etiquette (2024)

Etiquette is a one-act opera, which was released as a short film and EP in 2024.

Monica Pearce composed the music, and the librettist is John Terauds. The recording features sopranos Maureen Batt and Erin Bardua, mezzo-soprano Lucy Hayes Davis, pianist Tara Scott, and clarinetist Brad Reid.

The twenty-one minute work features three influential 1920s women: author, critic and satirist Dorothy Parker (known for her wit and wisecracks), author and socialite Emily Post, and American-born British politician Nancy Astor. Etiquettein Society, in Business, in Politics, and At Home (the book by Emily Post) was published in 1922, noting the importance of etiquette in all aspects of life: “Consideration for the rights and feelings of others is not merely a rule for behavior in public but the very foundation upon which social life is built.” When reviewing the work, however, Parker observed that, “Those who have mastered etiquette seem to arrive at exquisite dullness.” Thsi opera showcases traditional themes in a new light, in line with the age-old tradition of revisiting the past to illuminate the present.

Commissioned by Essential Opera, the world-premiere film and recording were made possible with support from the Canada Council for the Arts and Arts Nova Scotia.