Love/Hate

Chamber Opera (2012)
Libretto by Rob Bailis
Four to Six Voices; Cl, Vn, Vc, Pno
Duration: 70″
Full Score :: Piano Vocal Score :: Three Scenes
Three Scenes (Piano/Vocal) Jill Grove; Brian Leerhuber; Thomas Glenn; Marnie Breckenridge
Complete Opera (Full Score) Marina Harris; Laura Krumm; Thomas Glenn; Ao Li
Commissioned by American Opera Projects and ODC Theatre San Francisco
Premiere date: April 12, 2012, The Opera Center, San Francisco Opera & ODC Theater
David Hanlon, Conductor, Marina Harris, soprano; Laura Krumm, mezzo-soprano;
Thomas Glenn, tenor; Ao Li, bass-baritone
A comic opera with its heart on its sleeve – two strangers meet eyes at a bus stop, but both are too buried in their own emotional baggage to do anything more than say hello.

Love/Hate was developed by American Opera Projects with the participation of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Additional support was provided by the Zellerbach Family Foundation. The story takes place during a few charged moments when two strangers meet. George has been noticing Laura, a chilly college professor, at their neighborhood Bus Stop. He musters the courage to speak to her and a shared attraction is revealed. Never leaving the Bus Stop, George and Laura are launched on a surreal journey, reflecting on all the reasons they have to resist going any further than “hello.” Archetypal forces of love and despair, here played by Cupid and Death, collude and intercede. George and Laura continue to meet and dream, unto near-paralysis. Death and Cupid finally save the day, allowing the lovers to board the bus and ride together wherever it may take them.