THE STORY OF THE OPERA
After reading the novel Patience and Sarah by Isabel Miller, Wende Persons '79W (MS) was inspired. "I read this book and just thought, what a cool story," she says. The novel, based on true events, is the story of two early 19th-century Connecticut women who fall in love and settle together on an upstate New York farm. Pretty much unprecedented for their time.
Similarly, Persons and Paula Kimper '79E were pioneers in their own right. The two women teamed up to write the libretto (Persons) and score (Kimper) for the first opera to depict an openly romantic relationship between two women.
The three-act Patience and Sarah, which Kimper identifies as a "folk opera," made its historic debut on July 8 at the Lincoln Center Festival '98. As a first effort, it was well received both by the opera elite (Opera News, for instance, had good things to say about its "smart, concise libretto" and "lyrical score") and by the gay and lesbian community.
Kimper and Persons have written of their work: "As lesbians we are proud to be creating what we believe is a popular and accessible theatrical work. It is a positive story, inspired by real-life early 19th-century lesbians. Patience and Sarah deals with the universal themes common to all relationships of shame and guilt, of passion and commitment, and of honesty with one's families."
Persons says she began writing the libretto in 1981 after a soprano friend spoke to her about her inability to identify with the roles she was singing on stage. "She never got to be who she really was and sing of her love for women," says Persons. "I thought about it and said to myself, wouldn't it be great to do this?" She got right to work, although it turned out to be slow going.
By 1989 she was looking around for a collaborator and called Kimper, a composer whom she had known from her years at the University. Kimper, who was working in theater and film, had never written an opera and her initial response was negative. "I didn't want to be pigeonholed as a lesbian composer," she says. And a first reading of the novel didn't immediately energize her musical instincts. The libretto went back into Persons' drawer for a few more years.
It was after Kimper attended a performance of The Ring Cycle at the Metropolitan Opera that she began to reconsider the idea and asked for a chance to read the story again. This time it took, and the two engaged the support of American Opera Projects, Inc., an organization that helps artists develop and present new works.
Meanwhile, Isabel Miller, the author of the original story, had become gravely ill, and the creators experienced some difficulty securing rights to the work. Miller liked the idea but was cautious at first. She was pleased with the libretto, she said, but wanted to hear the music. Kimper hadn't written any yet.
Time now being of the essence, Kimper and Persons proved their dedication to the project with the same brand of perseverance and patience pledged by their title characters. Miller, after hearing a tape of a few songs, granted them permission to work on the project but was short of granting them full rights.
Despite no assurances that Patience and Sarah would ever be performed publicly, composer and librettist forged ahead. Shortly before her death, however, Miller gave her blessing and affectionately signed over the rights.
The show went on. And unlike most operas, this time the ending was happy.
Contributed by Sally Parker, Helene Snihur, and Jan Waxman
