Stone Soup
Opera for children in one-act; Music and Libretto by Philip Seward
Commissioned by Lyric Opera of Chicago
A hungry and tired traveller arrives in a small village marketsquare looking for some food. The suspicious villagers refuse to offer anything, so the traveller decides to make soup from a stone. The villagers are so intrigued by this idea, that they bring out a pot, fill it with water and begin to boil the stone. The traveller comments on how well the soup is cooking, but remarks that it would cook better with onions. A villager surprisingly offers to get some onions for the soup and the villagers wait some more to see this miracle of soup from a stone. The traveller volunteers that carrots would bring out the flavor even better and a villager offers carrots, then come beef bones, barley, salt...etc. Soon the village has a piping hot pot of soup for everyone to share. This fable set to music offers tuneful melodies and life lessons served up with warmth and humor!
Stone Soup was commissioned by Lyric Opera of Chicago as a part of the OperaKids outreach program. For more information, contact the Education Department at Lyric Opera of Chicago.