Fox Fables

"Fox Fables" is a one-act family opera, a set of three short tales of conscience.  The libretto is by Rhoda Levine, the distinguished opera director and author of eight published children's books. 

Each of the three fables (“The Fox and the Grapes,” “The Fox and the Hen” and “The Lion and the Fox”) is less than a quarter of an hour long;  they may be performed separately or together.  The fables were originally conceived for four singers and a piano.  In  the performance below, recorded at Stony Brook University on March 25 and 27, 2011,  the work was  scored for chamber orchestra, and a short overture was added.  (The overture is not played in the piano version).  This production was also presented at Symphony Space in New York City on March 31, 2011.

Several of the ideas for this work originated in improvisations by members of Rhoda Levine’s improvisational opera company, Play It By Ear.  We are indebted to Mary Catherine George, Frank Longino, Beth Knauer, and Chad Smyser for their imaginative contributions.