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

Since April 2016, I have acquired several recordings of contemporary operas. Most of them are audio recordings :

- Mark Abel : Home is a Harbor, conducted by Benjamin Makino (Delos, 2015)
- Jörn Arnecke : Das Fest im Meer, conducted by Cornelius Meister (New Classical Adventure, 2003)
- Gerald Barry : The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant, conducted by Gerhard Markson (RTE, 2005)

- Francesco D'Avalos : Maria di Venosa, conducted by the composer (Chandos, 1994)
- Leonid Desyatnikov : The Children of Rosenthal, conducted by Alexander Vedernikov (Melodiya, 2015)
- Gordon Getty : The Canterville Ghost, conducted by Matthias Foremny (Pentatone, 2015)

- Hans Werner Henze : Die Bassariden, conducted by Gerd Albrecht (Koch Schwann, 1986)
- Michael Levinas : La Conférence des Oiseaux, conducted by Michel Swierczewski (Adès, 1986)
- James MacMillan : The Sacrifice, conducted by Anthony Negus (Chandos, 2007)

- Thanos Mikroutsikos : The Return of Helen, conducted by Alexandros Myrat (EMI, 1999)
- Bernard Rands : Vincent, conducted by Arthur Fagen (Naxos, 2011)

- Karlheinz Stockhausen : Montag aus Licht, conducted by the composer (Stokhausen Stiftung, 1988)
- Karlheinz Stockhausen : Dienstag aus Licht, conducted by the composer (Stockhausen Stiftung, 1993)

- Karlheinz Stockhausen : Mittwoch aus Licht (4 scènes), conducted by the composer (Stockhausen Stiftung, 1996 and 2012)

 

- Karlheinz Stockhausen : Donnerstag aus Licht, conducted by Peter Eötvös and Karlheinz Stockhausen (Stockhausen Stiftung, 1980 to 1982)
- Karlheinz Stockhausen : Freitag aus Licht, conducted by the composer (Stockhausen Stiftung, 1992, 1994, 1996 and 2002)
- Karlheinz Stockhausen : Samstag aus Licht, conducted by the composer (Stockhausen Stiftung, 1981, 1983 and 1984)

- Karlheinz Stockhausen : Sonntag aus Licht (5 scènes), conducted by the composer (Stockhausen Stiftung, 1999, 2000, 2005 and 2003)

- Michael Tippett : The Midsummer Marriage, conducted by Sir Colin Davis (Lyrita, 1970)
- Marco Tutino : Le Braci, conducted by Francesco Cilluffo (Dynamic, 2015)

- Julian Wagstaff : Breathe Freely, conducted by Derek Clark (Linn Records, 2014)
- Rufus Wainwright : Prima Donna, conducted by Jayce Ogren (Deutsche Grammophon, 2015)

I also bought several video recordings :

- Philip Glass : Einstein on the Beach (Blu Ray), conducted by Michael Riesman, directed by Don Kent, with choreography by Lucinda Childs (Opus Arte, 2014)
 - Toshio Hosokawa : Stilles Meer (DVD), conducted by Kent Nagano, directed by Oriza Hirata (EuroArts, 2016)

- Rodion Shchedrin : The Left-Hander (Blu Ray), conducted by Valery Gergiev, directed by Alexei Stepanyuk (Mariinsky, 2013)
- Mauricio Sotelo : El Publico (Blu Ray), conducted by Pablo Heras-Casado, directed by Robert Castro (BelAir, 2015)

 That's all for today !

Six new programme books in my collection

I have recently received six new programme books published by opera theaters for performances of contemporary operas.

- Gerald Barry : Alice's Adventures Underground, Los Angeles (LA Phil), November 22, 2016 ;
- William Bolcom : Dinner at Eight, Saint Paul (Minnesota Opera), March 11, 2017 ;
- Alois Bröder : Unverhofftes Wiedersehen, Würzburg, June 24, 2017 ;

- Mohammed Fairouz : The Dictator's Wife, Washington (Kennedy Center), January 13, 2017 ;
- André Previn : A Streetcar Named Desire, Honolulu (HOT), January 27, 2017 ;
- Ravi Shankar : Sukanya, Leicester (Curve), May 12, 2017.

The first one is a 92 pages brochure for all concerts of November 2016, including 8 pages dedicated to Gerald Barry's new opera. It is entirely in English :

- complete cast ;
- Notes by John Henken ;
- Composer profile ;
- detailed biographies with B&W headshots.

The second one is a 32 pages brochure. It is entirely in English. It contains :

- synopsis ;
- complete cast and creative team ;
- About the opera, by dramaturg David Sander ;
- Director's Notes, by stage director Tomer Zvulun ;
- detailed biographies of composer William Bolcom and librettist Mark Campbell with color headshots ;
- biographies of singers and team members, with B&W headshots ;
- Meet the artist, with soprano Brenda Harris ;
- The Making of 'Dinner at Eight'.

The third one is a 44 pages brochure. It is entirely in German. It contains :

- complete cast and crew ;
- color photos of rehearsals ;
- short synopsis ;
- Die Erde, by Johann Peter Hebel ;
- Im Spiegel der Geschichte, by Beate Kröhnert, personnal assistant to the General Director ;
- Anmerkungen zur Musik, by composer Alois Bröder ;
- Der Komet, by Johann Peter Hebel ;
- complete libretto ;
- biography of Alois Bröder.

The fourth one is a 52 pages brochure. It is entirely in English. It is the January 2017 issue of Playbill for the Kennedy Center. 7 pages are dedicated to the opera Dictator's Wife :

- complete cast and crew ;
- A Letter from Robert Ainsley, director of the American Opera Initiative ;
- synopsis of the opera ;
- Meet the Artists, biographies with B&W headshots.

The sixth one is a 36 pages brochure. It is entirely in English. It contains :

- Introduction by director Suba Das ;
- color photos of rehearsals ;
- Programme notes by Michael Church ;
- Ravi Shankar timline ;
- Ravi Shankar in photographs ;
- cast, performers and production team ;
- synopsis ;
- biographies of artists, with B&W headshots.

I now have 482 programmes for conteporary operas. I have scanned and uploaded all the covers in this flickr album.

New recordings of contemporary operas in my collection

I have recently acquired the following recordings of contemporary operas :

- Dominick Argento : Casanova's Homecoming, conducted by Peter Jacoby, Newport Classic, NPD 85673/2
- Gerald Barry : The Importance of Being Earnest, conducted by Thomas Adès, NMC D197
- Harold Blumenfeld : Seasons in Hell, conducted by Gerhard Samuel, Albany, Troy 262/63

- Michael Ching : A Midsummer Night's Dream, conducted by Curtis Tucker, Albany, Troy 1507/08
- Daniel Crozier : With Blood, With Ink, conducted by Timothy Myers, Albany, Troy 1513/14
- Scott Everly : The House of the Seven Gables, conducted by David Gilbert, Albany, Troy 447

- Lorenzo Ferrero : Mare Nostro, conducted by Gianfranco Masini, Ricordi, RFCD 2016
- Ricky Ian Gordon : A Coffin in Egypt, conducted by Timothy Myers, Albany, Troy 1500
- Lee Hoiby : A Month in the Country, conducted by Steven Osgood, Albany, Troy 747-748

- James MacMillan : Clemency, conducted by David Angus, Bis, Bis-2129
- Nico Muhly : Two Boys, conducted by David Robertson, Nonesuch, 7539-79560-2
- Thea Musgrave : An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge, conducted by the composer, NMC D167

- Richard Owen : Rain, conducted by Richard Owen Jr., Albany, Troy 623/24
- Krzysztof Penderecki : Ubu Rex, conducted by Jacek Kaspszyk, Accord, ACD 133-2
- William Grant Still : Highway One, USA, conducted by Philip Brunelle, Visionary Records, Vis 734

- Tan Dun : Marco Polo, conducted by Tan Dun, Sony, S2K 62912

- Judith Weir : The Vanishing Bridegroom, conducted by Martyn Brabbins, NMC D196
- Barbara White : Weakness, conducted by Michael Pratt, Albany, Troy 1441

It is a shame that the Albany company doesn't provide precise datas about the whereabouts of the recordings they publish (date, location, live or studio). I assume most recordings are from the first run of performances of these operas, but in several years, it might not be so easy to find information about that.