Here we meet the nightingale who sings sadly from within her cage.
Now we meet the merchant, and his son Ivan. Ivan is fascinated by birds and wonders what they are saying. His father scolds him - "they don't mean anything"
Ivan goes walking and gets caught in a storm. He saves some baby birds who are unprotected.
A bird with Golden plumage arrives and thanks Ivan for saving her children. She offers to grant him a wish, he asks to understand the language of the birds
At the end of the opera the nightingale reveals begger and king - father and son to one another, her prediction has come true. Father and son reunite in tearful embrace.
Bard College Orchestra & Choir, conducted by James Bagwell, Yulia Van Doren
soprano (Bird with Golden Plumage), Sungeun Lee tenor (Ivan), Yohan Yi Baritone (Merchant, Captain, King), Chanel Wood Soprano (Nightingale), Rie Miyake
Soprano (Princess), Kristin Ezell Soprano, Melissa Wegner Soprano, and Tania Rodriguez Mezzo-Soprano (Narrators).
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Cara is lieing in her birthing pool. One after another her three lovers enter, each asks if they are in fact the father. Cara sends them all packing before plunging into an underwater world of despair.
Libretto by Anna Reynolds. Performed by Tete a Tete, Riverside Studios, 19 June 2006 conducted by Tim Murray. Cara: Rachel Hynes, Lovers: James Edwards
