Picture a day like this (text for music): Vocal Opera Libretto

Benjamin and Crimp's partnership has proven itself across multiple works, and Picture a Day like This distills their artistic dialogue into a compact, narrative-driven piece that speaks directly to singers and audiences. The libretto cuts to the emotional heart of grief without sentimentality, while the score's instrumentation (22 players supporting five voices) creates space for both intimate vocal writing and orchestral color. For companies seeking contemporary opera that challenges singers without alienating audiences, this fable delivers both artistic rigor and genuine theatrical warmth.

A grief-stricken search narrated with profound tenderness and surprising moments of dark humor. The opera moves through encounters that feel both specific and dreamlike, building toward a resolution that asks hard questions about loss, substitution, and what it means to be truly alive.

This libretto serves singers and directors preparing the work for performance, as well as students of contemporary opera dramaturgy and vocal writing. It works for advanced undergraduate and professional opera programs seeking recent work by major composers.

• Study Crimp's text first as pure drama. The emotional arc depends on understanding each character's psychological state before you layer the music on top.
• Balance the five voices carefully in rehearsal; the mezzo-soprano carries the dramatic spine, but the supporting roles must register with equal clarity in ensemble moments.
• Work with your conductor on the relationship between vocal line and orchestral gesture. Benjamin's writing often asks voices to move against instrumental textures rather than simply doubling them.
• Give the mysterious Zabelle character particular attention in staging. This role functions as both plot device and symbolic presence, and the performer's choices will shape how the audience receives the opera's resolution.

Present this as part of a contemporary opera exploration, either alone as a feature evening or alongside other recent works by Benjamin or works that engage with myth and transformation. The 60-minute length makes it suitable as a concert opera or fully staged production, and it pairs naturally with repertoire exploring grief and psychological realism.

• Navigating complex contemporary libretto with psychological and symbolic layers
• Ensemble singing across five distinct vocal lines with equal prominence
• Coordinating vocal phrasing with modern orchestral textures and harmonic language
• Character development and dramatic truthfulness in abstract or fablelike narratives