A Quiet Place

A Quiet Place is an American opera in three acts, with music by Leonard Bernstein to a libretto by Stephen Wadsworth. The work is a sequel to Bernstein's 1951 short opera Trouble in Tahiti. In its initial form A Quiet Place was in one act; the premiere, on June 17, 1983, was a double bill: Trouble in Tahiti, intermission, A Quiet Place. In its three-act form, which appeared in 1984, Act Two of A Quiet Place largely consists of Trouble in Tahiti in flashback.

The first performance, attended by Bernstein, was on 17 June 1983 by the Houston Grand Opera. After being panned by critics ("To call the result a pretentious failure is putting it kindly"), Bernstein and Wadsworth withdrew the opera and revised it. Some scenes were cut, and Trouble in Tahiti was incorporated into the opera as a flashback, becoming (most of) the second act of the new three-act version. The revised version was given at La Scala, Milan and at Washington Opera in 1984. The work was revised again and subsequently performed at the Vienna State Opera under the composer's baton in April 1986 with Wendy White as Dinah. These performances were recorded by Deutsche Grammophon for commercial release. The UK premiere was in December 1988 at the Corn Exchange Theatre, Cambridge, with the composer in attendance.

In October 2010, New York City Opera presented the New York premiere of the revised work in a production by Christopher Alden. In contrast to earlier responses, which had been lukewarm, Alden's production drew high praise from both critics and audiences.

A chorus sings scattered musical phrases such as "My Heart Shall Be Thy Garden", "Cakes and Friends We Choose With Care", and "Lost Time is Never Found". Some of these themes are repeated throughout the opera. Meanwhile, voices are heard in reaction to a car accident. The victim is Dinah, a wife and mother of two.

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