The Medium
The Medium is a short two-act dramatic opera with words and music by Gian Carlo Menotti.
Contents
The original text
Commissioned by the Alice M. Ditson Fund at Columbia University, its first performance was there on 8 May 1946.
Translations and adaptations
Performance history in South Africa
1952: Presented on tour by the University of Cape Town Opera Company across the Western and Eastern Cape, with Nellie du Toit as Monica.
1953: Presented by the South African College of Music together with the Rhodesian Music Societies and the UCT Opera Company on a tour of Southern Rhodesia between 4 and 21 February 1953 in four towns: Umtali, Salisbury, Gwelo and Bulawayo. With Nellie du Toit, Noreen Berry, Jeanette Schatz, Ernest Dennis. Produced by Gregorio Fiasconaro and conducted by Erik Chisholm.
1966: Presented by NAPAC Opera.
2015: Presented at the Suidoosterfees (29 April – 2 May)
Sources
Wayne Muller. 2018. A reception history of opera in Cape Town: Tracing the development of a distinctly South African operatic aesthetic (1985–2015). Unpublished PhD thesis.
Alexandra Xenia Sabina Mossolow. 2003. The career of South African soprano Nellie du Toit, born 1929. Unpublished Masters thesis. University of Stellenbosch.
Return to
Return to PLAYS I: Original SA plays
Return to PLAYS II: Foreign plays
Return to PLAYS III: Collections
Return to PLAYS IV: Pageants and public performances
Return to South African Festivals and Competitions
Return to The ESAT Entries
Return to Main Page
