The_Ice_Break
The Ice Break
Opera by Sir Michael Tippett, dedicated to Sir Colin Davis
The Ice Break is an English-language opera in three acts, with music and libretto to an original scenario by Sir Michael Tippett. The opera received its premiere at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden on 7 July 1977, conducted by Colin Davis, the dedicatee of the opera.[1][2]
One meaning of the opera's title is a reference to the actual physical breaking of ice on the frozen northern rivers, signaling the advent of spring.[3] The composer has said that the subject of the opera is "whether or not we can be reborn from the stereotypes we live in." John Warrack has noted that the work "confronts questions of stereotype on a wider scale" compared to Tippett's earlier operas, and also in a contemporary setting.[4] Tippett himself put this line on a preface page to a published score of the opera, the opening of François Villon's Ballade des pendus::[5]
- "Brother humans who live after us, do not harden your hearts against us."