Poor Bibi
chamber opera

Details:

Instrumentation: Soprano, Mezzo-soprano, Baritone; 1.0.1.0; 0.0.0.0; pno; 1.1.1.0
Duration: 25'
Libretto: Joyce Carol Oates
Composed: 1999-2002
Published by: Parsonage Press

SYNOPSIS: A middle-aged married couple, burdened with the increasing ill-health and irascibility of their "Poor Bibi," whom they once adored, make a decision to have him/her "put to sleep" by a veterinarian. When, repulsed by the request, the veterinarian refuses to perform the "simple procedure," the husband and wife are forced to kill Poor Bibi themselves in a frenzied, brutal manner: "For we soon forget what we do, in the human desperation of doing it." The ordinarily "gentle and civilized" couple then confront us, the audience: "And you, you damned hypocrites, what will you do with yours?" -- Joyce Carol Oates