New recordings (audio and video) of contemporary operas in my collection

Since August 2017, I have acquired the 36 following recordings of contemporary operas :

- Mark Adamo : Becoming Santa Claus, conducted by Emmanuel Villaume, directed by Paul Curran (The Dallas Opera), Blu-Ray ;
- Robert Aldridge : Sister Carrie, conducted by William Boggs (Naxos, American Opera Classics), CD ;
- Louis Andriessen : Theatre of the World, conducted by Reinbert de Leeuw (Nonesuch), CD ;

- Mason Bates : The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, conducted by Michael Christie, recorded in Santa Fe (Pentatone), CD ;
- Rupert Bawden : The Sailor's Tale, conducted by Gary Cheung (NMC Recordings), CD ;
- Philippe Boesmans : Pinocchio, conducted by Patrick Davin (cypres), CD ;

- Daniel Börtz : Backanterna, conducted by Kjell Ingebretsen (Caprice), CD ;
- Geoffrey Bush : Lord Arthur Savile's Crime, conducted by Simon Joly (Lyrita), CD ;
- Tom Cipullo : After Life, conducted by Mina Miller (Naxos, American Opera Classics), CD ;

- Brett Dean : Bliss, conducted by Elgar Howarth (ABC Classics), CD ;
- Carlisle Floyd : Wuthering Heights, conducted by Joseph Mechavich (Reference), CD ;
- Philip Glass : The Perfect American, conducted by Dennis Russell Davies (OMM - Orange Mountain Music), CD ;

- Philip Glass : The Trial, conducted by Michael Rafferty (OMM - Orange Mountain Music), CD ;
- Jake Heggie : Great Scott, conducted by Patrick Summers (Erato), CD ;
- Jake Heggie : It's a Wonderful Life, conducted by Patrick Summers (Pentatone), CD ;

- Mikko Heiniö : Eerik XIV, conducted by Leif Segerstam, directed by Erik Söderblom (Turku Music Festival), DVD ;
- Toshio Hosokawa : The Raven, conducted by Kentaro Kawase (Naxos), CD ;
- John Joubert : Jane Eyre, conducted by Kenneth Woods (Somm), CD ;

- Lori Laitman : The Scarlet Letter, conducted by Ari Pelto (Naxos, American Opera Classics), CD ;
- Michaël Levinas : Le Petit prince, conducted by Arie van Beek (Claves), CD ;
- Jukka Linkola : Robin Hood, conducted by Mikko Franck, directed by Lari Heiskanen (Alba), DVD ;

- Missy Mazzoli : Song from the Uproar - The Lives and Deaths of Isabelle Eberhardt, conducted by Steven Osgood (New Amsterdam), CD ;
- Kate Miller-Heidke : The Rabbits, conducted by Isaac Hayward (ABC Classics), CD ;
- Luca Mosca : Signor Goldoni, conducted by Andrea Molino, directed by Davide Livermore (Dynamic), DVD ;

- Robert Paterson : Three Way, with the Nashville Opera conducted by Dean Williamson (AMR), CD ;
- Ned Rorem : Our Town, conducted by Gil Rose (New World), CD ;
- Edward Rushton : The Shops, conducted by Patrick Bailey (NMC Recordings), CD ;

- Kaija Saariaho : Only the Sound Remains, conducted by André de Ridder, directed by Peter Sellars (Erato), Blu Ray ;
- Eric Sawyer : Our American Cousin, conducted by Gil Rose (Boston Modern Orchestra Project), CD ;
- Robert Saxton : The Wandering Jew, conducted by André de Ridder (NMC Recordings), CD ;

- Andrea Lorenzo Scartazzini : Edward II, conducted by Thomas Søndergård (Oehms), CD ;
- David Schiff : Gimpel the Fool, conducted by Kenneth Kiesler (Naxos, American Opera Classics), CD ;
- Alessandro Solbiati : Il Suono giallo, with the Teatro Comunal di Bologna conducted by Marco Angius, directed by Franco Ripa di Meana (EMA Vinci), DVD ;

- Gregory Spears : Fellow Travelers, with the Cincinnati Opera conducted by Mark Gibson (Fanfare Cincinnati), CD ;
- Conrad Susa : The Dangerous Liaisons, with the Manhattan School of Music Opera Theater, conducted by George Manahan (Albany), CD ;
- Alfons Karl Zwicker : Der Tod und das Mädchen, conducted by Jonathan Stockhammer (MGB - Musiques Suisses), CD.

I have catalogued all my collection of opera recordings on librarything.

New program books received recently from Montréal, St. Paul and Denver

I have recently received three program books published by North American opera theatres for new contemporary operas :

- Lori Laitman : The Scarlet Letter, Denver, May 7, 2016 ;
- Kevin March : Les Feluettes, Montréal, May 21, 2016 ;
- Paul Moravec : The Shining, St. Paul, May 7, 2016.

The covers of all program books I for contemporary I have can be seen in this flickr folder.

Today : world première of Lori Laitman's 'The Scarlet Letter' in Denver.

Today, Opera Colorado in Denver presents the world première performance of Lori Laitman's opera The Scarlet Letter, with a libretto by David Mason after Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel..

© Christian Steiner

It is the composer's third opera after Come to Me in Dreams (chamber opera, Cleveland, 2004) and Ludlow (Boulder, CO, 2012).

In old Boston, a young woman, Hester Prynne, has been charged with adultery and forced to wear the scarlet letter 'A' embroidered on her breast. Just as she mounts the scaffold to receive her sentence, her husband, long presumed dead and newly escaped from captivity among the Indians, arrives and recognizes her. This man, renamed as Roger Chillingworth, begins a quest to discover the father of Hester's child. As the community wrestles with whether or not to allow Hester to continue raising her daughter, Chillingworth moves in with the pale young minister, Arthur Dimmesdale, who hides the fact that he is the father of Hester's child. In a dark night of the soul, Arthur is taunted by a local witch, and it becomes clear that he is overcome with guilt and inner conflict about his past with Hester. The two lovers meet in the forest, plotting their escape, sure they can escape the laws and mores of men in this new world. But Dimmesdale cannot forget his guilt, and during an election day ceremony he confesses his sin to the crowd, exposing a branded letter 'A' over his own heart. Dimmesdale dies at the moment of his confession, and the opera moves out into a broader, lyrical sense of time in which its stories are at least partly resolved. (reproduced from the Scarlett Letter website)

The cast includes soprano Laura Claycomb (Hester Prynne), tenor Dominic Armstrong (Arthur Dimmesdale), baritone Malcolm MacKenzie (Roger Chillingworth), baritone Daniel Belcher (Governor Bellingham), mezzo Margaret Gawrysiak (Mistress Hibbons) and tenor Kyle Erdos-Knapp (John Wilson). Ari Pelto conducts the Opera Colorado Orchestra and Chorus. Beth Greenberg directs.

The orchestra is the following :

- 2 flutes / Piccolo, 2 Oboes / English Horn, 2 Clarinets in B flat / Bass Clarinet, 2 Bassoons ;
- 2 Horns in F, Trumpet in C, Trombone ;
- timpani and percussion (Bass Drum, Chimes - high and low Eb, medium suspended Cymbal, Finger Cymbals, Gong, Snare Drum, Tambourine, Triangle ;
- Harp, Piano / Celesta ;
- Strings (8-8-6-4-2).

The performance should last about 2 hours. The venue is the Ellie Caulkins Opera House.

Today : world première of Lori Laitman's new opera 'The Three Feathers'

Today, Lori Laitman's new children opera in one act, The Three Feathers, with a libretto by Dana Gioia after a Grimm's fairytale, will receive its first performance in Blacksburg (VA).

 

The Three Feathers creates a mysterious world inhabited by a king, his three princess daughters, and courtiers; and the fantastical underworld kingdom of the Frog Prince and his chorus of rats, bats, and frogs. (reproduced from https://www.artscenter.vt.edu/)

It will be conducted by Scott Williamson and directed by Beth Greenberg. The performance will take place at the Ellen Fife Theatre, Street and Davis Performance Hall, on the VirginiaTech campus. Detailed cast is unknown.

Composer Lori Laitman has already a new opera in store, The Scarlet Letter, after Nathaniel Hawthorne. It will be first performed by Opera Colorado in May 2016.