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.

Today : world première of Ravi Shankar's 'Sukanya' in Leicester

Today, the Royal Opera House, the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Curve Theatre in Leicester presents the posthumous world première of Ravi Shankar's opera Sukanya, with a libretto by Amit Chaudhuri based on the Mahabharata.

The score has been completed by David Murphy.

After a terrible mistake leaves the ancient sage Chyavana blinded, the beautiful princess Sukanya finds herself marrying for the sake of her kingdom. As a pair of swaggering, meddling gods watch this unlikely union blossom, will love grow in the strangest of circumstances ? (reproduced from the Curve Theatre website)

The cast includes soprano Susanna Hurrell  (Sukanya), tenor Alok Kumar (Chyayana), bass baritone Keel Watson (King Shaariyati), baritone Njabulo Madlala and baritone Michel de Souza (Aswini Twins). David Murphy conducts the BBC Singers and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Suba Das directs.

After the first performance in Leicester, it will be presented in Salford (The Lowry), Birmingham (Symphony Hall) and London (Royal Festival Hall).