# Great New/Modern Operatic works



## Jobis (Jun 13, 2013)

Have there been any modern masterpieces in opera? By modern I mean 1950s-Present day roughly. 

One such opera I have seen and enjoyed was George Benjamin's Written on Skin. I wouldn't say its comparable to the classics but its refreshing to hear new pieces!


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## suteetat (Feb 25, 2013)

Susannah by Carlisle Floyd is quite entertaining. There is an excellent recording with Sam Ramey, Studer available. 
Menotti's the Consul also just made your deadline. Not my favourite but well worth listening to.
Bernstein's Trouble in Tahiti has its moment as well.


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## katdad (Jan 1, 2009)

I've really enjoyed most Carlisle Floyd operas, particularly Susanna and especially, Of Mice and Men. I've also enjoyed an occasional Philip Glass opera but they're definitely an acquired taste.

I cannot abide Benjamin Britten because I simply find most 20th century British opera tuneless. My opinion only, as there are many who like Britten. I don't.

Daniel Catan's new opera "Il Postino" (w. Domingo) was broadcast a couple years ago, and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

I was intrigued by 2 recent operas from the LA Opera, "The Fly" and "Grendel" but I've not actually heard a single note of either so I can't make a judgment. However I'm interested in new inventive works generally.

Modern classical music can be wildly different. Some is atonal and lacks energy, in my opinion. Some, like Glass, is neo-classical and can offer great depth. And yes there's a difference between atonal and modern "tonal" composition.


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## Pantheon (Jun 9, 2013)

On the 17th of July, I will be seeing a new opera called "The House Taken Over" by Vasco Mendonça based on the eponymous short story by Julio Cortàzar. I will make sure to tell you all about it ! 
Unfortunately I missed Benjamin's Written On Skin when it was played in my town, so I hope to discover it in a recording. Based on the extracts I've listened to, so far it's superb!

Otherwise I really enjoyed Ligeti's Grand Macabre as it's completely absurd from the Overture ("Car horn prelude"  ) to the end.


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

Messiaen's Saint François d'Assise is a masterpiece, but it's so demanding on companies that it's unlikely to be staged very often. The music runs the gamut from near-diatonic (the angel's song) to tone clusters (the stigmata). As drama, it's very static, more a series of tableaux than a narrative, but none the less engrossing for all that.

More recently, I've been enamored of Kaija Saariaho's L'Amour de loin, also very slow-moving, but fascinating all the same. I haven't yet heard her more recent operatic works, though.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

I enjoyed the DVD of Birtwistle's The Minotaur, although I don't this it is one where I would want music only. But together with the Royal Opera House's brilliant and disturbing production, what an experience.

I also agree with recommendations of Written on Skin and L'Amour de Loin.


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## tyroneslothrop (Sep 5, 2012)

I don't know if I'd consider any of these "masterpieces" as only time will tell if they truly have any of the staying power one would expect from a true masterpiece. (Otherwise we'd still be considering Meyerbeer's _L'Africaine_ to be a masterpiece). That said, I think a number of these suggestions are very strong, especially _Written on the Skin_. Adès' _The Tempest_ and _Powder Her Face_ are both excellent operas. I attended Previn's _A Streetcar Named Desiree_ this year which was very good. And the Met commissioned _Two Boys_ which is going to be performed in the 2013-14 season. Toledo's _The Fall of Fukuyama_ (on 9/11) just premiered earlier this year, and I think Glass has had a number of excellent works, such as _Perfect American_ and _The Fall of the House of Usher_.


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## Hoffmann (Jun 10, 2013)

I struggle with operas from this era, but since I now have friends who enjoy it, am trying to keep an open mind - I am supposed go with a friend to see _Wozzeck_, among others, in Berlin in October. We'll see.

One big problem I have with modern opera - aside from its strident music - is that it is so damn depressing. I saw _The Consul_ a number of years ago - and got the plot metaphor, but when our protagonist sticks her head in the oven at the end, and the curtain comes down, Yikes. Don't even get me started on _The Crucible_. Nothing uplifting about any of this stuff.

However, a couple of weeks ago, I saw a recital that included Hindemith's Piano Sonata #3 and loved it, so maybe there is hope for me yet.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Hoffmann said:


> One big problem I have with modern opera - aside from its strident music - is that it is so damn depressing.


Of course I see your point, because things like Tosca, Butterfly, Traviata, Otello, Cav and Pag, Ernani, Rigoletto, Trovatore and so on are so relentlessly upbeat!:lol::lol:


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## Hoffmann (Jun 10, 2013)

Oh, you're bad. Baaaad!


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

I try my best. (looks modest).


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## LordBlackudder (Nov 13, 2010)




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## Jobis (Jun 13, 2013)

I wonder if many of you have heard Penderecki's 'The Devils of Loudun' its similar in atmosphere and its use of tonality/atonality to Wozzeck, and quite marvellous. It makes surprisingly good use of an electric bass guitar, something I would normally be wary of in classical works.


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## Ebab (Mar 9, 2013)

Hoffmann said:


> I struggle with operas from this era, but since I now have friends who enjoy it, am trying to keep an open mind - I am supposed go with a friend to see _Wozzeck_, among others, in Berlin in October. We'll see.


I'm not really into atonal, but for this fragmentary Büchner play, Berg's music seems like an entirely natural choice, and some audiences seem to agree, given the relative "popularity" of the opera. Uplifting though, it is definitely not, this fate without escape.

I'm going too in October, and I'm preparing for an _intense_ evening. It was Waltraud Meier performing Marie - newly for this celebrated production, which is in its third season - who initially drew my attention to it; but she's not my sole reason for going.

(PS: And I realize that this opera, finished in 1921, is not really from the time frame - 1950 and up - that the OP had had in mind.)


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## Hoffmann (Jun 10, 2013)

Ebab said:


> I'm not really into atonal, but for this fragmentary Büchner play, Berg's music seems like an entirely natural choice, and some audiences seem to agree, given the relative "popularity" of the opera. Uplifting though, it is definitely not, this fate without escape.
> 
> I'm going too in October, and I'm preparing for an _intense_ evening. It was Waltraud Meier performing Marie - newly for this celebrated production, which is in its third season - who initially drew my attention to it; but she's not my sole reason for going.
> 
> (PS: And I realize that this opera, finished in 1921, is not really from the time frame - 1950 and up - that the OP had had in mind.)


My friend is a lovely, sophisticated woman of, well, certain years, who is not a particular fan of what she calls 'light' opera (you know who you are) - she is about to attend her 4th Ring (Paris) in less than a year. She also mentioned that she would like to go to Shoenberg's Gürrelieder, which is being done at the Berlin Philharmonic toward the end of October. All of this atonal music would carve out a whole new territory for me.

You're quite right, Ebab, Wozzeck is pretty grim stuff. Waltraud Meier certainly is one of the main reasons for me to take on Wozzeck - that and I've never seen it. Have you already purchased your ticket(s)? The Schillertheater is small, so I realize it can be risky not to think ahead about tickets.


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

Hoffmann said:


> My friend is a lovely, sophisticated woman of, well, certain years, who is not a particular fan of what she calls 'light' opera (you know who you are) - she is about to attend her 4th Ring (Paris) in less than a year. She also mentioned that she would like to go to Shoenberg's Gürrelieder, which is being done at the Berlin Philharmonic toward the end of October. All of this atonal music would carve out a whole new territory for me.


Gurrelieder is decidedly _not_ atonal. It actually got Schoenberg a standing ovation at its belated premiere (he rudely turned his back on the audience, in a show of defiance for past sleights).

Even Wozzeck has portions that are tonal or quasi-tonal, particularly the tavern scene's laendler and the interlude between the final two scenes.


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## Rangstrom (Sep 24, 2010)

Many actually, but Sophie's Choice by Maw is a good place to start.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Rangstrom said:


> Many actually, but Sophie's Choice by Maw is a good place to start.


That's in my UnWatched Pile - I'm kind of reluctant to go there because the story is so awful


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## Hoffmann (Jun 10, 2013)

Mahlerian said:


> Gurrelieder is decidedly _not_ atonal. It actually got Schoenberg a standing ovation at its belated premiere (he rudely turned his back on the audience, in a show of defiance for past sleights).
> 
> Even Wozzeck has portions that are tonal or quasi-tonal, particularly the tavern scene's laendler and the interlude between the final two scenes.


Well, I clearly can use educating in this material, so it looks like a good thing that I've got some good company to encourage me to expand my very narrow horizons. You would think I would know better than to hold on to my age-old kneejerk reactions to things...


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## Ebab (Mar 9, 2013)

Hoffmann said:


> Waltraud Meier certainly is one of the main reasons for me to take on Wozzeck - that and I've never seen it. Have you already purchased your ticket(s)? The Schillertheater is small, so I realize it can be risky not to think ahead about tickets.


Thanks for asking; I got my ticket (can't seem to motivate my husband ). In fact I'm surprised that these tickets are not moving much faster! For the names of Meier and Barenboim alone, great reviews for the production, the indeed quite small venue, and at comparably low prices even - in Munich, I would expect these performances to sell out within only very few days.


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

Daniel Catán was already mentioned, but I would heartily recommend both _Rappaccini's Daughter_ and 
_Florencia en el Amazonas_. I would also look into Jake Heggie's _Dead Man Walking_ and _Three Decembers_. Laurent Petitgirard's _Joseph Merrick the Elephant Man_ is worth a listen... and I quite like Pascal Dusapin's _Perela Uomo Di Fumo_. You might also look into Renée Fleming's disc, _I Want Magic!_ on which she sings a collection of arias from modern American operas. Oh! And how could I forget? Osvaldo Golijov's _Ainadamar-Fountain of Tears_!


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Ebab said:


> Thanks for asking; I got my ticket (c*an't seem to motivate my husband *).


Ha sounds familiar. If we didn't live 18000 kms apart I'd come with you. Meier is wonderful. Who is singing Wozzeck?


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## Hoffmann (Jun 10, 2013)

MamaS., Roman Trekel is singing the lead. He appears to have started his career in Berlin, but has sung in some of the big European opera houses. Here is the link to the Staatsoper Wozzeck in October:

http://www.staatsoper-berlin.de/en_EN/calendar-next/wozzeck.11512244


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## Hoffmann (Jun 10, 2013)

Ebab said:


> Thanks for asking; I got my ticket (can't seem to motivate my husband ). In fact I'm surprised that these tickets are not moving much faster! For the names of Meier and Barenboim alone, great reviews for the production, the indeed quite small venue, and at comparably low prices even - in Munich, I would expect these performances to sell out within only very few days.


Thanks Ebab, I better get off my butt and pin down dates and start ordering tickets!

There is a lot of last minute ticket buying in Berlin, which might explain part of the slow ticket sales. I was able to buy a ticket for the premiere of their new _Der Fliegende Holländer_ production in April, a week or so before the performance. By the time of the performance itself, people were desperate for tickets. What was that all about? _Wozzeck_ itself may be a hard sell, and also, Waltraud Meier lives in Berlin and appears locally with some frequency.


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## Ebab (Mar 9, 2013)

mamascarlatti said:


> Ha sounds familiar. If we didn't live 18000 kms apart I'd come with you.


Now _that_ would be nice! :tiphat: Maybe some other time!



Hoffmann said:


> MamaS., Roman Trekel is singing the lead. He appears to have started his career in Berlin, but has sung in some of the big European opera houses.


I didn't know him either. He seems strongly based in the Berlin ensemble, but has had quite a bit of major international experience as well, also in Lied singing. He seems to have expanded his repertoire slowly from lyrical baritone towards the more dramatic fach.

On his Web site, he has some audio interviews (in German). Really a nice, unpretentious and dryly funny guy with smart thoughts on his art.



Hoffmann said:


> There is a lot of last minute ticket buying in Berlin, which might explain part of the slow ticket sales. I was able to buy a ticket for the premiere of their new _Der Fliegende Holländer_ production in April, a week or so before the performance.


That's remarkable. There really seems to be a large difference between Berlin and Munich in that regard.

I'm going October 12. If you happen to be there at the same date, and feel like meeting for a drink or so, just let me know by PM.



> _Wozzeck_ itself may be a hard sell, and also, Waltraud Meier lives in Berlin and appears locally with some frequency.


I thought she lived in Munich (it also says so on her Web site). She has this strong artistic connection with Daniel Barenboim, which may be the reason why she's in Berlin and in Milan regularly these days (where Barenboim often conducts).

Wozzeck is in the current Munich repertoire as well. "Difficult" as it is, a surprisingly large audience seems to be able to connect with the piece.


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

Ebab said:


> Wozzeck is in the current Munich repertoire as well. "Difficult" as it is, a surprisingly large audience seems to be able to connect with the piece.


I think the reason is because the music and the libretto fit together perfectly, so audiences can understand why the music is doing this or that, even if they would have trouble following it by itself.* It's also a powerful story, not as coldly detached as Lulu, which has had a harder time getting into the repertory.

*(_Unlike_ Schoenberg's attempt at a light domestic comedy, Von Heute auf Morgen, set to 12-tone music....what was he thinking????)**

**(And no, I'm not making this up.)


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## Barelytenor (Nov 19, 2011)

*Prediction: Jake Heggie's Moby-Dick a Future Masterpiece*

I am going to Go Out on a Limb here and predict that Jake Heggie's _Moby-Dick_ will become a Future Classic. It is not yet well-known because I don't think there is a recording of it yet. It had its world premiere in Dallas' fantastic new Winspear Opera House a couple of years ago, a great acoustic and a U-shaped auditorium where the _chairs at the sides of the horseshoe swivel so you can face the stage, what a great innovation._

Anyway. I digress. Tenor Ben Heppner was induced to come down from Olympus to Dallas to sing the lead, and the other main characters made vivid impressions as well. The exotic-looking Jonathan Lemalu as Queequeg was unforgettable, and Morgan Smith was strong as Starbuck. But the music itself and the excellent _mise en scène_ are what carry the opera.

I had never heard any other Heggie work, and was not at all sure what to expect on the night I attended. Once the first few notes of the overture sounded, I remember thinking with huge relief, "O thank you God, it's _tonal!"_ But the first act, in particular, was tightly woven, impeccably played and sung throughout. There were a couple of weak moments in Act II (the last), and perhaps Heggie will trim that up a bit. But you definitely Owe It To Yourself to hear it when it comes to an opera house near you. Or far away, for that matter.

Word Up. You Heard It Here First.

Best Regards, :tiphat:

George

PS Oh, and BTW, I am not much for "modern music." To me, Puccini is modern. So my recommendation here is from someone who has yet to sit through _Wozzeck _or many of the other truly more-recent pieces mentioned here. _Koyaanisqatsi?_ Fuggedaboutit.


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## Ebab (Mar 9, 2013)

Mahlerian said:


> *(_Unlike_ Schoenberg's attempt at a light domestic comedy, Von Heute auf Morgen, set to 12-tone music....what was he thinking????)


That's a very interesting point for me. Would you say that 12-tone music in opera, is effective for, and bound to, certain fields of drama? (I see that you have a vast knowledge and experience in that area, while I absolutely haven't.) That would mean that atonal isn't the "Swiss army knife" for musical drama, like I regard tonal to be. You see, emotionally, I can sense atonal (or what I regard as such, bear me!) to be expressing a vast range of emotions, but they seem to reside in the areas of fear, despair, turmoil, emptiness, disorientation, ... - naïvely speaking, the "negative" emotions.

I may be talking crêpe, but if you can sense what I mean, would you care to elaborate or expand on your thought, possibly give counterexamples? I'd appreciate it.


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

Ebab said:


> That's a very interesting point for me. Would you say that 12-tone music in opera, is effective for, and bound to, certain fields of drama? (I see that you have a vast knowledge and experience in that area, while I absolutely haven't.) That would mean that atonal isn't the "Swiss army knife" for musical drama, like I regard tonal to be. You see, emotionally, I can sense atonal (or what I regard as such, bear me!) to be expressing a vast range of emotions, but they seem to reside in the areas of fear, despair, turmoil, emptiness, disorientation, ... - naïvely speaking, the "negative" emotions.
> 
> I may be talking crêpe, but if you can sense what I mean, would you care to elaborate or expand on your thought, possibly give counterexamples? I'd appreciate it.


I find that chromatic music of any kind tends to (mainly) produce one of several affects: _longing/desiring_, _wild abandon/violence_, or _ambiguous/mysterious_. It has a difficult time intimating some others, mainly associated with major key music: _bright_, _happy_, or _peaceful_.

Not all of the first three are necessarily "negative", and it's certainly possible to produce music that can give a lighter impression using the 12-tone method (I think here in particular of Aron's introduction scene in Moses und Aron), but it's never _unalloyed_ as it would be in non-chromatic music.

12-tone music is not too much different from other 20th century music in this regard, so there's usually an undercurrent of irony in the music of, say, Stravinsky's Rake's Progress, where the bizarre false relations between triads stack up constantly, and one has a hard time taking the opening's perorations to Spring in the same way one would take the analogous scene in Orfeo.






My impression is of lightness and joy, but at a certain ironic distance.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

I must confess that I find modern opera something mainly to be avoided. Most of it I find ghastly. I find (eg) Birtwistle is a huge turn off for me. Perhaps this is my weakness but I find the shrieking of tuneless singing is something I don't want to hear. Maybe it's slippered old age but there it is.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

DavidA said:


> I must confess that I find modern opera something mainly to be avoided. Most of it I find ghastly. I find (eg) Birtwistle is a huge turn off for me. Perhaps this is my weakness but I find the shrieking of tuneless singing is something I don't want to hear. Maybe it's slippered old age but there it is.


To me it's question of exposure. I had a hard time with it at first but it's growing on me. Last night, inspired by this thread, I bit the bullet and watched this:










Well, what a surprise. Firstly, it seemed quite accessible. Have I listened enough for this kind of music to be familiar? And some of it was actually beautiful. Seeing a naturalistic film as my first exposure was great too, as this one seemed to capture the inherent bleakness of the piece without too may extra _Konzepts_.


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

DavidA said:


> Perhaps this is my weakness but I find the shrieking of tuneless singing is something I don't want to hear. Maybe it's slippered old age but there it is.


I, too, hate shrieking and tuneless warbling.

I do love Schoenberg, though.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

mamascarlatti said:


> To me it's question of exposure. I had a hard time with it at first but it's growing on me. Last night, inspired by this thread, I bit the bullet and watched this:


I'd rather not expose me ears and my soul to such stuff. Might get frost bite!


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

I don't have many operas from 1950 onwards in my collection but the two I play most are Ades's Powder Her Face and Birtwistle's Punch & Judy. 

I thought Powder Her Face was an exceptional work for a composer of such tender years - the story is both arch and bittersweet (if a little lurid in places) and the music grabbed me from the get-go in the way that it employed elements of cabaret amongst a harsher, more glacial style so as to echo the principle character's love of the high life, subsequent fall from grace and, ultimately, lonely and impoverished old age.

Birtwistle's music for P & J is knotty but not as indigestible as I was fearing - plus the plot appealed to the more warped side to my sense of humour. In my case subsequent, if infrequent, plays helped peel away at some more of the layers and made the experience more rewarding each time. It's high time I listened to it again.


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## ZombieBeethoven (Jan 17, 2012)

Nixon in China by Adams


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## Hoffmann (Jun 10, 2013)

Barelytenor said:


> *Prediction: Jake Heggie's Moby-Dick a Future Masterpiece*
> 
> I am going to Go Out on a Limb here and predict that Jake Heggie's _Moby-Dick_ will become a Future Classic. It is not yet well-known because I don't think there is a recording of it yet. It had its world premiere in Dallas' fantastic new Winspear Opera House a couple of years ago, a great acoustic and a U-shaped auditorium where the _chairs at the sides of the horseshoe swivel so you can face the stage, what a great innovation._
> 
> ...


I'm not a fan of modern music, but am being dragged into it despite my better judgement. That said, I'm happy to see your positive response to _Moby Dick_ although, typically, Washington won't spring for the likes of Ben Heppner, so we will see it with a cast unknown to me. Oh well. I will try and be a good boy and pay closer attention to _Moby Dick_ and work my way up to _Wozzeck_.


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## Hoffmann (Jun 10, 2013)

Ebab said:


> Now _that_ would be nice! :tiphat: Maybe some other time!
> 
> I didn't know him either. He seems strongly based in the Berlin ensemble, but has had quite a bit of major international experience as well, also in Lied singing. He seems to have expanded his repertoire slowly from lyrical baritone towards the more dramatic fach.
> 
> ...


Interesting observation about the difference between Berlin and Munich opera attendance. I started to make the same observation, and then decided that it might sound lame.

I had a much stronger impression from the week I spent in Munich last summer attending the Ring than I did in Berlin in April. Berlin is a bigger city with many more distractions than Munich - and has a second large opera company presenting numerous alternatives, which might explain the difference.

I haven't yet figured out my schedule for October, but if I am in Berlin at the same time, appreciate your invitation and would be happy to meet you for a drink. It may be a month or so before that gets settled, so will PM with any further info.

I know a woman who lives in the same building as Waltraud Meier in Berlin, which is what my comment is based upon (Constanze says that Meier is a lovely woman who knows the neighbors and is very approachable).


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## Barelytenor (Nov 19, 2011)

Hoffmann said:


> I'm not a fan of modern music, but am being dragged into it despite my better judgement. That said, I'm happy to see your positive response to _Moby Dick_ although, typically, Washington won't spring for the likes of Ben Heppner, so we will see it with a cast unknown to me. Oh well. I will try and be a good boy and pay closer attention to _Moby Dick_ and work my way up to _Wozzeck_.


I'm glad to alert the nice folks here about a work I enjoyed immensely, far more than I feared I might. And talk about the challenges of staging Wagner's Ring ... think about how to show Captain Ahab getting swallowed by a Great White Whale at the end of Act II. The solution in Dallas was basically to have Heppner sort of fall though a big hole in a giant white curtain. It was lame to the max. Sometimes it's impossible to suspend disbelief. Reminds me of the more recent cartoon dragon in the Met's recent Siegfried. Tough to get those monsters right.

Best Regards, :tiphat:

George


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## GiulioCesare (Apr 9, 2013)

ZombieBeethoven said:


> Nixon in China by Adams


This!

Also, no mention of Thomas Ades?


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## Cavaradossi (Aug 2, 2012)

StlukesguildOhio said:


> Daniel Catán was already mentioned, but I would heartily recommend both _Rappaccini's Daughter_ and _Florencia en el Amazonas_.... Oh! And how could I forget? Osvaldo Golijov's _Ainadamar-Fountain of Tears_!


I just saw _Rappaccini's Daughter_ this week and I'm keen to see more Catán.

I've seen a few of Adams' operas and to me _Dr Atomic_ is his most monumental and significant work.

Ive not seen _Einstein on the Beach_, but among the Glass works I've seen - or all operas I've seen for that matter - _Satyagraha_ goes furthest in redefining what an opera can be, which to me, is one definition of greatness.

A few recent Western-style operas by Chinese composers made strong impressions on me: Tan Dun's _The First Emperor_ and Guo Wenjing's _The Poet Li Bai._

On the subject of Wozzek: I have yet to see it, but only for lack of opportunity. I did attend _Lulu_, initially with a mix of curiosity and trepidation, but I must admit I liked - dare I say 'enjoyed' - it a LOT more than I thought I would. If that's 12 tone, I'm down with it.

Ghosts of Versailles by John Corigliano deserves mention to as worthy modern follow-up and meditation on the Figaro saga.


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

Cavaradossi said:


> On the subject of Wozzek: I have yet to see it, but only for lack of opportunity. I did attend _Lulu_, initially with a mix of curiosity and trepidation, but I must admit I liked - dare I say 'enjoyed' - it a LOT more than I thought I would. If that's 12 tone, I'm down with it.


Lulu is 12-tone, yes. Wozzeck is what's called "free atonality" by some and "expressionism" by others, but honestly, the difference in musical terms isn't very much. If you get the chance to see it, do. It's a masterpiece.


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## tyroneslothrop (Sep 5, 2012)

GiulioCesare said:


> This!
> 
> Also, no mention of Thomas Ades?


http://www.talkclassical.com/26178-great-new-modern-operatic.html#post477949


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

[QUOTEAlso, no mention of Thomas Ades?[/QUOTE]

(ahem...see post #34...)


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## Sieglinde (Oct 25, 2009)

I love Britten very much. He's quite melodic for a modern composer, and I think he kept the good parts of the 19th century style while giving it a new flavor. And his orchestra is incredibly colourful, just lsiten to his interludes. He can paint with music the way impressionists could.
I think Death in Venice is less melodic (I can't really recognize atonal, not that educated) but it's a great opera, the only problem being that it depends entirely on the tenor.I have seen a minimalistic Glyndebourne version with Robert Tear - he was good. The production could have been better, with prettier sets. The whole Edwardian-era decadence and luxury is an important part of this story. (I could sell my soul for a video with Philip Langridge tho.)

Then there's Billy Budd which is among my favourites and I collect every version available and not available. I even have that old Met tv broadcast from 97/98. It's very beautiful musically and the story is everything I like, slashy angst and tragedy and guilt all over the place. I just want to give Captain Vere a hug. Also Claggart is most likely the lovechild of Hagen and Scarpia. I love me some villains with great low notes.


Other than his works the only contemporary opera I have seen was Birtwistle's The Minotaur. I hope it will be more widely performed because it's a beautiful and haunting piece. I have a soft spot for tormented monsters and John Tomlinson was basically made for this kind of character. He made me cry. The only cons of it becoming a more standard piece is that Ariadne sounds like a very hard-to-sing role. The singer in the original performance was excellent, but I think not too many people could do this role properly. It seems like a "killer", basically a Minnie/Turandot/Kundry level.r

What I'm really curious about is The Rake's Progress (it falls into this era, right?) I have seen parts on Mezzo but not the whole thing.


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

Sieglinde said:


> What I'm really curious about is The Rake's Progress (it falls into this era, right?) I have seen parts on Mezzo but not the whole thing.


Rake is a great work. It's at once a parody of operatic conventions from the genre's beginning up through Rossini or so (Stravinsky was an ardent anti-Wagnerian, although he reserved special ire for R. Strauss), and a period piece using those conventions in a contemporary Neoclassical idiom. The recitatives are accompanied by harpsichord, and there are arias, duets, trios (including a love duet with interruptions from the bearded lady, Baba the Turk, as running commentary). It's a morality tale that includes an epilogue making fun of the idea of having a didactic finale (inserted immediately after a gravely serious ending for Act III).

The Haitink/Glyndbourne DVD is a good version, music and production, so check it out if you're interested.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Mahlerian said:


> The Haitink/Glyndbourne DVD is a good version, music and production, so check it out if you're interested.


You can also see this production, designed by David Hockney and based on the prints by Hogarth, in a very good modern DVD from Glyndebourne with Topi Lehtipuu, Mia Persson and Matthew Rose (I saw the latter at ENO last year doing a pretty good Claggart in a long leather coat).


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## Tarkellyt (Feb 23, 2013)

I agree with a post early on, the Minotaur is amazing. But I am of the opinion that Glass is a bit of a modern operatic genius.


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## rborganist (Jan 29, 2013)

Time will tell whether they will be classics, but John Adams' Nixon in China and Dr. Atomic definitely fit the period. Both are minimalistic but listenable (I personally can't stand Philip Glass and my composition teacher said he was writing that kind of music in junior high). I also like Bartok's Bluebeard's Castle, and there are several good recordings available. It is more traditional in style, but I like Vanessa by Samuel Barber. Of Britten's operas I loike Peter Grimes and Noye's Fludde. Death in Venice is supposed to be a very visual work, so listening to it on the radio did not work out well. Perhaps The Ghosts of Versailles by John Corigliano will do well. The operas I've named are better places to start with modern opera than Lulu and Wozzeck, as their subjects are terribly depressing, and the music is strident and ugly to many people's ears. Listen to them eventually; just dont' start with them.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

rborganist said:


> Death in Venice is supposed to be a very visual work, so listening to it on the radio did not work out well.


Try this:


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## Ebab (Mar 9, 2013)

I had the privilege to experience "Death in Venice" at our Munich Gärtnerplatztheater. It was visually very convincingly staged, but with all that, I felt it sank or swam with the man performing the part of von Aschenbach. The gentleman in this case was Hans-Jürgen Schöpflin – whom I had never heard of before, but who absolutely lived and breathed the part, and absolutely sold me to the opera.

Certainly with a great creative team behind him, sometimes it boils down to a single person that sells you the piece.


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## Bardamu (Dec 12, 2011)

Jobis said:


> Have there been any modern masterpieces in opera? By modern I mean 1950s-Present day roughly.


Using your definition I would say:

*Il Prigioniero (Dallapiccola - 1950)*





Read the libretto if you can. Volo di notte is another good earlier opera by Dallapiccola.

Hardly identifiable as a common opera but I have a sweet spot for *Maderna's Don Perlimplin*.
Specifically the first recording RAI 1962.

This is another recording, not as good IMO:





For more "conventional" italian operas, I like *Montemezzi last work, L'incantesimo (1952)*:





*I shardana (Ennio Porrino - 1959)*





and the funny *Il cappello di paglia di Firenze by Nino Rota (1955)*:


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## korenbloem (Nov 5, 2012)

I don't know if anyone mentioned this new work by George Benjamin - Written on skin









Great story, great music and above all great singers!

"Written On Skin An Opera in Three Parts Written on Skin is the second collaboration between George Benjamin and Martin Crimp. Their previous One Act Opera 'Into The Little Hill' has been received with universal acclaim. To date it has been staged in 13 countries, and had its Chinese premiere in Beijing in October 2012. Written on Skin was jointly commissioned by The Festival d Aix-en-Provence; De Nederlandse Opera (Amsterdam); Theatre du Capitole (Toulouse); Royal Opera House Covent Garden; Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and is published by Faber Music Ltd. This recording was largely produced from a broadcast recording by Radio France in July 2012 at the Festival d Aix-en-Provence. Duet for Piano and Orchestra George Benjamin's work, Duet for Piano and Orchestra, was performed by its dedicatee, Pierre Laurent-Aimard, with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra conducted by the composer."


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## tyroneslothrop (Sep 5, 2012)

Jobis said:


> Have there been any modern masterpieces in opera? By modern I mean 1950s-Present day roughly.


No one mentioned Schnittke's _Life with an Idiot_ (1992):




I think this is a strong work, but as I said earlier, only time will tell if it will have any of the staying power one would expect from a true masterpiece.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

korenbloem said:


> I don't know if anyone mentioned this new work by George Benjamin - Written on skin


Recommended by the OP, seconded by me. But hey, let's get the word out, it IS fantastic. It introduced me to the wonderful soprano Barbara Hannigan who champions a lot of new work.

I believe that there are plans to release the Aix production on DVD. Hanging out for the day.


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## tyroneslothrop (Sep 5, 2012)

mamascarlatti said:


> Recommended by the OP, seconded by me. But hey, let's get the word out, it IS fantastic. It introduced me to the wonderful soprano Barbara Hannigan who champions a lot of new work.
> 
> I believe that there are plans to release the Aix production on DVD. Hanging out for the day.


The Aix production was on Medici.TV for a time, but sadly, they have since taken it down.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

tyroneslothrop said:


> The Aix production was on Medici.TV for a time, but sadly, they have since taken it down.


Yes, that's where I saw it. And then it briefly appeared on YouTube.


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## tyroneslothrop (Sep 5, 2012)

mamascarlatti said:


> And then it *briefly* appeared on YouTube.


Which is why the stuff I really like from Youtube, I always download to my local hard drive. :devil:


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

tyroneslothrop said:


> Which is why the stuff I really like from Youtube, I always download to my local hard drive. :devil:


Absolutely - me too. My UWP is too large for me to watch everything as I find it - and wow, there is a lot out there.


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## guythegreg (Jun 15, 2012)

Ebab said:


> That's a very interesting point for me. Would you say that 12-tone music in opera, is effective for, and bound to, certain fields of drama? (I see that you have a vast knowledge and experience in that area, while I absolutely haven't.) That would mean that atonal isn't the "Swiss army knife" for musical drama, like I regard tonal to be. You see, emotionally, I can sense atonal (or what I regard as such, bear me!) to be expressing a vast range of emotions, but they seem to reside in the areas of fear, despair, turmoil, emptiness, disorientation, ... - naïvely speaking, the "negative" emotions.
> 
> I may be talking crêpe, but if you can sense what I mean, would you care to elaborate or expand on your thought, possibly give counterexamples? I'd appreciate it.


I am no expert on 12-tone (or any other kind of music), but I listened to Wozzeck recently, without watching at the same time, and found it disturbingly jaunty. The libretto seems to be divided up into different ancient dance forms - Gigue etc - and that comes through in a certain not just atonal but arhythmic way. For myself, I can see 12-tone as a setting for Barber of Seville. Kind of would like to hear it, actually.


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

guythegreg said:


> I am no expert on 12-tone (or any other kind of music), but I listened to Wozzeck recently, without watching at the same time, and found it disturbingly jaunty. The libretto seems to be divided up into different ancient dance forms - Gigue etc - and that comes through in a certain not just atonal but arhythmic way. For myself, I can see 12-tone as a setting for Barber of Seville. Kind of would like to hear it, actually.


Wozzeck is not 12-tone.......

The 12-tone method is a very specific technique (wherein all or most of the harmony/melody is derived from one or more ordered rows using all of the notes of the chromatic scale). Unlike "atonality", there is no grey area as to what does or does not qualify. Lulu is 12-tone, while Wozzeck is not. As far as the audience is concerned, the difference in musical terms may not be very significant, but it bothers me because I've seen the term thrown around very often when it doesn't apply.


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## tyroneslothrop (Sep 5, 2012)

Mahlerian said:


> The 12-tone method is a very specific technique (wherein all or most of the harmony/melody is derived from one or more ordered rows using all of the notes of the chromatic scale). Unlike "atonality", there is no grey area as to what does or does not qualify. Lulu is 12-tone, while Wozzeck is not.


The only other opera I know is definitely dodecaphonic is Schoenberg's _Moses und Aron_. Are there any others?


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

tyroneslothrop said:


> The only other opera I know is definitely dodecaphonic is Schoenberg's _Moses und Aron_. Are there any others?


Schoenberg's one-act comedy Von Heute auf Morgen and perhaps something by Dallapiccola? Luigi Nono and Berio used non-12-tone serial technique, I believe.


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## arpeggio (Oct 4, 2012)

*Other 12-tone operas*



tyroneslothrop said:


> The only other opera I know is definitely dodecaphonic is Schoenberg's _Moses und Aron_. Are there any others?


Off the top of my head I know of the following:

Dallapiccola-_Ulisse_
Karl-Birger Blomdahl science fiction opera-_Aniara_


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

arpeggio said:


> Karl-Birger Blomdahl science fiction opera-_Aniara_


Is that..._*a space opera*_???


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## arpeggio (Oct 4, 2012)

*Hans solo*



Mahlerian said:


> Is that..._*a space opera*_???


I don't think so. Hans solo does not appear in it.


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## tyroneslothrop (Sep 5, 2012)

Mahlerian said:


> Is that..._*a space opera*_???


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## Jobis (Jun 13, 2013)

I'm getting hyped for Julian Anderson's 'Thebans' supposedly to be finished by around 2014, for the english national theatre. He's a composer with great potential.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Of course, for the pieces written at the end of the 20th century, or already in the 21st, it's difficult to say if they will be part of the repertory moving forward. We can perhaps suspect that _L'amour de loin_, _Doctor Atomic_ or even the very recent _Written on the Skin_ will be, but only time will tell.

However, for operas premiered back in the 1950s enough years have passed that we can have a solid opinion, based in facts. And there quite a few, well established.

Arguably the more succesful, in terms of number of performances, is Poulenc's _Dialogues des carmélites_. It was staged first at La Scala (in Italian), in 1957, and quickly premiered also in Paris, in the original French version.

This is a splendid work, that can also be enjoyed by many. In youtube we can find a complete production, from the Hamburg Staatsoper, staged by Nikolaus Lehnhoff, with Alexia Voulgaridou as Blanche de la Force, Kathryn Harries as Madame de Croissy and Anne Schwanewilms as Madame Lidoine, conducted by Simone Young:


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## jrmcmichael (Jun 25, 2013)

I listened to "A Streetcar Named Desire" with Renee Fleming.. And as much as I hoped it would have promise.. I would rather watch the Tennessee Williams play.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

I think also Mieczysław Weinberg _Pasażerka_, (The Passenger), written in 1969, could consolidate in the repertory in the coming decades. Or maybe not. But it's certainly a major work, based on a tale by a Polish survivor from Auschwitz, Zofia Posmysz, it relates the encounter in the 1950s, aboard an ocean liner, of a married German couple, Lisa and Walter, with Martha, a former inmate of a concentration camp where Lisa, unbeknownst to her husband, was a guard.

The story moves along in two planes: the present, where Lisa must confess her guilt to Walter, and must find a way to live with the things she did to Marta, and the past, where we see the life in the concentration camp and the death of Martha's boyfriend on a whim of the commander.

The opera is sung in German, English, French, Russian and Yiddish, each character in their own language.


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## guythegreg (Jun 15, 2012)

Houston is doing it in January, could be good! Not much going on at the local opera house then, so if I get a job ... it's a possibility ...


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## peeknocker (Feb 14, 2012)

Hi Schigolch,

Funny. It never occurred to me that this opera was an adaptation of the unfinished film by the Polish filmmaker Andrzej Munk (available on DVD from Second Run). Now that I am aware of this, I will definitely acquire the opera.

NG


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

About 12-tone operas, I think we should mention here Krenek's _Karl V_.

In the surface, a review of the historical figure of the Emperor Charles, it created controversy in the torn Austria of the 1930s, and a big confrontation with nazism due the composer's emphatically stressing the universality of the Emperor's goals, as opposed to the xenophobia and nationalism of the Nazi party.

Finally, the piece was premiered at Prague, in 1938, and we could watch the Emperor (a baritone) talking to God and a young monk in spreschtimme, while he also reviews his life with her mother Juana (alto), her sister Eleonore (soprano), his brother the future Emperor Ferdinand (bass), his wife Isabella (soprano), Martin Luther (baritone), Sultan Soliman (bass), the French King Francis (tenor), Pope Clement (sprechstimme)….










We can hear the opera complete in youtube. It's a great work, though it's rather on the intellectual, than the emotional side, and it won't appeal to some prospective listeners.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Well, to write today a piece of music using 12-tone it appears to be almost as _démodé_ as doing it in C major, anyway... 

Olga Neuwirth wrote _Lost Highway_ (based on the David Lynch's movie) back in 2006. It's complete in youtube. It's very avant-garde, so again not for everyone's tastes.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

British composer Jonathan Dove has written also several well-known and succesful operas. Perhaps the more accomplished so far are "The Adventures of Pinocchio", with a nice DVD published, and "Flight"_,_ an opera in three acts, with a libretto by April De Angelis premiered at Glyndebourne Festival Opera, in 1999. It's based on the true-life story of Mehran Karimi Nasseri, an Iranian refugee who lived at Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris, for several years. Many will remember Steven Spielberg's movie _The Terminal_, on the same subject, but independent of the opera.

This is not avant-garde opera, but it's undoubtedly contemporary. Looking to the past, in a style that could be described as "Neo-Romantic", but with a well-defined personality.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

This is again avant-garde, but great avant-garde. 

_An Index of Metals_, by Fausto Romitelli:


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

In the year 2001, Pascal Dusapin premiered in Paris, _Perelà, Uomo di fumo_ de Pascal Dusapin, based on the novel "Il codice di Perelà", written by Aldo Palazzeschi in 1911. It's a major and ambitious work, with quite interesting moments, though perhaps a little bit too eclectic. It's complete in youtube:


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## msegers (Oct 17, 2008)

The funny thing about the Berg operas, frequently referred to in this thread (although out of the period of time referred to), is that - at least, for me - they work. I enjoy them, I get caught up in them, both the text and the music.

I don't know many operas in the specified time, but there are two that I really enjoy, and they seem to be accessible, almost old-fashioned. Daniel Catán's _Il Postino_ is such a joy that I just realized I don't know why I haven't listened to more of his work.

I don't think I've ever seen a reference to Kari Tikka's _Luther_ in these forums, but it is a pleasant surprise. It has an earthy humor (it is about Luther) and some rather old-fashioned sounds. On the DVD, it is performed in a church in Finland, with the audience/congregation singing the Lutheran hymns included in the score.

My one experience with Thomas Adès is _The Tempest_, and except for the hideous music for Ariel, I would give that a thumbs-up, but that one role scares me away from ever returning to that opera.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

I have just watched a performance of "Il Postino" at Teatro Real, a few days ago. In this vein, I would prefer "Florencia en el Amazonas".

In this link you can read about Luther here at TC. This is indeed a quite nice opera:

http://www.talkclassical.com/11654-modern-opera-dvd-blu-6.html


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

msegers said:


> My one experience with Thomas Adès is _The Tempest_, and except for the hideous music for Ariel, I would give that a thumbs-up, but that one role scares me away from ever returning to that opera.


Haha, the Ariel music is what I like best, although I applaud any soprano brave enough to sing it!


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## msegers (Oct 17, 2008)

Thanks for sharing this. I really enjoyed the commentary on Luther to which you referred me. Here is the Grace Song -


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Brian Ferneyhough's music, considered within the "New Complexity" avant-garde group, is written using several layers of significance, and requires some effort from the listener and, above all, from the performer. Ferneyhough has only written one opera so far, _Shadowtime_, completed in 2005.

It's based on the last moments of philosopher Walter Benjamin's life, and also the first moments of his death. There are seven scenes combining real world, and events in the dying mind of Benjamin. The more dramatic part is scene V, "Pools of Darkness", where historical characters (Hitler, Einstein, Karl Marx, Groucho Marx, ...) question Benjamin and themselves. Each of those characters is presented under a specific musical form: canon, passacaglia, fugue,.. extracted from the history of Western Music, from the Middle Ages to the Romantic era.

This is a non compromising avant-garde piece. Difficult to hear, and unlikely to be a love at first sight. But can really be quite interesting, if one knows what it's about.

The final scene of the opera, "Stelae for Failed Time":


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Jonathan Harvey died the last month of December, having written a few operas. The more succesful was _Wagner Dream_, premiered in 2007 in the Netherlands.










The plot is about the influence of Buddhism in _Parsifal_. Harvey and his librettist Carrière are presenting the agony of the last days on the life of Richard Wagner, and the action goes from the dying composer's bedroom to his visions about an opera he planned on the pariah Prakriti and the nun Ananda, but he never actually wrote.

A very interesting piece:


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Sciarrino's avant-garde masterpiece _Luci mie traditrici_ has been extensively discussed here at TC. This is indeed a splendid piece, that now can also be watched on DVD:


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

schigolch said:


> Jonathan Harvey died the last month of December, having written a few operas. The more succesful was _Wagner Dream_, premiered in 2007 in the Netherlands.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I've been wondering about this work since I've started listening to more of Harvey's music (unfortunately after his passing). Should I take this as a recommendation, then?


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Certainly....................................


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

William Walton was one of the key English composers of the 20th century, and his music is being also performed with success and regularity in the 21st.

However, his opera _Troilus and Cressida_, premiered at the Covent Garden, in 1954, was definitely not a success, though the opera was performed later in San Francisco, New York and even Milan. But to no avail.

A couple of revisions made in the 1960s and 1970s were again frostily received. Originally, Walton wrote the part of Cressida for Elizabeth Schwarzkopf, that however did not premiered the role (though she recorded some excerpts), and for the last revision he converted Cressida in a mezzo, tailored to Janet Baker's voice, and he cut some 30 minutes. A CD was recorded:










In any case, the intention of Walton was all the time to write a Late-Romantic opera, and he was indeed succesful at that. Of course, for many critics this was perhaps the right thing to do before, or at least during, the 1920s, but not in the 1950s or later. A very nice hearing, in my opinion, anyway:


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## Oreb (Aug 8, 2013)

Mahlerian said:


> Messiaen's Saint François d'Assise is a masterpiece, but it's so demanding on companies that it's unlikely to be staged very often. The music runs the gamut from near-diatonic (the angel's song) to tone clusters (the stigmata). As drama, it's very static, more a series of tableaux than a narrative, but none the less engrossing for all that.


 I don't expect to ever see this performed in the flesh (although one can dream) but having had the Nagano recording for many years I must agree that this is a masterpiece. Overwhelming, in fact.

The DVD of the Netherlands Opera production is musically very fine but the costume designs are hideous.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

The Nagano recording is great.

I also find very interesting this recording with the cast of the first performances, back in 1983, conducted by Seiji Ozawa:


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## Oreb (Aug 8, 2013)

I've not been able to find that at a reasonable price (and I'm too old and grumpy to do downloads  ) but it's one I'm always keeping an eye out for.

Is the interpretation very different from Nagano's?


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Well, Nagano was the assistant of Ozawa at the times of Saint François's premiere, and he studied the score directly with Messiaen., and he also recorded the opera, in a concert performance in Utrecht for the KRO label. His recording with Deutsche Grammophon was a wonderful, meditated and accurate reading of the score, in my view, and with a very inspired orchestra. Van Dam was no longer the singer he was in the 1980s, but he offered a very poetic approach to the character. Instead of presenting a great human being in which saintliness is growing, he chose to sing a Saint embodied in a doleful man, keeping some distance, almost on the verge of skepticism. And listening to Dawn Upshaw, one arrives to the same conclusion than the libretto: "C'était peut-être un Ange" (maybe this was an Angel). 

Hopwever, Ozawa's orchestra was like a mountain, so solid it appeared. But this was not just a mountain, rather a volcano than in some parts of the score, was threatening to erupt. Van Dam's François was also petrean, massif, colossal. The voice of the Belgian singer looked as especially forged for the role, with a perfect diction, a sobriety full of internal strenght. The Angel of Christiane Eda-Pierre was not that telluric, but rather flies in the immaterial heights of pure sound, as written by Messiaen. Perhaps we are missing some more purety in her singing. You can find some fragments in youtube.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Robert Ashley is one of the most personal voices in the American opera of the last 40 years.

His music, with an important electronic flavour, sometimes quietly repetitive, sometimes even surprisingly melodic, includes a fascinating exploration of the spoken voice, in contraposition to standard operatic singing.

Perhaps the best introduction to his work is _Atalanta_, part of an intended trilogy (with _Perfect Lives_ and _Now Eleanor's Idea_) that includes contemporary characters like painter Max Ernst, jazz pianist Bud Powell or Willard Reynolds, a relative of Ashley.

This stuff is mainly (well, almost exclusively) for lovers of avant-garde opera, but it could be indeed very interesting for them:


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## Oreb (Aug 8, 2013)

schigolch said:


> Jonathan Harvey died the last month of December, having written a few operas. The more succesful was _Wagner Dream_, premiered in 2007 in the Netherlands.


 This looks like it could be interesting, but there seems to be quite a lot of spoken dialogue on that clip, which rarely works for me.

Is there a lot of talking in the thing as a whole?


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Well, yes. The idea was to get all the Wagner's related characters, like Wagner himself, his wife, the doctor... being spoken, while the action in the imagined opera is sung. If a lot of spoken dialogue is not working for you, most probably this won't be your "Oreb Dream" opera.


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## sharik (Jan 23, 2013)

still no mention of Hindemith's _Cardillac_ yet?!


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Laurent Petitgirard's _Joseph Merrick dit Elephant man_, has been discussed before here at TC, but on a thread like this one, I can't help but recommending it again, this time not only to avant-garde opera lovers, but to everyone:


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Possibly the opera with the shortest libretto of all times: Morton Feldman's _Neither _(the poem is by Samuel Beckett)

_NEITHER _

_to and fro in shadow from inner to outer shadow _

_from impenetrable self to impenetrable unself by way of neither _

_as between two lit refuges whose doors once neared gently close, once away turned from gently part again _

_beckoned back and forth and turned away _

_heedless of the way, intent on the one gleam or the other _

_unheard footfalls only sound _

_till at last halt for good, absent for good from self and other _

_then no sound _

_then gently light unfading on that unheeded neither _

_unspeakable home

_


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

The only 2 modern operas I think might be called great are St. Francis and Die Soldaten.
mho.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Mark Adamo wrote in 1998 his first opera, _Little Women_, based on the novel by Louisa May Alcott. It was a huge success with the audience, and also received praise from the critics. After the Houston's premiere, it has been staged in Minneapolis, New York, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Boston, Sydney, Nagoya... There are a DVD and a CD published:


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Peter Eötvös is a Hungarian composer (and conductor), that has written several operas. Arguably, the more interesting is _Angels in America_, premiered in 2004, and an adaptation of Tony Kushner's play. There is a nice palette of sounds, and a good merging of singing and spoken voice.

It's complete in youtube:


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Itullian said:


> The only 2 modern operas I think might be called great are St. Francis and Die Soldaten.
> mho.


PLEASE check out Written on Skin, itullian. I think it IS great although I do have an opera lover friend who didn't like it (although he doesn't like Britten either so what does he know).


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## Jobis (Jun 13, 2013)

mamascarlatti said:


> PLEASE check out Written on Skin, itullian. I think it IS great although I do have an opera lover friend who didn't like it (although he doesn't like Britten either so what does he know).


The more I listen the more I realise it is truly a work of genius. I can't find a flaw in the score, the plot itself may be a bit difficult to swallow (no pun intended) but I think George Benjamin could possible become one of the most important composers of the 21st century. (so far)

In fact, I would even go as far as to retract my comments in the original post of this thread, and say it could well be a classic of the modern age.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Judith Weir is a British composer and teacher, former disciple of John Tavener. In her career of more than thirty years, her best operatic piece, in my view, is _A Night at the Chinese Opera_, premiered in 1987 with a libretto by Weir herself. The action takes place in 13th century China. In the second act a performance of a Chinese opera: "Chao's family orphan", is included on the plot, in which Chao, a civil engineer attending the performance, is trying to avenge his father, only to be executed before reaching his goal. There is a CD published, that is a quite nice listening experience:


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

William Bolcom is one of those American composers that are trying to expand the audience of the Opera, as a genre, in the US. He has written just about everything in the book: symphonies, chamber music, piano music, songs (mostly for her wife, the singer Joan Morris), soundtracks...

And ,of course, Opera. For instance, _A View from the Bridge_, was premiere at the Chicago's Lyric Opera in the year 2001. Based on Arthur Miller's play, later also a movie, it's a story about working and living in the docks, that was a kind of answer from Miller to Kazan's "On the Waterfront", after the two former friends broke their relation after the interrogations by the Committee on Un-American Activities.

Bolcom's music is quite approachable, this is 'popular' contemporary opera.






It's not that Bolcom is not inventive. His next opera, _A Wedding__, _also premiered in Chicago, and based on Robert Altman's movie, was a masterly blend of melody and drama to control how nineteen characters enter and leave the stage. It's traditional, and modern at the same time.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

_Boyarina Morozova_ is an opera by Russian composer Rodion Shchedrin. In the words of the composer:

_The four soloists (Boyarina Morozova; her sister, Princess Urusova; Protopope Avvakum, and Czar Alexei Mikhailovich) would be joined by three instrumental soloists: trumpet, timpani, and a percussionist playing other instruments. The choir would not only take on the usual role of a choir but that of the orchestra, which sometimes plays the part of a narrator, sometimes that of a modest accompanist

_This is a very nice opera (or Choral opera), and there is also a nice CD published:


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

. They did the premiere of the revised Levy's: Mourning Becomes Electra here in Seattle a decade ago. While I wouldn't necessarily drive around listening to the music in the car, I thought it was dramatically the most moving opera I have seen as a theater piece. Being based on a great play helped as did having a top notch cast including the accomplished thespian Lauren Flannigan.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Paul Dessau was a German composer that left his country for France, and then for the US, while in his thirties, after Hitler's ascent to power. He returned in 1948, and settled in Berlin, working the rest of his life in East Germany. During those years he created some powerful, though somewhat difficult, operas, like:




























_Einstein_, premiered in 1974, is available complete in youtube. With a libretto by Karl Mickel, loosely based on Einstein's role in developing the first atomic bomb, but with many episodes totally invented to suit the purpose of the opera (a kind of denunciation of the inability of modern society to handle scientific progress), there is some quite fine music, for the contemporary opera aficionado, but it could also interest a wider audience.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Bruno Maderna's operas _Hyperion _(1969):









And _Satyricon _(1974):










are available in youtube:


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## quack (Oct 13, 2011)

Here's one I really need to hear: Elizabeth Maconchy's short opera from the 1960s _The Sofa_. In which an over-amorous young guy is cursed by his grandmother and becomes a sofa. Granny has clearly been mixing cooking sherry and smelling salts again. Apparently the only way to lift such a curse is to get couples to get frisky on your cushions.


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## starlightexp (Sep 3, 2013)

I do wonder sometimes if opera is destine to be revivals of works past. I think for me the reason I am not getting into modern operas is the fact that for the most part they are wrapped up in their own musical experimentation. The Tempest is one that I adored the staging of and the cast was great but the music was seriously just too over the top for me. What is it with modern composer's aversion to writing something with a pleasant cord structure and some actual real down to earth hummable melody. I personally think this is why many opera houses are starting to mine the great Broadway shows to open up the house to new people, because most of the modern opera won't fill a 3000 seat house. I'd LOVE to get into the modern stuff but my poor ears can't take it


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## arpeggio (Oct 4, 2012)

*Tonal non-experimental operas*

OK. Modern tonal operas that are not wrapped up in their own musical experimentation.

How about Mark Adamo's _Little Women_:






Or Carlisle Floyd's opera _Susannah_:






Or Richard Danielpour's _Margaret Garner_:






Or Ned Rorem's recent _Our Town_:






I am sure we could come up with many more.


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## Jobis (Jun 13, 2013)

arpeggio said:


> OK. Modern tonal operas that are not wrapped up in their own musical experimentation.
> 
> How about Mark Adamo's _Little Women_:
> 
> I am sure we could come up with many more.


Please don't turn the word tonal into a euphemism for 'neo-classical' or 'neo-romantic' please. I'm pretty sure every piece in this thread has been tonal.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Well, we have mentioned quite a few that has nothing to do with traditional Western tonal system.


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## Bardamu (Dec 12, 2011)

schigolch said:


> Bruno Maderna's operas


I like Maderna.

I have an high admiration for his opera for radio Don Perlimplin created at Studio di Fonologia della RAI di Milano in 1961.
The subtitle "ovvero il trionfo dell'Amore e dell'Immaginazione" (that is the triumph of love and imagination) is very apt since the work is indeed the triumph of the theatre of the imagination.
Every voice, every instrument or number or sentence in the libretto makes the whole experience magical in my mind, full of scents (evoked smartly by the text itself) of passion, death and dark attraction for the loved woman.
This opera kidnap my senses and I agree with Belisa, the female protagonist, when she says in the opera:
"Ah, che musica, mio Dio! che musica!" ("Ah, what a music, my God! what a music!")

Another unique characteristic of Don Perlimplin from my point of view is that can't be really staged or executed again because the opera is unique and deeply connected to the original resulting recording (RAI 1961).
A different voice, electronic material used or different interpretation of the role ruin what I consider a work not replicable.

This sentiment of uniqueness is strengthened by how the work originated:
the score in fact is largely uncompleted and at points very different from what appear on the final tape which in the end result as the true and only reliable testament.

There is a version of Don Perlimplin on YT (not RAI 1961) but as I wrote it left me disappointed as I was attending to a fake performance or even worse a parody.

Trivia: Part of the material used in Don Perlimplin can be heard at the beginning of Satyricon.


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## Bardamu (Dec 12, 2011)

I forgot to mention about Don Perlimplin an interesting tidbit:
As I said the libretto is a strong asset of the opera and it is largely based on the play by Garcia Lorca.
I said "largely" since in the Maderna's work the main character , Don Perlimplin, isn't voiced by an actor/singer instead a flute voice him.
To make understandable the story, part of the lines spoken by Perlimplin in the original play were reworked and given to Marcolfa (a secondary character, Don Perlimplin old servant).

What could be considered a bizarre choice at first sight, it's actually a genius stroke for me.
The timid Perlimplin is the sensible character of the play, a play that revolves around his feelings for Belisa (feelings he thought he couldn't own before marrying her).
Sentiment cannot be truly communicate by words so the flute give a sort of authentic glimpse of Perlimplin emotions.
A glimpse that is interpreted by the listener in his mind as everything in this opera cannot exists outside it.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Ricky Ian Gordon wrote several musicals before trying his luck with his first opera, _Orpheus and Euridice_, featuring Elizabeth Frutal as Euridice, a clarinetist as Orpheus, and a piano for accompaniment.










_The Grapes of Wrath _is an adaptation of Steinbeck's novel. This is music firmly grounded on the traditional Western tonal system, and can also bear the 'neo-romantic' label. Some opera fans can find this display of 'operatic Americana' as a little too much, however. But it's a nice try, in my view, and deserving of at least one hearing.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Helmut Lachenmann's _Das Mädchen mit den Schwefelhölzern_ (The Little Match Girl) is an impressive opera, in which the listener is not having a single moment of respite. However, it's not an easy one. In the link below:

http://www.rtve.es/alacarta/videos/...-de-la-2-la-cerillera-de-h-lachenmann/293054/

you can watch the whole opera, in a concert version in Madrid, with a good orchestra (they spend a lot of time rehearsing to play this piece so well) and good singers, with Lachenmann himself narrating.

Strictly for lovers of avant-garde opera.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

One of the great composers of our times, Hans Werner Henze wrote around 40 operas, some of them really wonderful pieces like _Elegy for Young Lovers, The Bassarids _or_ Das verratene Meer / Gogo no Eiko, _though my personal favorite is the early _Boulevard Solitude_, premiered in 1952, and a reworking of the Manon Lescaut story. This is a great performance:


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

_L'enterrement de Mozart_ is a chamber opera by the young French composer Bruno Mantovani, written back in 2008. It's a piece inspired by the actual death and burial of Mozart, that, apparently far from the legend of the neglect and the direst poverty, it was just a common doom for most Viennese citizens of the period, after the order issued by the Emperor Joseph at the time, to fight against the plague, due to the small size of the town's graveyards.

Interesting and enjoyable score of the young French composer, though it's a pity than the percussion is perhaps a trifle more attractive than the singing.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

The German composer York Höller premiered his opera _Der Meister und Margarita_ in 1989 at the Paris Opéra, and it was released on CD in 2000. Based on the novel by Mikhail Bulgakov, it's a nice piece, rather on the avant-garde side.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

_The Intelligence Park_, premiered in 1990, was the first opera of Irish composer Gerald Barry. The action is set in 18th century Dublin, and is about an Opera Seria composer, (and also a longtime lover of an impresario) that, in the middle of a creative crisis, should marry a young soprano that he doesn't love, while he suffers a 'coup de foudre' with a beautiful castrato, that on the other side is already engaged in a romantic relationship ....

After that Barry wrote in the year 2005 one of the best 21st century operas so far, in my view, _The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant_:


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

This coming Friday I will watch live at Teatro Real _Die Eroberung von Mexico,_ (The Conquest of Mexico)an opera written in 1991 by German composer Wolfgang Rihm, with a libretto by the composer, freely based on texts by Antonin Artaud, Octavio Paz and Mexican folk songs. The central characters are, logically enough, Montezuma (sung by a female soprano) and Cortez (sung by a baritone). In accordance with Rihm's wishes part of the intruments, especially the percussion, will be placed outside of the pit, surrounding the audience. The Chorus is amplified and pre-recorded.

I like this opera, and I'm looking forward to the experience. There is a nice recording, by Ingo Metzmacher with the Hamburg State Philharmonic Orchestra, available:


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## Bardamu (Dec 12, 2011)

(Photo from the Festival della valle d'Itria staged premiere, click to enlarge)

Don Carlo Gesualdo di Venosa famous story was the base of a few operas, for example the highly regarded Luci mie traditrici by Salvatore Sciarrino.
The opera "Maria di Venosa" was staged for the first time last July,after being executed in concert form only in London in 1994, at the Festival della valle d'Itria.
The work was composed by Francesco D'Avalos, whose Maria D'Avalos was an ancestor, and it is peculiar in that the three protagonists are just mimes ("mimi") that express sentiments and emotions.






The London premiere was published on CD by Chandos:
http://www.amazon.com/DAvalos-Maria-Di-Venosa/dp/B001192FZM


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Benoît Mernier is a Belgian organist and composer, a former student of Philippe Boesmans, that, after working primarily in the field of chamber music, was given the job of composer-in-residence at La Monnaie, Brussels. He premiered there his first opera, Frühlings Erwachen, back in the year 2007. The opera is based on a play by Franz Wedekind (author of "Die Büchse der Pandora", that inspired Alban Berg's_ Lulu_). The plot is about some youngsters growing up, discovering sex, and the tragic suicide of one of them.

There is a published CD/DVD:


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Nicholas Maw was considered as a "tonal", "neoclassical" composer, though he used Western tonal system more as a point of departure, than as a canon. The Royal Opera House commissioned this adaptation of William Styron's novel, and it was premiered in 2002. Other performances followed in Vienna, Berlin, Washington,...


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## alan davis (Oct 16, 2013)

Barelytenor said:


> *Prediction: Jake Heggie's Moby-Dick a Future Masterpiece*
> 
> I am going to Go Out on a Limb here and predict that Jake Heggie's _Moby-Dick_ will become a Future Classic. It is not yet well-known because I don't think there is a recording of it yet.
> 
> Saw Moby Dick here in Adelaide put on by the State Opera of South Australia. A wonderful evening and I'm sure it will go out to a wider audience. SOSA also did Heggie's Dead Man Walking a few years ago. Modern opera isn't all dead from the neck up.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

alan davis said:


> I am going to Go Out on a Limb here and predict that Jake Heggie's _Moby-Dick_ will become a Future Classic. It is not yet well-known because I don't think there is a recording of it yet.


Coming soon, I'm looking forward to it:


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

I saw Dead Man Walking.
Let's just say i wasn't thrilled.:lol:


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## Revenant (Aug 27, 2013)

mamascarlatti said:


> Coming soon, I'm looking forward to it:


Is the whale a baritone or a bass? (I can't imagine it as a countertenor.)


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## Jobis (Jun 13, 2013)

Finally got round to watching Die Soldaten in its entirety today, and loved many parts of it, but other parts I found quite challenging and difficult to appreciate. For example the big screeching trio between the Grafin, Marie and Charlotte at the end of act three was particularly painful. I just found it quite baffling due to how unmusical and unpleasant it sounded. I can enjoy serialism generally but urgh if that didn't give me a head ache.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Revenant said:


> Is the whale a baritone or a bass? (I can't imagine it as a countertenor.)


Gotta be a tenor. Then it'll be easy to cast.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

mamascarlatti said:


> Gotta be a tenor. Then it'll be easy to cast.


Your birthday today, kind of. So happy birthday!


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

KenOC said:


> Your birthday today, kind of. So happy birthday!


Domenico says grazie.


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

mamascarlatti said:


> Coming soon, I'm looking forward to it:


Were there any women in Moby Dick? The whale role may go to a soprano.

Would anyone really want to see this opera? The first and fourth acts would be incredible but it would also require sitting through two long, boring acts where every aria is about whale classifications.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

This coming month of January, 2014, the new opera of American composer Charles Wuorinen, _Brokeback Mountain_, will be premiered at Teatro Real, with a libretto by Annie Proulx, based on her own short story.

_Brokeback Mountain _will be the second operatic effort for Mr. Wuorinen, after _Haroun and the Sea of Stories, _written in 2001 inspired in Salman Rushdie's novel. There is a songbook extracted from the opera:


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## Jobis (Jun 13, 2013)

schigolch said:


> This coming month of January, 2014, the new opera of American composer Charles Wuorinen, _Brokeback Mountain_, will be premiered at Teatro Real, with a libretto by Annie Proulx, based on her own short story.
> 
> _Brokeback Mountain _will be the second operatic effort for Mr. Wuorinen, after _Haroun and the Sea of Stories, _written in 2001 inspired in Salman Rushdie's novel. There is a songbook extracted from the opera:


Sounds like it could be good, hopefully there is lots of suggestive jaw harp playing to create sexual tension.


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## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

mamascarlatti said:


> Coming soon, I'm looking forward to it:


For those in the USA PBS is showing this production Friday night.

Wish I was going to be able to see it!


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

_Nuit des Hommes_ is Per Nørgård's fifth opera, premiered in 1996. This piece is something in between opera and an oratorio. Only two singers, a string quartet, percussion and electronic music is needed. The libretto are poems by Apollinaire.

However, we got a gripping tale of that terrible night, the vesper of the First World War, in a powerful and dramatic way.

The work is complete in youtube:


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

I watched in the theater Wolfgang Mitterer's opera _massacre_, about the Huguenots killings in France, a few years ago.

From a musical point of view, the experience was fascinating, with some sound effects for instruments and voices, really fantastic. On the other hand, the drama was not fully there. Mr. Mitterer's considerable talent as a composer, was not extended to his work as librettist. Anyhow, it's a very nice experience listening to this opera:


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## mwarhol (Oct 17, 2013)

One of my favorites modern opera masterpieces is “Sonntag” by Karlheinz Stockhausen which I saw in Köln in 2011. This is a profound opera dedicated to the adoration of God. The production by the Köln Oper was outright spectacular and overwhelmingly emotional. The singing by soprano Anna Palimina and tenor Hubert Mayer was beautiful. The musicians under the direction of Peter Rundel were virtuosic.

After the performance we got to talking with a German woman who was married to the first horn player in this production, an American from Massachusetts, the same state where we live. Evidently, he just retired his position at the Kölner Philharmonie and she was looking forward to a relaxing retirement – then her husband got a call from Köln Oper who needed a horn player willing to tackle the difficult part. So, instead of retirement, her husband was down in the basement pounding away at the horn part day after day after day. In the end, we heard that he mastered the part and, according to her, felt truly honored to play this masterwork.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Is possible an opera without singing, a 'spoken' opera?. This is _Cassandre_, by the Swiss composer Michael Jarrell, based on the novel by Christa Wolf, written for speaker and instrumental ensemble, and a beautiful piece of musical theatre:


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## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

mwarhol said:


> One of my favorites modern opera masterpieces is "Sonntag" by Karlheinz Stockhausen which I saw in Köln in 2011. This is a profound opera dedicated to the adoration of God. The production by the Köln Oper was outright spectacular and overwhelmingly emotional. The singing by soprano Anna Palimina and tenor Hubert Mayer was beautiful. The musicians under the direction of Peter Rundel were virtuosic.


This summer I was lucky enough to see Peter Rundel conducting _Michaels Reise um die Erde_, Act 2 of _Donnerstag_. This act is entirely instrumental and could be considered a long, staged (direction by Carlus Padrissa) trumpet concerto. Marco Blaauw played trumpet (and acted Michael) and sounded amazing, so evocative.

They ended the night with Donnerstags-Abschied as we exited Avery Fisher Hall, with the trumpets up on the balconies above us.

The scope of _Licht_ just amazes me!


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Micheal Dellaira's _The Secret Agent_. Available also in youtube:


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## Revenant (Aug 27, 2013)

schigolch said:


> Micheal Dellaira's _The Secret Agent_. Available also in youtube:


Which Secret Agent is the basis of that opera, if I might ask? Patrick McGoohan, Sean Connery or Joseph Conrad's?


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Joseph Conrad's.


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## dgee (Sep 26, 2013)

May have been mentioned here already but I've recently had my mind blown by Beat Furrer's "Fama" - dramatic, innovative, intense, stunning.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Indeed. It was performed in Madrid back in 2008, with Furrer himself conducting the Ensemble Contrechamps and the Neue Vocalsolisten from Stuttgart. 
A small sample in youtube:


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

About 15 years ago Seattle Opera did a significant rewrite of Levy's Mourning Becomes Electra. The singers were all top notch and it was the most emotionally gripping opera I've ever seen. Of course the play by O'Neill was a big plus, but the music really enhanced the text. It is not an opera I'd want on CD so I could drive around listening to the music in my car, but as a performance piece it was really marvelous!


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Einojuhani Rautavaara is a "post-Sibelius" Finnish composer, one of several that had been making Opera one of the more exciting artistic expressions in Finland.










"Rasputin" was released in DVD back in 2005.


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## arpeggio (Oct 4, 2012)

*Michael Berkeley Baa Baa Black Sheep*






​
Opera by Michael Berkeley, son of the English composer Lennox Berkeley. It was Michael's first opera. It was compose in 1993 when the composer was in his mid forties.

Additional information about the recording: http://www.chandos.net/CD_Notes.asp?CNumber=CHAN 10186


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## arpeggio (Oct 4, 2012)

*James MacMillan The Sacrifice*






​
For additional information see:

http://www.chandos.net/CD_Notes.asp?CNumber=CHAN 10572

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sacrifice_(opera)

I have read some negative reviews like the one from the Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/feb/11/purves-wno-macmillan-the-sacrifice. I happen to be a fan of MacMillan. I am listening to it as I am typing this and the music sounds OK to me. (As I have stated in other posts most members are much more knowledgeable about opera than me. I realize most opera fans will disagree with this approach, when I am listen to opera I tend to put emphasis on the music. I can still enjoy the opera even if the theater is weak. I had this reaction to Vaughn William's _The Poisoned Kiss_.)


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

I don't think that the Guardian review is really such negative. Personally, however, I think that _The Sacrifice _is much more looking to the traditional Romantic and Post-Romantic opera (as well as Celtic folklore) than to "Britten, Shostakovich and Berg". The vocal lines are a little bit unconvincing, in my view, but the orchestral interludes are interesting, and there is powerful choral writing. All in all, I agree with the view that this is mainly "a modern opera for people who dislike modern opera",  but then again it's a nice try.

By the way, I know a lot of opera fans that tend to put emphasis on the music. You are far from alone at this respect.


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## arpeggio (Oct 4, 2012)

*Per Nørgard: THE DIVINE CIRCUS*

I just purchased a copy of Per Nørgard's opera _Der göttliche Tivoli (The Devine Circus)_.

See: http://www.talkclassical.com/1006-latest-purchases-427.html#post576914


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

_Writing to Vermeer_ is an opera by Dutch composer Louis Andriessen, with a libretto by Peter Greenaway. As suggested by the title, it's a series of letters exchanged by Vermeer's wife, Catharina Volnes, his mother-in-law, Maria Thins, and a mysterious lady that was posing for the painter, Saskia de Vries (wonderfully sung by Barbara Hannigan). All the voices are female or children, and though this can be a little bit taxing for some listeners, the piece has received some praise, and it deserves a listening.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

The Belgian composer of classical and jazz music Kris Defoort premiered _House of the Sleeping Beauties_ at Brussel's La Monnaie, back in 2009.

The opera is based in a tale of the same name by Yasunari Kawabata, and the play by the American writer David Henry Hwang.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Bernard Herrmann enjoyed a great success as a soundtrack composer, but he was especially fond of one of his pieces, the best for him, his opera _Wuthering Heights_.

Based on Emily Brontë's novel, the libretto was from screenwriter Lucille Fletcher, that was Herrmann's wife at the time. The opera was never premiered while Herrmann was still alive, but he paid himself the cost for a CD recording, in 1966. Operatic producers asked Herrmann to cut the score and change the ending, but the composer adamantly refused.










After Herrmann's death, the opera was finally produced but in a mutilated version, with more than 40 minutes's worth of cuts, and a new ending.

At last, in April 2011, at Minnesota Opera, _Wuthering Heights_ was performed with the original score.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

_Aura_ is an opera by Spanish composer José María Sánchez-Verdú, first staged in Madrid, the year 2009, and since offered in Venice, Berlin, Stuttgart and Buenos Aires. It's inspired by works of the Mexican writer Carlos Fuentes, and it's indeed a very interesting piece, lasting little more than one hour.

This is _Transitus_, an instrumental passage included in another of Sánchez-Verdú's operas, _Atlas_:


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## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

Medici is streaming Wuorinen's Brokeback Mountain live from Teatro Real on Friday, February 7. It happens in the middle of my work day but I am hoping they keep it up for a while.

The reports I have seen have not been terribly positive but I'm still interested in seeing how it turned out.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

I will watch it live at Teatro Real that same day.


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## Marschallin Blair (Jan 23, 2014)

I certainly love parts of Herrmann's Wuthering Heights opera. He worked so hard on this opera that it broke up his first marriage.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Azio Corghi is an Italian composer and musicologist, that in the field of opera is known for his close partnership with the Portuguese Nobel Prize José Saramago. Together, they have written several operas:










_Divara, Wasser und Blut_, is one of them, staged in Münster back in 1993. Divara van Haarlem was a Dutch Anabaptist, married to Jan van Leiden and by him proclaimed Queen of the Anabaptist regime. Saramago published on the same subject than the opera the play "In nomine dei".


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## Blancrocher (Jul 6, 2013)

Just thought I'd mention Alex Ross's enthusiastic review of the recent "Prototype Festival" in NYC, which singles out Gregory Spears's "Paul's Case" for special praise.

In the most recent issue of The New Yorker if you can find it.

http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/musical/2014/02/03/140203crmu_music_ross

Here's a clip from the end, if you don't mind a spoiler:


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## Jobis (Jun 13, 2013)

Just caught the second half of Wuorinen's Brokeback Mountain, very moving!


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Jobis said:


> Just caught the second half of Wuorinen's Brokeback Mountain, very moving!


Yes I'm planning to watch it when Medici has it available after the live broadcast. I LOVE Tom Randle.


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## GioCar (Oct 30, 2013)

IMO the most ambitious operatic work post -1950 is the "Licht" cycle by Stockhausen.
Seven operas (one for each day of the week), nearly 30 hours of music, many links to both the eastern hindu/vedic and the western christian philosophy...
Quite difficult to appreciate in its entirely, never performed any more beside its premieres, hopefully some opera house will have in the future good will and money enough to undertake again this project..

When I was young I had the chance to see the premieres of Donnerstag, Samstag and Montag at La Scala.

Actually Samstag aus Licht, although produced by La Scala, was performed in an indoor sport arena in Milan, and I remember very well myself sitting in a sort of (very uncomfortable) circle at the bottom of the HUGE structure representing Lucifer:










Well, I missed those days...

Nowadays very seldom an opera house is so "brave" to offer similar performances.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

_...22,13..._, written in the year 2004 by French composer Mark Andre, is complete in youtube:


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## dgee (Sep 26, 2013)

Thanks schigolch - you're a touch of class! Need to comb this thread again for goodies, starting with Marc Andre


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## Barelytenor (Nov 19, 2011)

alan davis said:


> Barelytenor said:
> 
> 
> > *Prediction: Jake Heggie's Moby-Dick a Future Masterpiece*
> ...


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## Barelytenor (Nov 19, 2011)

Couac Addict said:


> Were there any women in Moby Dick? The whale role may go to a soprano.
> 
> Would anyone really want to see this opera? The first and fourth acts would be incredible but it would also require sitting through two long, boring acts where every aria is about whale classifications.


Seriously. The whale singing not. On the cover above the lowest name Trevigne refers to soprano Talise Trevigne who sang the trouser role of Pip, quite nicely, as I recall, in Dallas as well. I would enjoy hearing how Jay Hunter Morris's interpretation differs from that of Ben Heppner.

Best Regards, :tiphat:

George


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## arpeggio (Oct 4, 2012)

*Moby Dick*

I just purchased a DVD of Moby Dick with the San Francisco Opera.

My wife and I have watched the first act and we both love the music.

The Washington Opera will be staging the work late this month and we are going to try to see it.






​
Heggie employs a soprano to play the role of Pip the cabin boy.


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## arpeggio (Oct 4, 2012)

*Attending Performance*

^^^

My wife and I just purchased tickets for the preformance this Saturday, February 22 with the Washington Opera.

We watched the DVD and liked the music.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

The Russian composer Grigory Frid wrote this monodrama in 21 scenes for soprano and chamber orchestra, back in 1968, but it was not premiered until 1972. Since then, it has been performed quite a few times across several countries. It's a short piece, of just about one hour, based of course in the famous diary, and it's a nice hearing.


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## arpeggio (Oct 4, 2012)

*Moby Dick Perfomance.*



arpeggio said:


> ^^^
> 
> My wife and I just purchased tickets for the performance this Saturday, February 22 with the Washington Opera.
> 
> We watched the DVD and liked the music.


My wife and I attended the opening performance of _Moby Dick_ with the National Opera Sunday.

We really enjoyed the performance. It used the same sets that were employed in the DVD. In a live performance the special projection effects and the sets were more impressive than the DVD. Some of the singers from the DVD, including Ahab, the Greenhorn (Ishmael) and Pip were in this production.

The music was basically tonal although there were some atonal section.

The audience appreciate the performance and gave it a very enthusiastic standing ovation. It shows that even Washington Audiences can appreciate a contemporary work.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

arpeggio said:


> My wife and I attended the opening performance of _Moby Dick_ with the National Opera Sunday.
> 
> We really enjoyed the performance. It used the same sets that were employed in the DVD. In a live performance the special projection effects and the sets were more impressive than the DVD. Some of the singers from the DVD, including Ahab, the Greenhorn (Ishmael) and Pip were in this production.
> 
> ...


Who sang the Moby Dick part?


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

arpeggio said:


> My wife and I attended the opening performance of _Moby Dick_ with the National Opera Sunday.
> 
> We really enjoyed the performance. It used the same sets that were employed in the DVD. In a live performance the special projection effects and the sets were more impressive than the DVD. Some of the singers from the DVD, including Ahab, the Greenhorn (Ishmael) and Pip were in this production.
> 
> ...


My impression from the DVD is that it must have been very impressive live. Some fine set design. The music is very approachable and there are some truly lovely sections- I love the scene when Starbuck is wondering whether to kill the sleeping Ahab and thinking about his family at home.


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## arpeggio (Oct 4, 2012)

*Moby Dick*



mamascarlatti said:


> My impression from the DVD is that it must have been very impressive live. Some fine set design. The music is very approachable and there are some truly lovely sections- I love the scene when Starbuck is wondering whether to kill the sleeping Ahab and thinking about his family at home.


The sleeping Ahab scene was very powerful.



hpowders said:


> Who sang the Moby Dick part?


Jay Hunter Morris sang the part of Ahab in the DVD and the performance we saw.

Peter Westergaad also composed a _Moby Dick_ opera: http://www.albanyrecords.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=AR&Product_Code=TROY806-07&Category_Code=a-Opera

The music is more atonal than Heggie's. To my knowledge it has only been performed in a concert version. Westergaad realized his opera would be very difficult to stage. Using the current technology it may now be possible.


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

arpeggio said:


> My wife and I attended the opening performance of _Moby Dick_ with the National Opera Sunday.
> 
> We really enjoyed the performance. It used the same sets that were employed in the DVD. In a live performance the special projection effects and the sets were more impressive than the DVD. Some of the singers from the DVD, including Ahab, the Greenhorn (Ishmael) and Pip were in this production.
> 
> ...


I watched the PBS broadcast, and enjoyed it quite a bit. What do people here think of Heggie's other operas? I know StLukes is fond of his songs.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Well, I guess Dead Man Walking is at this time Heggie's opera better known by us, operatic fans, because we have a couple of recordings available. It's also complete in youtube:






The opera has been performed widely across the USA, but not so much in Europe. The musical language is rather old-fashiones, and has been described as closer to a Broadway musical than to your average 21st century opera. Personally, I think the libretto is quite good, and there are some moments in the score, like the endings of each act, that are really touching, but overall I'm not sold on it.


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## QuietGuy (Mar 1, 2014)

Andre Previn's A Streetcar Named Desire is really good.


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## Guest (Mar 2, 2014)

I just did a completely blind buy of Norgard's Nuit Des Hommes a couple of days ago. Anyone heard it?


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Rather an appropriate hearing for 2014, indeed. 

I like the opera. The sonority, with the electronics, the percussion and the chamber orchestra.... it's fascinating. The vocal aspects are perhaps a little bit less attractive, but all considered a very nice listening. It's complete in youtube:


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## Guest (Mar 13, 2014)

I liked it quite a bit, but it was sort of odd when I realized that it uses lines from the 8th quartet. In fact, I just looked it up, and they're supposedly from the same year. Maybe the quartet is more of a "suite" kind of thing than a re-use of material on either end.


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## Bardamu (Dec 12, 2011)

Didn't notice RAI's Prima della prima (TV program about preview of operas staged in Italy) did an episode about the modern retake of I Shardana:
http://www.rai.tv/dl/RaiTV/programmi/media/ContentItem-9f3d7992-1117-4b7a-a465-fb033e1714b0.html


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## msegers (Oct 17, 2008)

I notice several favorable references to _Moby-Dick_ in this discussion, and I am so glad. There were several pleasant surprises in this opera for me, even after accepting the concept of Ahab as a tenor. There are a few light, even humorous passages (the song about the tough and bloody steak). In fact, it is not as dark as I was expecting. About a half hour from the end, there is one of the most poignant passages I've ever heard in an opera, when Ahab seems on the verge of relenting, to abandon the quest for the whale and to return home. (Well, the opera _Hamlet_ has a happy ending.) The character of Pip and the soprano's lovely music is another pleasure.

The streaming video is available online at http://video.pbs.org/video/2365112413.


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## Bardamu (Dec 12, 2011)

Streaming of "Qui non c'è perchè", new Opera with music by Andrea Molino staged at Teatro Comunale di Bologna:


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## Bardamu (Dec 12, 2011)

Fragment from Lies and sorrow (2006) with music by Mauro Montalbetti and libretto by Giovanni Peli.





Montalbetti newest opera, "Il sogno di una cosa", will be premiered next May 9th at Teatro Grande di Brescia.
The premiere will be aired on TV (and online?) by RAI in mid May.

For the next autumn season the opera will be brought to Brescia (again), Reggio Emilia and Milan.


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## Jobis (Jun 13, 2013)

Listened to fragments of Unsuk Chin's Alice in Wonderland; can't wait to watch the whole thing!

Seems to have quite a bit in common with Ligeti's Grand Macabre.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Jobis said:


> Listened to fragments of Unsuk Chin's Alice in Wonderland; can't wait to watch the whole thing!
> 
> Seems to have quite a bit in common with Ligeti's Grand Macabre.


I liked the music but the video direction in this particular production drove me so bonkers that I had to abandon ship before the end.


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## Bruce (Jan 2, 2013)

I listened to part of Penderecki's Devils many years ago, on an old Phillips LP. I found it so disturbing that I couldn't finish it. That was a very difficult period of my life, and would like to hear it again, though. Penderecki's music is really quite attractive.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Avant-garde stuff, so only for people interested/attracted to it. _Itinerário do Sal_, by the Portuguese composer Miguel Azguime:


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## Bruce (Jan 2, 2013)

My vote would have to go to Adams's Nixon in China, Daugherty's Jackie O, and Argento's Postcard from Morocco.


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## Jobis (Jun 13, 2013)

Bruce said:


> I listened to part of Penderecki's Devils many years ago, on an old Phillips LP. I found it so disturbing that I couldn't finish it. That was a very difficult period of my life, and would like to hear it again, though. Penderecki's music is really quite attractive.


There's a great version in full on youtube, with subtitles.

Its not exactly light, but its a powerful opera.


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## Bardamu (Dec 12, 2011)

What's your favorite Daniel Catan opera?


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

"Florencia en el Amazonas" is mine.


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## Bardamu (Dec 12, 2011)

Probably the italian opera of the last 30 years I liked the most (of the few I've listened to), Il ritorno di Casanova (The return of Casanova) was composed by Girolamo Arrigo on a libretto by Giuseppe Di Leva based on the famous novel by Arthur Schnitzler.
Its premiere was in Ginevra in 1985 and was met with vivid success both by critics and public.
Later it was staged in France and Italy.
Unfortunately Arrigo's opera was never commercially released and there were little to no excerpts online, at least until today 

Here you can listen to the finale where an old Casanova muse about his sad fate (scene aptly filmed by Fellini in his Il Casanova di Fellini)







schigolch said:


> "Florencia en el Amazonas" is mine.


Thank you schigolch, I'm going to listen to Florencia soon.

Can I ask you what other good operas in the last 20-30 years have the vocal writing which more closely resemble the one found at the beginning of the last century (for the lack of better description).
For example I was thinking about Osvaldo Golijov's Ainadamar.


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## MAuer (Feb 6, 2011)

I attended a performance of Kevin Puts' _Silent Night_ by our local opera company last Thursday and was very impressed. Mark Campbell's libretto is based on the 2005 French film "_Joyeux Noël_" about the World War I Christmas truce in December, 1914. Much of the music is very lyrical, but the scene that depicts the battle in which the brother of one of the Scottish soldiers is fatally wounded is shattering visually and musically. The characters are credible, and one's interest never flags throughout the performance. I found the work enormously powerful (and evidently, so did others; it won a Pulitzer Prize).
I thought a DVD of the original Minnesota Opera production had recently been released, but I've not been able to find anything on the Web yet.


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## Bardamu (Dec 12, 2011)

So listened to Florencia, it's quite good.
It's more Debussy than Puccini.

What's the best recording for Sallinen's Red Line (best execution from a music point of view)?


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Bardamu said:


> Thank you schigolch, I'm going to listen to Florencia soon.
> 
> Can I ask you what other good operas in the last 20-30 years have the vocal writing which more closely resemble the one found at the beginning of the last century (for the lack of better description).
> For example I was thinking about Osvaldo Golijov's Ainadamar.


I think you are already very familiar with Italian contemporary opera, so I would restrict myself to some examples outside Italy.

Jake Heggie, Laurent Petitgirard, Jonathan Dove, John Adams, Osvaldo Golijov, Vladimir Cosma, John Corigliano, Mark Adamo, William Bolcom, Ricky Ian Gordon, Daniel Catán, Nicholas Maw, James MacMillan, Ned Rorem, ... they wrote vocal music in a line that could be described, more or less, as "the one found at the beginning of the last century", though not exactly like Puccini or Strauss did (some are closer than others).


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## Bardamu (Dec 12, 2011)

schigolch said:


> I think you are already very familiar with Italian contemporary opera, so I would restrict myself to some examples outside Italy.
> 
> Jake Heggie, Laurent Petitgirard, Jonathan Dove, John Adams, Osvaldo Golijov, Vladimir Cosma, John Corigliano, Mark Adamo, William Bolcom, Ricky Ian Gordon, Daniel Catán, Nicholas Maw, James MacMillan, Ned Rorem, ... they wrote vocal music in a line that could be described, more or less, as "the one found at the beginning of the last century", though not exactly like Puccini or Strauss did (some are closer than others).


Thank you schigolch.

I ask again in case you've missed my previous post (published at the same time!): 
What's the best recording for Sallinen's Red Line (best execution from a music point of view)?

BTW I tried Eotvos's Three Sisters too last night, it's an interesting opera.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

It is, indeed, though not in the "one found at the beginning of last century" category. 

About Sallinen's opera, I only know the DVD, sorry.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

The recently deceased Lorin Maazel wrote an opera, "1984", based on George Orwell. There is a DVD on the market, and maybe it could interest some TC members and readers:


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Emmanuel Nunes (1941 - 2012) was one of the most famous Portuguese contemporary composers, though he spent most of his career in Germany and France.

Nunes, as many composers do, searched for his own musical language, rejecting the serialism of his teacher Boulez, but open to many influences: the tonal tradition of the past, spectralism, electronics,...

Back in 2008, I attended the premiere of his first and single opera, _Das Märchen_, based on tales by Goethe, in Lisbon. Though some moments were outstanding from a purely musical point of view, most people thought it was too long, and lacking drama. I think it could be a nice hearing for members interested in contemporary opera, anyway. It's complete in youtube:


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Leonardo Balada wrote in 1986 an opera about Columbus that was premiered at Barcelona's Liceu:










And can be watched in youtube, by those willing to watch youtube :






Then, he came back with a sequel, "La muerte de Colón", a few years later:


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

I've just listened _Wüstenbuch_, a Beat Furrer's opera premiered in 2010 at Basel. It's based on texts ranging from Ancient Egypt to Lucretius, Antonio Machado or Ingeborg Bachmann. There is no real plot, but rather an approach to feelings related with the desert: emptiness, solitude, death...

Quite an interesting hearing.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Luca Francesconi - _Ballata

_



_









_


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Several stage works of Salvatore Sciarrino can be found complete in youtube, such as:

Lohengrin - 



Perseo e Andromeda - 



Macbeth -	



Da gelo a gelo -


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