Modern/contemporary opera, youtube/DVD/CD

Started by ComposerOfAvantGarde, June 15, 2017, 05:02:56 PM

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ComposerOfAvantGarde

Just wanting to create a thread where people can share thoughts on recordings, or bring to light any recordings of operas composed in the last several decades.

To start with something relatively more conventional for an opera company to produce, here is a recording of Reimann's Medea, an opera I really enjoy.



And I am wondering if anyone knows of any operas by Reimann available on DVD? Also Henze? Any news about future recordings of Adès's recent opera?

kishnevi

Using just the name Henze as a search​ term on Amazon US yields a few operas, plus Ondine and a documentary and a few other things, not all of them relevant to Hans Werner.
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Dmovies-tv&field-keywords=Henze

Similar search reveals three Riemann operas: Lear, Medea and Gespenstersonate.

BTW, remember that DVD of Henze's Young Lord? I've been back to that store, and I was reminded of the main reason I didn't get it,:. The asking price is $19.99, the most expensive single DVD in the store (most of them are priced at $7.99 or $9.99).

ComposerOfAvantGarde

Aaaahhghdijhfblf they used to have the entire opera of this up on youtube but alas it must have been taken down.

Highly recommend checking this one out for contemporary opera lovers out there. The Navigator by Australian composer Liza Lim.

Here is an excerpt

https://www.youtube.com/v/71heBP8y5Lg

ComposerOfAvantGarde


ComposerOfAvantGarde

I posted this on the Listening thread but I also think it would be appropriate here for further discussion:





I don't know too much about American opera, but thanks to our friend nathanb I have become very interested in the very intriguing works of Robert Ashley.

This is an opera called 'Concrete' and from his own website it gives this information:

QuoteConcrete follows from Robert Ashley's preoccupation in two previous operas with the kind of speech that has not been explored in opera — in Dust, the speech of the homeless; in Celestial Excursions, the speech of people living together in a home for old people. The three operas are not a "trilogy" in any sense, but they all come from this preoccupation with or fascination with special kinds of speech and special kinds of states of mind.

"The characters I'm interested in," Ashley explains, "are marginal, because everybody is marginal compared to the stereotypes. I am interested in their profoundly good qualities, and I'm not interested at all in evil. The characters in my work are as bizarre and unreal as the characters in William Faulkner. They just happen to be ordinary people who are spiritually divine." (The Wire, 2003).

Though in Concrete it is not made explicit in any way, the libretto might be considered to be the "musings" of an old man alone. He thinks about strange questions and even as the questions are asked they are answered in various forms of sarcasm, indifference, questions about the questions and explanations. In other words, he is talking to himself.

The opera takes the form of five "discussions" about matters he wonders about: Why do people keep secrets about themselves? Why do the buildings in the city all line up perfectly (vertically) when the surface of the planet is round? Why is it that so many things that people do as recreation are played counter-clockwise? What has happened to the many women friends ("lovers") he has had and "left behind" and why were they left behind? And, finally, the fact that he has recently seen a "flying carpet" (in his bedroom.)

The five "internal" discussions alternate with four reminiscences about people the old man has worked with and loved. The reminiscences are short and detailed biographies of seemingly ordinary people who in the past did extraordinary things — sometimes criminal, sometimes just brave in an unusual way — but will never be recognized for what they did. The stories will never be known, except to the audience. No one is named. These are secret lives.

The singers in the opera are not "characters" in any traditional way. They take part in the very fast "discussions" sections as voices in the old man's musings. Then each of the singers is given one of the "biographies" as a solo aria.

The musical technique of the opera allows the singers, in ensemble and as soloists, complete freedom with regard to vocal pitch, speech nuance and inflection. The opera will be sung differently in every performance. The orchestra, recorded in the computer, is made up of some hundreds of composed, short orchestral "samples" which can be chosen at the moment to make up the accompaniment to the singers' decisions about how to tell the story. In short, every performance, but based on the same libretto, will be different.

Listening on youtube here:

https://www.youtube.com/v/SFWYrAVAXrg


I am sure there are other American opera fans here who know more about his works than I do. It would be interesting to hear your thoughts, especially if you have seen any productions live. :)

ComposerOfAvantGarde

Does anyone know if there will be any upcoming recordings of the new Pinocchio opera from Aix-en-Provence? Just read a review here, sounds like it would have been really remarkable.
https://www.ft.com/content/ee1a8584-60a3-11e7-8814-0ac7eb84e5f1

ritter

#6
Cross-posted from the "New releases" thread:

Quote from: ritter on July 10, 2017, 05:32:38 AM
...


Michaël Levinas (son of the philosopher Emmanuel)  is a very interesting composer IMHO, apart from being a gifted pianist (his recording of the complete Beethoven sonatas is highly regarded, and I was very impressed when I heard him play No. 14 and No. 32 live here in Madrid some three years ago). He already has several operas in his output, including a great adaptation of Jean Genet's Les Nègres, as well as a work based on Kafka's The Metamorphosis).

This apparently is the first opera in French to be based on Saint-Exupèry's Le petit prince, and was well received at its world premiere in Lausanne in 2014 (followed by performances in Lille, Paris and Geneva).
The recording was released in June by the Swiss label Claves.

This is the recording of Les Nègres (not that easy to obtain these days, I'm afraid):

[asin]B00103E3NQ[/asin]

...and here La Métamporphose (on the Aeon label):

[asin]B007RYSWGQ[/asin]

Another opera, Go-gol, based on short stories by (you guessed it  ;) ) Nikolai Gogol, has not been recorded AFAIK.

ritter

Yet another major living operatic composer not mentioned so far in this thread: Péter Eötvös.

He's written quite a few stage works, most of the based on rather well known literary works (e.g., Tony Kushner's Angels in America or Jean Genet's Le balcon). AFAIK, three have been recorded and released on CD (I just bought Lilith yesterday).

[asin]B00002R2SW[/asin] [asin]B007BJOM3Y[/asin]
Three Sisters (based on Chekhov, and sung in Russian) was very successful when premiered in Lyon in the late 90s under Kent Nagano (the years this man was at the helm of the Lyon Opéra were very productive, and documented un many quite wonderful recordings). This is a mysterious, fascinating piece. Both releases are of the same recording (DG licensed it to the Budapest Music Center).

[asin]B00EZWNJVG[/asin]
This is based on Gabriel García Márquez's novel, and was a commission from the Glyndebourne festival. Perhaps mor conventionally operatic, and not as stunning as the previous one, but still quite effective. The composer presented the CD edition here in Madrid (the night before he conducted a concert of Kontra-Punkte, the first two Improvisations sur Mallarmé and two of his own works, Steine and Sonata per sei--a wonderful program!!!!), and he was kind enough to inscribe a copy of the CDs to me.  :)

[asin]B01HJ3E3BC[/asin]
This Paradise Reloaded [Lilith] is a reworking of an earlier opera called Die Tragödie des Teufels, and turns the mythical first wife of Adam into the leading rôle. I'lll report once I've listened to it.




Wendell_E

Quote from: ritter on July 20, 2017, 11:10:08 PM
Yet another major living operatic composer not mentioned so far in this thread: Péter Eötvös.

He's written quite a few stage works, most of the based on rather well known literary works (e.g., Tony Kushner's Angels in America or Jean Genet's Le balcon). AFAIK, three have been recorded and released on CD (I just bought Lilith yesterday).


There's a youtube video of the world-premiere production of  Angels in America:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YB5YbyzRgok
"Never argue with an idiot. They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience." ― Mark Twain

Spineur

#9
This arrived in the mail today



2017 has been the year were I dicovered Philippe Hersant, a genuinely inspired composer which music is accessible to anybody who likes Francis Poulenc or Benjamin Britten.  He may be qualified a postmodernist romantic.  The strongest work of his I have listened to so far is "instants limites" a choral work on text expressing the loss of freedom written by inmate of clairvaux prison.

This opera is based on a novel of Jules Verne.  As expected it creates a slightly frightening and mysterious  athmospere reminiscent of Bartok Bluebeard castle.  The characters are archetypes of the genre: the bad guy a basse, the good one a tenor the innocent victim a soprano.  The orchestra is small compared to the one used in most opera.  The music reminds me also of Martinu Julietta, mysterious and "envoutante".

ComposerOfAvantGarde

Been semi aware of the Eötvös works for a while, maybe I should really check some out soon. Nice to know those recordings exist, ritter. :)

pjme

#11
Philippe Boesmans "Pinocchio" was on (untill last Saturday) in Brussels De Munt / La Monnaie (we are a bilingual country...).

Teaser: https://youtu.be/vsjjdt5LsSo


'It's natural to think that Pinocchio has always existed; it is impossible to imagine the world without him.' Italo Calvino put it well: we all know that stubborn, deceitful, but endearing puppet. In Joel Pommerat's hands, Pinocchio becomes a rebellious boy who throws himself into the world in search of happiness, impatient and driven by his own untamable impulses. In his stage adaptation of Carlo Collodi's original story, Pommerat avoids any moralising tone or simplistic approach. On the contrary, he underlines the modernity and richness of the original text. Following their successful cooperation on Au monde, the composer Philippe Boesmans will once again give Pommerat's characters a voice. He will pull out all the stops to present the many layers of the Pinocchio story with all its musical aspects. Perhaps we, too, young and old, look forward to this new work just as impatiently as Pinocchio.

Read more (in English) at : https://www.lamonnaie.be/en/program/422-pinocchio

and

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/07/arts/music/pinocchio-opera-monnaie-brussels.html?mcubz=0

De Munt made a documentary about Philippe Boesmans :

Pinocchio, a new opera by Philippe Boesmans, will be the first production to be seen on our newly renovated stage. A team from La Monnaie has followed the Belgian composer for more than a year. With his cooperation, they take a look at his extraordinary career, from his home town, Tongeren, to rehearsals for Pinocchio in Aix. This documentary, which includes musical excerpts and interviews with the composer's friends, will now be shown for the first time. The perfect appetiser for his long-awaited new work.

Here is Pinocchio : https://youtu.be/EiYEWW8C2k4


pjme

#12
A few random suggestions... there is an enormous amount of new works, large & small, highly professional and (semi) amateur(ish):

In Amsterdam:

https://youtu.be/WWsbvuvP-C4

Kaija Saariahos "Only the Sound Remains"


Ivan Fischer as opera composer:

https://youtu.be/JtjXVPeOt24
The Red Heifer (A Vörös Tehén)

From Belgium: composer Frank Nuyts / Noite inquieta

https://youtu.be/ZlcaTGnIWEI

Louis Andriessen: Theatre of the world

https://youtu.be/GHNFuZkRU2k



Germany: Christian Jost  (https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Jost_(Musiker))

https://youtu.be/khkfdEHto_8

France: Philippe Manoury

https://youtu.be/yiIgD1eeAMU

Wuorinen/Brokeback mountain in Salzburg:

https://youtu.be/6iH3h5OaPMg

Benoit Mernier: Frühlingserwachen

https://youtu.be/EQWraYaQNLM

Klas Torstensson (Sweden/the Netherlands): ex.: https://youtu.be/pbeTPISWHvo







pjme

#13
2015:

Pornopera - live at Frascati, Amsterdam, 16 september 2015
Opera by Sanne van Rijn and Huba de Graaff,  with Hans Dagelet, Soetkin Demey, Eva Tebbe and Ekaterina Levental.

https://www.youtube.com/v/Wzs-HxCMxag

And Belgian Joris Blanckaert (possibly your age?) :

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUbjymfz41J0OMkq1lZRcGw/featured