The Medium
- Madame Flora, called Baba ( Old )
- Monica, her daughter (Soprano)
- Toby, a gypsy boy ( silent role )
- Mrs. Gobineau (soprano )
- Mr. Gobineau (baritone )
- Mrs. Nolan (mezzo- soprano)
The medium is an opera in two acts by Gian Carlo Menotti, who also wrote the libretto. The advance screening was held on 1946 in Columbia University in New York at the Brander Matthews Theatre held the world premiere followed in 1947 at New York's Ethel Barrymore Theatre. Menotti himself led in 1951 in the film version of the opera director and received a special prize at the International Film Festival of Cannes 1952.
Action
Act I
Madame Flora, an emigrant from Europe, which has found a home in New York, holds together with her daughter Monica and Toby, a mute boy, from séances in her home, where she dazzled the appearance of deceased, while earning not bad. The couple Gobineau, regular visitors to the evenings, is now with Ms. Nolan to guest. The light is deleted, Toby actuates the secret apparatus of the table crazy, and Monica is in a ray of light the voices from beyond the grave, this time the daughter of Mrs. Nolan, as a "medium " dar. Madame Flora is startled at once: an ice-cold hand has placed around her throat. The guests want to make a new session. Madame Flora declared the meeting a hoax. Guests think the thoughts of their hostess were woozy and go. Flora wants Toby blame for the event. When he hides behind a puppet theater, she rushes up to him, but Monica, who has fallen in love with the boy, saves him. Madam Flora gets a bad conscience because of fraud and turns increasingly to alcohol.
Second Act
Some days later. Madame Flora wants to wring a confession Toby. She believes that he had her put the still unexplained cold hand to his throat, but struggling with the uncertainty, if the not so be it. The Gobineau's come with Mrs. Nolan back to a meeting, Madame Flora insists again that everything was a lie, but the three remain. Any distributes out of the house and drink until they fall asleep. When, after Monica Toby is looking, Madame Flora wakes up unintentionally. Toby is behind the curtain. As moves the curtain, Flora gets one hell of fear. She shoots: Toby is mortally wounded. Monica runs to get help. Flora thinks they 've beaten a spirit that is as far as the end of the opera but still inwardly unsure if he had touched her. With the words " Have you 's ?" ends the opera.