# John Paul Jones composing an opera



## Lunasong (Mar 15, 2011)

John Paul Jones is currently working on an opera based on The Ghost Sonata by Swedish playwright August Strindberg, but admits the project is a daunting task.

Speaking to Red Carpet News after the London premier of Philip Glass' opera The Perfect American, Jones revealed his love for the genre, saying, "It's unlike anything else. It's the emotion, the passion... and I'm writing an opera myself so I have to say that."

The bassist is currently half-way through writing the first act, and when asked about the challenges of putting together an opera, he replied, "The sheer scale of it, I think. I'm probably about to find out what the challenges are."

A favourite of Ingmar Bergman's, The Ghost Sonata play mixes the surreal and the domestic, with ghosts roaming through a Stockholm apartment building. It first premiered in January 1908.

Although still best known for his work with Led Zeppelin, Jones roamed widely before, during and after his time with the band. Over the past 30 years, he has collaborated with artists as diverse as REM, Diamanda Galás, Foo Fighters, Gillian Welch, and the Norwegian avant-gardists Supersilent. These days, Jones said, he only has time "to do little gigs that I don't have to prepare too much for."

The multi-instrumentalist, composer, and arranger was collaborating with Gerald Thomas and Amanda Holden in 2011 to compose an opera based on the Isabel Allende short story, "The Judge's Wife," but that project has now been put aside.

Jones had an on-stage role in the Royal Opera's 2011 production of Anna Nicole.


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## Geo Dude (May 22, 2013)

Interesting news, this. Thanks.


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## Hoffmann (Jun 10, 2013)

FYI, another rocker who is an opera fanatic: New York punk artist Patti Smith.


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