(Robert Cole, Director). It was developed with generous support from Meet the Composer, Betty Freeman, and the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Houston Grand Opera gratefully acknowledges lead funders for its stage production: The Carol Franc Buck Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Hinda and Barry Simon, Franci and Jim Crane, Sheridan and John Eddie Williams and The National Endowment for the Arts. The release on CD was made possible thanks to Luci and Rich Janssen, Bill and Sara Morgan, and Marge and Adrianne Vincent. Three Decembers was recorded in performance at the Wortham Theater Center in March 2008 through the facilities of KUHF-88.7 FM, Houston Public Radio; the recording was produced, engineered on location and edited by Marlan Barry. Houston Grand Opera records its performances thanks to major grants from The Ford Foundation and The Wortham Foundation, Inc.

An Opera in Two Acts
Music by Jake Heggie
Libretto by Gene Scheer
Based on Some Christmas Letters, an original play
by Terrence McNally
Commissioned by Houston Grand Opera in association with San Francisco Opera and Cal Performances

The Cast

Madeline Mitchell – Frederica von Stade
Charlie – Keith Phares
Beatrice – Kristin Clayton

Three Decembers Ensemble
Piano – Jake Heggie and Patrick Summers
Oboe/English Horn – Elizabeth Priestly
Woodwinds – Scott Plugge
Clarinet – Carol Stinson*
Violin – Jonathan Godfrey*, Acting Concertmaster
Hae-a Lee* and Chavdar Parashkevov*
Cello – Erika Johnson*
Bass – Dennis Whittaker*
Percussion – Richard Brown*

Houston Grand Opera Orchestra
*Core Member

Conductor – Patrick Summers
    Mr. and Mrs. Albert B. Alkek Music Director Chair
Director / Designer – Leonard Foglia
Costume Designer – Cesar Galindo
Lighting Designer – Brian Nason
Musical Preparation – Eric Melear
    Mr. and Mrs. James A. Elkins Endowed Chair
    Grant Loehnig
    John M. O’Quinn Foundation Endowed Fellow
Stage Manager – Kristen Burke
Assistant Director – Brad Dalton
Assistant to Mr. Nason – Gary C. Echelmeyer
Recording produced, engineered on location, edited
    and mixed by Marlan Barry
Assistant engineers – Andy Bradley and Francis Schmidt

The Recording

CD1 (Act I)
Part 1: 1986
1. Prelude
2. Scene 1: A Christmas Letter
3. Trio: “Once, before you were born…”
4. Aria (Charlie)
5. Scene 2: Christmas Party in Barbados
6. Song (Maddy): “About to break”
7. Scene 3: Backstage, Maddy’s Dressing Room
8. Duet (Maddy & Bea): “In the months, in the years ahead…”
9. Scene 4: Charlie & Bea on the Golden Gate Bridge
10. Duet: “What do you remember about Dad?”

CD2 (Act II)
Part 2: 1996
1. Scene 1: Charlie’s Apartment
2. Scene 2: The Moon’s Lullaby
3. Scene 3: Maddy’s Apartment
4. Aria (Bea)
5. Shoes Duet (Bea & Charlie)
6. Maddy: “You look lovely, dear…”
7. Trio: “I don’t believe you…”
8. Interlude

Part 3: 2006
9. Maddy’s Memorial at a Broadway theater
10. Farewell: “All in all, isn’t life simply grand?”