Medea

An Opera in One Act

Duration: 1 hour
Music by Darius Milhaud
Arranged for chamber orchestra by Russell Plows
Libretto after Euripides and Seneca by Madeleine Milhaud
Translated by Russell Plows

Scoring

1 (alt pic) 1 1 (alt sax) 0 / 1 0 0 / harp / strings

Roles

MEDEA … Soprano
CREUSA … Soprano
NURSE … Contralto
Jason … Tenor
Creon … Baritone

Time and Place

A square in Ancient Greece

Synopsis

The Colchian sorceress Medea, abandoned by her husband Jason in Corinth, plans to kill his new bride Creusa on her wedding day. After an encounter with Jason and the Corinthian king, Creon, Medea sends her two sons to Creusa with a poisoned robe. In attempting to save her, Creon is also killed and he commands Jason to avenge their death. When Jason finds Medea, she has already killed their sons and has planned her escape in a winged chariot. She tells Jason he should know his wife better as she escapes justice.