New in my collection : 4 program books from the USA and Canada

I have recently received four new program books published by opera houses from the USA and Canada :

- Philip Glass : Appomattox, Washington (National Opera at the Kennedy Center), November 14, 2015 (world première of the new version). The 36 pages brochure contains : complete cast and crew, articles by composer Philip Glass, librettist Christopher Hampton, director Tazewell Thompson, a timeline of historical events of the opera, biographies of the artists ;

- Barbara Monk Feldman : Pyramus and Thisbe, Toronto (Canadian Opera Company at the Four Seasons Centre), October 20, 2015 (world première). The new opera was the third and last part of the evening also including performance of Claudio Monteverdi's Lamento d'Arianna and Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda. The 48 pages brochure contains : Who's Who at the COC this Fall, Director's Notes and Synopses on Three Musical Tales by Christopher Alden ; Ovid Reconfigured by Amy Beal. It also contains information on Verdi's La Traviata, performed the same month.

- Tobias Picker : Emmeline, Saint Louis (Opera Theatre at the Loretto-Hilton Center), June 13, 2015 (new production). The 168 pages book contains (besides 58 pages of advertisement) all the articles on the complete 2015 season at the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, also including Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Puccini's La Rondine and Haendel's Riccardo Primo. The part of it related to Emmeline includes : complete cast and crew, synopsis, a note from the stage director James Robinson, a note from the composer, a conversation with librettist J. D. McClatchy (9 pages altogether), artists' profiles ;

- Gregory Spears : O Columbia, Houston (Grand Opera at the Revention Music Center), September 23, 2015 (world première). The 16 pages brochure contains : complete cast and crew, synopsis, who's who, a conversation with the creative team.

Here is a link to a flickr folder with the covers of all 380 program books for contemporary operas I have in my collection.

Today : world première of new version of 'Appomattox' by Philip Glass in Washington

Today, a new version of Appomattox, the opera by Philip Glass, with a libretto by Christopher Hampton, will be performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington (DC), by the Washington National Opera. The first version of the opera was premiered in San Francisco on October 5, 2007.

The opera explores the struggle to end racial inequality in America at two key crossroads a century apart: General Ulysses S. Grant's dramatic war-ending deliberations with General Robert E. Lee at a Virginia courthouse - and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s passionate debates with President Lyndon B. Johnson as civil rights protesters rallied in Alabama. (reproduced from the Kennedy Center website).

The cast includes baritone Tom Fox (Abraham Lincoln / Lyndon B. Johnson), bass Soloman Howard (Frederick Douglass / Martin Luther King Jr.), bass baritone David Pittsinger (Robert E. Lee / Edgar Ray Killen), baritone Richard Paul Fink (Ulysses S. Grant / Nicholas Katzenbach), tenor Robert Brubaker (Wilmer McLean / J. Edgar Hoover). Dante Anzolini conducts the Chorus and Orchestra of the Washington National Opera. Tazewell Thompson directs.

The two parts should last 80 minutes each. This world premiere commemorates 50 years since the Voting Rights Act and 150 years since the end of the Civil War.

New program books for contemporary operas in my collection

I have recently acquired several program books (or brochures) for performances (world, national or local premières) of contemporary operas in New York. Here they are :

- Jack Beeson : Lizzie Borden, New York City Opera, March 6, 1999 ;
- Jack Beeson : Sorry, Wrong Number, Sylvia and Danny Kaye Playhouse, May 25, 1999 (Elie Siegmeister's Angel Levine was also performed in a double bill) ;
- Richard Danielpour : Margaret Garner, New York City Opera, September 29, 2007 ;

- Carlisle Floyd : Of Mice and Men, New York City Opera, October 14, 2003 ;
- Philip Glass : The Juniper Tree, Alice Tully Hall, March 20, 2007 ;
- Elliot Goldenthal : Grendel, New York State Theater, July 11, 2006 ;

- Osvaldo Golijov : Ainadamar, Rose Theater, January 22, 2006 ;
- John Harbison : The Great Gatsby, Metropolitan Opera, May 7, 2002 ;
- Lowell Liebermann : Miss Lonelyhearts, Peter Jay Sharp Theater, April 26, 2006 ;

 
- Jost Meier : The Dreyfus Affair, New York City Opera, April 2, 1996 ;
- Stephen Paulus : Summer, Kaye Playhouse, June 19, 2002 ;
- Ned Rorem : Our Town, Peter Jay Sharp Theater, April 23, 2008 ;

- Tan Dun : The First Emperor, Metropolitan Opera, December 29, 2006.

I have added to the flickr folder containing scans of the covers several programs I already had, for operas by John Adams, Lera Auerbach, Harrison Birtwistle, Philippe Boesmans, Charles Chaynes, Pascal Dusapin, Peter Eötvös, Graciane Finzi, Carlisle Floyd, René Gerber, Philip Glass, Hans Werner Henze, Marcel Landowski, Marius Felix Lange, György Ligeti, Olivier Messiaen, Marc Monnet, Krzysztof Penderecki, Steve Reich, Aribert Reimann, Wolfgang Rihm, Aulis Sallinen, Elzbieta Sikora, Oscar Strasnoy, Mark-Anthony Turnage, Iannis Xenakis and Bernd Alois Zimmermann.

I now have 346 program books for contemporary operas.

CD and DVD : Philip Glass, 'Spuren der Verirrten' ('The Lost'), Orange Mountain Music

A little more than a year after the world première performance of Philip Glass' last opera, Spuren der Verirrten (The Lost) in Linz (Austria), Orange Mountain Music, the label entirely dedicated to the composer's works, publishes a CD and a DVD of the same performance.

The cast includes Bram de Beul (A), Sophy Ribrault (B), Jacques Le Roux (C), Karen Robertson (D), Gotho Griesmeier (E), Martin Achrainer (F), Martha Hirschmann (G), Matthäus Schmidlechner (H), Dominik Nekel (J), Elisabeth Breuer (K), Christa Ratzenböck (Third Person), Lutz Zeidler (Spectator) and Peter Pertusini (Protagonist). The chorus, Children's and Youth chorus, actors and extras of the Landestheater Linz and the Bruckner Orchester Linz are conducted by Dennis Russel Davies.

The opera is directed by David Pountney, with sets by Robert Israel, costumes by Anne Marie Legenstein and choreography by Amir Hosseinpour.

The DVD includes a 40 minutes bonus feature film, showing rehearsals of the show planned for the opening of the new theater in Linz. The audio is a mix of English and German, with English and German subtitles, and it is not particularly easy to follow, considering the switching languages. The DVD also has some music of the opera being played on the menu page and during the closing credits, which is very unfortunate.

The tracking of both items are not identical : 11, 10 and 5 tracks for the 3 acts on the DVD, 10, 10 and 2 on the CD. One might wonder on what basis the tracking has been made. The DVD has no booklet included. The bilingual (English and German) CD booklet is rather complete, with complete cast, an article on the work, the complete libretto and biographies of the artists. They could have used the same booklet for the DVD !

The 'New releases' page of the Orange Mountain Music website is just a gateway to amazon.com. The Philip Glass website is more interesting : there, we can find some articles on recordings and works. But this recording has not been added yet.

Received in the mail this Wednesday morning : Program book for 'The Trial' by Philip Glass

This Wednesday morning, I have received the program book published by Music Theatre Wales for the world première performance of Philip Glass' opera The Trial in London last month.

It is a 16 pages brochure unusually large (24 by 34 cm). It is bilingual (Welsh / English). It contains :
- the complete cast and crew,
- the synopsis, with a detailed description of the settings for all scenes,
- a 'profile of Philip Glass',
- an article on the relationship between Kafka and Glass,
- a few pictures of rehearsals and drawing of costumes,
- biographies,
- history of Music Theatre Wales and its involvement with Philip Glass' works,
- dates of the UK Tour 2014, with performances in 8 different locations.

The recording of the opera will be released by Orange Mountain Music.

DVD recordings of contemporary operas in my collection

I have the following DVD recordings of contemporary operas in my collection :

- Mark Adamo : Little Women, Summers / Webster, Naxos
- John Adams : Doctor Atomic, Gilbert / Woolcock, Sony
- John Adams : Doctor Atomic, Renes / Sellars, Opus Arte

- John Adams : El Nino, Nagano / Sellars, ArtHaus Musik
- John Adams : Nixon in China, Adams / Sellars, Nonesuch
- Thomas Adès : Powder her Face, Adès / Alden, Digital Classics

- Thomas Adès : The Tempest, Adès / Lepage, Deutsche Grammophon
- George Benjamin : Written on Skin, Benjamin / Mitchell, Opus Arte
- Harrison Birtwistle : The Minotaur, Pappano / Langridge, Opus Arte

- Philippe Boesmans : Julie, Ono / Bondy, BelAir Classiques
- Daniel Catan : Il Postino, Gershon / Daniels, Sony
- Unsuk Chin : Alice in Wonderland, Nagano / Freyer, Unitel Classica

- Kyong Mee Choi : The Eternal Tao, Lewanski / Choi, Ravello
- John Corigliano : The Ghosts of Versailles, Levine / Graham, MetOpera

- Chaya Czernowin : Pnima... ins Innere, Kalitzke / Guth, mode

- Michael Daugherty : Jackie O, Franklin / Michieletto, Dynamic

- Jonathan Dove : The Adventures of Pinocchio, Parry / Duncan, Opus Arte
- Pascal Dusapin : Faustus, the Last Night, Stockhammer / Mussbach, naïve

 

- John Eaton : The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Kramer-Johansen / Capalbo, Albany

- Philip Glass : Kepler, Russell Davies / Missotten, OMM

- Philip Glass : Satyagraha, Russell Davies / Freyer, ArtHaus Musik

- Philip Glass : The Perfect American, Russell Davies / McDermott, Opus Arte
- Joan Guinjoan : Gaudi, Pons / Huerga, Columna Musica

- Cristobal Halffter : Lazaro, Fritzsch / Schulin, Neos

- Jake Heggie : Moby-Dick, Summers / Foglia, EuroArts
- Mikko Heiniö : Eerik XIV, Segerstam / Söderblom, Turku Music Festival
- Hans Werner Henze : Boulevard Solitude, Pesko / Lehnhoff, EuroArts

- Hans Werner Henze : Der junge Lord, von Dohnanyi / Sellner, Medici Arts
- Hans Werner Henze : Der Prinz von Homburg, Sawallisch / Lehnhoff, ArtHaus Musik
- Hans Werner Henze : L'Upupa und der Triumph der Sohnesliebe, Stenz / Dorn, EuroArts

- Bo Holten : The Visit of the Royal Physician, Holten / Oskarson, Dacapo
- Rued Langgaard : Antikrist, Dausgaard / Holm, Dacapo
- György Ligeti : Le Grand Macabre, Boder / Ollé, ArtHaus Musik

- Lorin Maazel : 1984, Maazel / Lepage, Decca
- Nicholas Maw : Sophie's Choice, Rattle / Nunn, Opus Arte
- Benoît Mernier : Frühlings Erwachen, Alber / Boussard, cypres

- Olivier Messiaen : Saint François d'Assise, Metzmacher / Audi, Opus Arte
- Luca Mosca : Signor Goldoni, Molino / Livermore, Dynamic
- Elisabeth Naske : Das Städtchen Drumherum, Praxmarer / Lutz, Belvedere

- Laurent Petitgirard : Joseph Merrick, The Elephant Man, Petitgirard / Mesguich, Marco Polo
- André Previn : A Streetcar Named Desire, Previn / Graham, ArtHaus Musik
- Einojuhani Rautavaara : Aleksis Kivi, Franck / Milonoff, Ondine

- Einojuhani Rautavaara : Rasputin, Franck / Kiljunen, Ondine
- Einojuhani Rautavaara : The Gift of the Magi, Sakari / Heikinheimo, ArtHaus Musik
- Aribert Reimann : Die Gespenstersonate, Layer / Lukas-Kindermann, ArtHaus Musik

- Aribert Reimann : Medea, Boder / Marelli, ArtHaus Musik
- Wolfgang Rihm : Dionysos, Metzmacher / Audi, EuroArts
- Wolfgang Rihm : Œdipus, Prick / Friedrich, ArtHaus Musik

- Poul Ruders : Selma Jezkova, Schønwandt / Holten, Dacapo
- Kaija Saariaho : L'Amour de loin, Salonen / Sellars, Deutsche Grammophon
- Aulis Sallinen : The Palace, Kamu / Holmberg, ArtHaus Musik

- Aulis Sallinen : The Red Line, Franck / Milonoff, Ondine
- Salvatore Sciarrino : Luci mie traditrici, Angius / Pade, EuroArts
- Elzbieta Sikora : Madame Curie, Michniewski / Weiss, Dux

- Tan Dun : Marco Polo, Tan Dun / Audi, Opus Arte
- Tan Dun : The First Emperor, Tan Dun / Yimou, EMI Classics
- Kari Tikka : Luther, Tikka / Tapola, Ondine

- Michael Tippett : King Priam, Norrington / Hytner, ArtHaus Musik
- Mark-Anthony Turnage : Anna Nicole, Pappano / Jones, Opus Arte
- Mark-Anthony Turnage : Greek, Bernas / Maniura - Moore, ArtHaus Musik

- Peter Westergaard : Alice in Wonderland, Pratt / Westergaard, Albany
- Bernd Alois Zimmermann : Die Soldaten, Kontarsky / Kupfer, ArtHaus Musik
- Bernd Alois Zimmermann : Die Soldaten, Metzmacher / Hermanis, EuroArts

Other DVDs recently acquired :
http://cowarc.blogspot.fr/2014/09/newly-acquired-tchaikowsky-merchant-of.html
http://cowarc.blogspot.fr/2014/05/recently-acquired-recordings.html
http://cowarc.blogspot.fr/2014/04/blog-post.html