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Contemporary Opera Newsletter Leporello Contemporary Opera Newsletter Nr. 14 November 2012 World Première Performances In November 2012, eleven new operas will be performed, including three short operas to be performed on the same evening, and a sequel to a late 20th century chamber opera. Composer Matthew Harris is still working on the full score of Tess after Thomas Hardy. Daron Hagen has already composed 6 operas, including Vera of Las Vegas . Refidim Junction is Margret Wolf’s second opera after Kirisk in 2000. Frank Schwemmer’s last opera, Robin Hood , was performed in 2008. Prolific opera composer Oscar Strasnoy presents his 12th opera, whereas Mathis Nitschke just composed his first one. Judith Berkson : The Vienna Rite Matthew Harris : The Mark of Cain Chamber opera Chamber opera in 1 act New York, Roulette Libretto : Terry Quinn November 2, 2012 New York, St. Peter’s Church (Chelsea) November 8, 2012 with Ian Greenlaw, Judith Berkson, Bo Chang, Allyssa with Brace Negron, Blythe Gaissert, Kate Oberiat, Tom Lamb, Lana Cencic, Gavriel Savit, Aram Tchobanian. McNichols, Jonathan Estabrooks, Jonathan Kline. The piece is written for 3 drummers, 3 organists and 7 Vocal ensemble of 12. singers. Conducted by Steven M. Crawford and directed by Lynne Hayden-Findlay. This chamber opera is the story of a new service composed in 1828 by Viennese cantor Salomon Sulzer The librettist chose “to re-imagine a key part of the in collaboration with Franz Schubert and other creation myths found in Genesis, the Koran and the Viennese composers which sought to merge European Jewish Midrash tradition.” He re-examines how greed, music with synagogue chant. lust and sexual jealousy, as well as class and cultural differences, separating the inhabitants of the fertile environs of Eden from the desert dwellers in the Land of Nod, might have caused the very first murder of a brother to lead to a second such act, and beyond. more on p. 2 DVD Jonathan Dove : The Adventures of Pinocchio , Opus Arte, OA 1005 D with Victoria Simmonds, Jonathan Summers, Mary Plazas, Graeme Broadbent. Childredn opera based on Collodi’s dream-like original story. Recorded in London in March 2008. Conducted by David Parry. Staged by Martin Duncan. Leporello - Nr. 14 - November 2012 page 1 World Première Performances Daron Hagen : Little Nemo in Slumberland Margret Wolf : Refidim Junction A Magic Opera in Two Acts Chamber Opera (scenic documentary action) Libretto : Joseph Donald McClatchy, after Winsor Duration : 135 minutes McCay’s Comic Strips Würzburg, Mainfranken Theater (Hochschule für Musik Duration : 65 minutes, with one intermission Bibrastraße) Sarasota, Opera November 10, 2012 November 10, 2012 with Katja Beer, Judith Beifuß, Charlotte Sieglin, Britta with Chelsea Basler and Jeffrey Beruan. Scheerer. The complete cast includes soprano, tenor, bass, 6 Small choir, small actor's choir and ensemble, including children soloists and a treble chorus. The orchestra 2 accordions, 1 cembalo and 6 percussionists. consists of winds, 1 percussion, harp, piano and Conducted by Ulrich Pakusch, directed by Kai strings (13 players). Christian Moritz. Conducted by Steven Osgood, directed by Martha Collins. The opera is centered on the letters the poet Marianne Rein wrote to Jakob Picard from 1939 to 1941 and the The opera recounts the adventures of a boy over the letters Perl Margulies wrote to her husband in 1933-4. course of two nights on a quest to save Slumberland They deal with the fates of these two Jewish women from the Evil Emperor Sol who wants it to be bright all and their experiences with boycott, deportation night and day. Nemo's adventures along the way persecution and emigration. include encounters with a crystal enchantress, Perl’s desperate efforts to get a British visa, living in menacing giants, a floating bed, a balloon ride, and a the fear of expulsion with her two children, finally drove palace that turns upside down. her into a deep depression. Frank Schwemmer : Die Schatzinsel Scott Perkins : Charon Douglas Pew : The Game of Hearts An Adventure Opera Part of the Act Libretto : Michael Frowin after R. L. Stevenson Liam Wade : Duration : 120 minutes Zürich, Opera House Three 20 minutes operas November 17, 2012 Washington (DC), Kennedy Center (Terrace Theater) November 19, 2012 cast to be announced with Fabio Trümpy, Oliver Widmer, Olivia Vote, Ivana Scott Perkins and librettist Nat Cassidy have created Rusko, Susanne Grosssteiner, Irène Friedli an allegorical tale of the ferryman on the River Styx Thomas Rösner conducts and Nadja Loschky directs. and the cross-section of American characters he transports from the land of the living to the world A mysterious treasure map leads Jim Hawkins to a beyond . remote island, but a pirate gang is also after the Douglas Pew and librettist Dara Weinberg present a treasure. comedy about a group of widows in a Seattle nursing home. Liam Wade and librettist John Grimmett present a comic opera set in a New York City vaudeville theater in 1924. Sparks fly backstage between actresses when a glamorous star is accused of infidelity by her rival. more on p. 3 Leporello - Nr. 14 - November 2012 page 2 Andres Reukauf : Die Prinzessin auf Oscar Strasnoy : Slutchaï der Erbse Opera (90’) A Christmas Tale Libretto : Christine Dormoy, after Daniil Kharms, in Libretto : Werner Hahn, after Hans-Christian Russian Andersen Bordeaux, Grand-Théâtre Hagen, Theater (Großes Haus) November 26, 2012 November 25, 2012 with Sevan Manoukian, Isabel, Soccoja, Marie-George Monet, Thomas Dolié, Jean-Manuel Candenot with Jan Schuba, Kristina Günther-Vieweg, Tillmann Orchestra includes accordion, clarinet, viola, a DJ and Schnieders, Emanuele Pazienza videos. The composer conducts and Norbert Hilchenbach Conducted by the composer and staged by the directs. librettist. A prince is about to get married. But the girl with pale The libretto, after absurdist poet Daniil Kharms, is set skin and long hair his parents have chosen for him is in Saint Petersburg in the 1930s and 1940s. The story not to his liking. He flees to the nearby woods and unfolds from one accident to the following. meets the girl of his dreams. They will have to face numerous adventures before convincing the royal couple that love is not based on birth but on sensibility. Mathis Nitschke : Jetzt with Susan Narucki, Sarah Wilson, Martina Koppelstetter, Gilles Ragon, Marco Di Sapia Conducted by Carl Christian Bettendorf and directed by Urs Schönebaum. This new opera has been conceived as an answer to Elliot Carter’s What Next ? that will be performed first. Jetzt is an attempt to describe the history of thought in a poetic way, focusing on the evolution of language. The seven scenes will be interspersed with short interludes about death. Opera Libretto : Jonas Lüscher Montpellier, Opéra Berlioz - Le Corum November 30, 2012 In my collection Below are listed parts of my collection. There will be more in the next issues. 1) Program books : - Philip Glass : Einstein on the Beach , Montpellier, March 16, 2012 - Jake Heggie : Moby-Dick , San Francisco, October 10, 2012 - Felix Leuschner : Sprung in die Leere , Gelsenkirchen, October 6, 2012 (PDF) - Claudio Monteverdi / Elena Kats-Chernin : Die Monteverdi-Trilogie , Berlin, September 16, 2012 - Olga Neuwirth : American Lulu , Berlin, September 30, 2012 2) Libretti : - Richard Danielpour / Toni Morrison : Margaret Garner , n.l. : n.n., n.d., 36 p. (PDF) - Hans Werner Henze / Wystan H. Auden and Chester Kallman : Die Bassariden , Mainz : Schott, 1993, 47 p. - Hans Werner Henze / Heinz von Cramer : Il Re cervo , Mainz : B. Schott’s Söhne, 1964, 48 p. - Christian Jost : Hamlet , Mainz : Schott, n.d., 19 p. (PDF) - Ming Tsao : Die Geisterinsel , n.l. : n.n., n.d., 9 p. (PDF) Leporello - Nr. 14 - November 2012 page 3 3) Full scores : - Hans Werner Henze, Der junge Lord , Mainz : Schott, n. d., 664 p. - Hans Werner Henze, Elegy for Young Lovers , Mainz : Schott, 1989, 532 p. - Hans Werner Henze, Il Re Cervo , Mainz : Schott, 2000, 511 p. 4) CD : Mark Adamo : Little Women , Ondine, ODE 988-2D with Stephanie Novacek, Chad Shelton, Margaret Lloyd, Joyce DiDonato First performed in Houston on March 13, 1998, it was recorded two years later. Patrick Summers conducts this opera based on Louisa May Alcott’s novel. It tells the lives of four sisters, Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy March. Louis Andriessen : Rosa , Nonesuch, 7559-79559-2 with Lyndon Terracini, Miranda van Kralingen, Marie Angel, Christopher Gillett. The subject of this opera is a ‘melodramatic conspiracy against composers’. First performed in Amsterdam on November 2, 1994. Recorded in Amsterdam in June 1998. Conducted by Reinbert de Leeuw. Daniel Börtz : Marie Antoinette , Caprice, CAP 22047:1-3 with Olle Persson, Katarina Nilsson, Fredrik Zetterström, Ann Hallenberg First performed in Stockholm on January 23, 1998. The opera is about French Queen Marie Antoinette’s love affair with the Swedich Count Axel von Fersen. Recorded live in Stockholm in February 1998. Conducted by Kerstin Nerbe. Peter Eötvös : Three Sisters , Deutsche Grammophon, 459 694-2 with Alain Aubin, Vyatcheslav Kagan-Paley, Oleg Riabets, Gary Boyce First performed in Lyon on March 13, 1998. Adapted from Chechov’s play, it describes the lives and aspirations of the Prozorov family. Recorded live in Lyon in March 1998. Conducted by Kent Nagano and Peter Eötvös. Olga Neuwirth : Bählamms Fest , Kairos, 0012342KAI with Ute Trenkel-Burckhardt, Walter Raffeiner, Christine Whittlesey, Isolde Siebert. First performed in Vienna on June 19, 1999. It is a sadistic family story in scurrile- surreal snap shots. Recording of the first performance. Conducted by Johannes Kalitzke. Luigi Nono : Al gran sole carico d’amore , Teldec, 8573-81059-2 with Claudia Barainsky, Lani Poulson, Roderic Keating, Markus Marquardt. First performed in Milan on April 4, 1975. It comments on the 1871 Paris Commune and the Russian Revolution, without any conventional linear narrative. Recorded in Stuttgart in June 1999.
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