Danika Lorèn
Watch the excerpt reel of "Hedda" below
HEDDA
an opera in four acts
score and libretto by Danika Lorèn
based on "Hedda Gabler" by Henrik Ibsen
composed in 2018, revised in 2022
workshopped and recorded by the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra in January 2023
recording produced by Mark Turner
CAST
played by The Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra
conducted by Simon Rivard
Hedda Tesman performed by Danika Lorèn
Thea Elvstead performed by Jardena Gertler-Jaffe
Jörgen Tesman performed by Bruno Roy
Judge Brack performed by Oli Guselle
Ejlert Lövborg performed by Daevyd Pepper
ROLES
Jülle Tesman (mezzo-soprano)
Aunt of Jörgen Tesman
Jörgen Tessan (baritone)
Scholar, new husband to Hedda,
former acquaintance of Thea
Hedda Tesman (soprano)
Daughter of the late General Gabler,
new wife to Jörgen, former schoolmate
of Thea, former lover of Ejlert
Judge Brack (contralto or tenor)
Person of society, friend and confidant
to the Gabler family
Thea Elvstead (soprano)
Former schoolmate of Hedda, wife to the
town sheriff, former acquaintance of
Jörgen, companion and muse to Ejlert
Ejlert Lövborg (tenor)
Philosopher and writer, former lover
of Hedda, current companion of Thea
EXCERPT ONE [0:56]
ACT I
Thea, a former schoolmate of Hedda’s, has just left her husband to search for her lover, Ejlert Lövborg. She tells Hedda that she has been working with Ejlert on a world-changing new book, and that she must be with him. She is worried that Ejlert is in love with someone else and she has come to Hedda for help. Little does Thea know, it is Hedda’s former relationship with Ejlert that haunts him. Hedda and Thea’s conversation is interrupted by Jörgen Tesman, Hedda’s new husband, and Judge Brack, a family friend and confidant. Plans are made for both Thea and Brack to return later that evening, and they depart. Jörgen tells Hedda that he must get to work, and Hedda vows to keep herself entertained with her late father’s pistols…
EXCERPT TWO [4:26]
ACT II
Later that day, Hedda is shooting a pistol into her garden for fun. When Judge Brack arrives via the same garden, Hedda playfully continues to shoot her pistol. After disarming her, Brack and Hedda have an intimate “tête-à-tête”, and Hedda reveals her boredom with her marriage to Jörgen, her inability to resist her own destructive impulses, and her fear of motherhood.
EXCERPT THREE [7:36]
INTERLUDE
In the scene leading up to this interlude, Hedda has stirred up conflict between Thea and Ejlert. Hedda has exposed Thea’s mistrust of Ejlert, and while Thea is too shocked to defend herself, Ejlert decides to engage in the evening’s party with Jörgen and Brack, despite his history with addiction.
This interlude illustrates Ejlert’s evening out, beginning with motifs from the confrontation in his head as he travels to the gentlemen’s party. Upon arriving at the party, Ejlert begins to drink heavily and completely loses control. During this time he also reveals his affair with Thea to many men who know her husband, the sherif, and permanently tarnishes his reputation.
EXCERPT FOUR [11:11]
ACT III
After permanently tarnishing his reputation and losing the only manuscript to his most prolific work, Ejlert Lövborg comes to Hedda’s house where Thea is also staying. He breaks up with Thea in a veiled attempt to save her reputation, and tells Thea that he has destroyed the manuscript that they have created together.
In this excerpt, Eljert reveals to Hedda that he actually lost the manuscript and that he wants to put an end to his life. Hedda gives him one of her father’s pistols and urges him to do it beautifully, and he leaves with it. Once he is gone, Hedda retrieves the lost manuscript, which she had all along, and she burns it.
ORCHESTRATION
Full strings, flute(2), oboe(2), B flat clarinet(2), bassoon(1), horn(1), trumpet(1), trombone(1), harp(1), timpani(1), glockenspiel, bass drum, triangle, cymbal