The Making of Volpone: A New Comic Opera

The Commission

Award-winning composer John Musto was selected in 2001 as the recipient of Wolf Trap's first opera commission. Mr. Musto and librettist Mark Campbell have collaborated to create a new traditional comic opera in English. Inspired by the 1606 Ben Jonson play of the same name, Volpone is a bright, biting comedy full of wit and wordplay, with a score that is polished, lyrical, and sophisticated.

The plot is a perennial of comedy and satire: the wealthy Volpone ("the Fox"), having no heirs, feigns mortal illness in order to con a greedy collection of individuals who wish to inherit his fortune. The would-be beneficiaries prove all too willing to sacrifice their dignity, morals, and even their loved ones in order to gain favor with Volpone. In the end, the ruse is revealed (along with a few surprises), and all of the players receive their just deserts.

The Reading

In December 2002, a sing-through of Act I took place in the Green Room at the Filene Center. John Musto and Mark Campbell were joined by conductor Michael Barrett and 10 singers, including several former members of the Wolf Trap Opera Company. The highly productive and enjoyable week-long reading gave the creators the opportunity to hear their work sung for the first time. Some adjustments to music and lyrics were made on-the-spot, and the team went away with plans for further refinements and to continue work on the remainder of the piece.

The Workshop

The next milepost came in May 2003 with the creative team and cast of singers in residence for a two-week workshop at the Center for Education at Wolf Trap. Volpone was "put on its feet" with staging by director Leon Major, in a rehearsal room setting with a few set pieces and props. The workshop period culminated in an informal run-through for a small invited audience.

The Process

Our new home at the Center for Education has literally made Volpone possible. We have a place to workshop and rehearse the opera, and the technological infrastructure of our new workplace streamlined the development of the piece.

Mr. Musto was able to easily email scenes and excerpts–he does all of his writing by computer (using the music publishing software Finale), and since the Wolf Trap staff could view the files using the same software, we could consult quickly and immediately. During the workshop, we used laptops in the rehearsal room so that proposed changes could be made immediately, revised scores could be printed in seconds, and the cast could try them out. The cast also used audio CDs created from the computerized score to streamline their study of the piece.

This is an acoustic opera, to be sure, with the old-fashioned string and wind instruments in the pit and pure unamplified voices on the stage-but its birth was certainly a 21^st century phenomenon!

The Premiere

The world premiere performances of Volpone took place at The Barns at Wolf Trap on March 10, 12, and 14, 2004.