OOPPERA SKAALA LEVYTTI GLASSIA

Philip Glassin kamariooppera A Madrigal Opera on levytetty ensimmäistä kertaa Helsinkiläisen Ooppera Skaalan esittämänä.

A Madrigal Opera on Glassin toinen ooppera Einstein on the Beachin (1975) jälkeen ja se on kantaesitetty Amsterdamissa vuonna 1980. Helsinkiläinen nykyoopperaan keskittynyt Ooppera Skaala esitti harvoin livenä kuultavan teoksen huhtikuussa 2009 Suomessa ja nyt oopperasta julkaistaan cd-levy. A Madrigal Opera on abstrakti musiikkiteos, kamariooppera kuudelle laulajalle, viululle ja alttoviululle.

Ooppera Skaalan ensemble: Tenori Petri Bäckström, mezzosopraano Satu Jaatinen, mezzosopraano Essi Luttinen, sopraano Laura Heinonen, baritoni Vikke Häkkinen, basso Riku Pelo. Viulua soittavat Max Savikangas ja Linda Hedlund.

Julkaistaan: 10. marraskuuta 2009

Levyn julkaisu / jakelu:
Orange Mountain Music worldwide distribution

Tilaa cd ennakkoon osoitteesta: toimisto@oopperaskaala.fi
Hinta 12,90 euroa + postikulut 1,60 euroa

Recent Customer Reviews:

YEAH! By Eric Mars
This truly IS an important Glass work. I'm elated!!! As the other reviewer says you can hear the seeds of Koyaanisqatsi (Pruit Igoe to be exact, but actually, more detailed, complex and emotional.) If you're a Glass devotee you're a bit jaded about new releases - so much repetition (ha ha). But this is truly glorious and different - it's not 'yet another soulless recording of Music in 14,257 parts' by any means. I would actually also have to put Naqoyqaatsi and EOTB Knee Play 5 in this family. It's PG without compromises and taking no prisoners. It's not decorative, it's not meant to prove you're smart. It's meant to move you. And it does. I give credit to the musicians - it's INCREDIBLY performed by musicians who truly understand the music. Very emotional. Not mechanical in the least. The non-initiated may hear squeaks on a chalkboard, those who understand. Will cry.

Seminal work by Occidental Guest
First off, kudos to Orange Mountain Music. Releases such as "Early Voice", "Juniper Tree", "Descent into the Maelstrom", and the re-issues of the two Alter Ego early-Glass CD's, are priceless. This recording brings us a step closer to having most of Glass's early and early-middle-period works on disc. (Would still love someone like Ensemble Alter Ego to perform and record some of the remaining--and presumably unrecorded--early works, such as "Music in Eight Parts", "Head On", "Two Down", "Another Look at Harmony Part 3", or any of the Mabou Mines theater music.) Compositionally, Madrigal recalls, in certain passages, "The Photographer" and "Koyaanisqatsi"-- though the vocal parts in Madrigal are more subdued than in either of those works, and the absence of winds and keyboards creates a leaner, more stark overall texture. This is the lyrical, melancholic, elegant Glass of "Mishima" and "Facades", as well. In other words, it sounds exactly like the period in which it was composed, and for that, I love every note of it.

Glass second opera after Einstein and before Satyagraha by Richard G.
A Madrigal Opera dates from 1980 and is Philip Glass' second "opera" although it lacks a narrative and text. What makes it different from Einstein on the Beach is that it even lacks a subject. Scored for a traditional madrigal ensemble of six singers with the accompaniment of a solo violin or solo viola, the piece exists as a musical creation meant to inspire future directors and writers to create a piece in and around it.
The music is like the music Glass was writing at that time: exciting because of his new post-minimalist thoughts on "putting back" expressive elements of music after having stripped music down to its very basic elements. The result is still very stripped down, but fantastically expressive and moving. The performance by the Finnish Ooppera Skaala is wonderful.

Finally Recorded! by OgreOgress productions
Having performed "The State of the Tibetan Nation: A Madrigal Opera" many times with Christina Fong in the late 1990s, it is wonderful to finally hear this little-known but very important Glass work on disc. I wish that we had been allowed to record our version back in the late 1990s when we performed it on a regular basis for a 2-year period throughout the midwest and Canada (Canadian premiere at Open Ears Festival). This is some of the finest solo string writing of Glass's early career. One can hear the seeds of Koyaanisqatsi (in the solo viola movement) along with a unique choral writing style soon to be heard in Satyagraha.

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ENSI-ILTA 21.4.2009

PHILIP GLASS - LAURI OTONKOSKI

A Madrigal Opera - Cameo. Sinfoninen runo

"Kaikki ihmiset ovat saaria.
Vain meri autuas yksinään."

Philip Glassin harvoin esitetty kamariooppera ”A Madrigal Opera” ja runoilija Lauri Otonkosken ”Cameo, Sinfoninen runo” yhdistyvät Ooppera Skaalan kevään tuotannossa. Teoksen keskeisiä teemoja ovat itsensä etsiminen, löytäminen ja matka sekä uteliaisuus, pelko ja ahneus. Mitä on olla tuuliajolla keskellä elämää?

Hyväksy matka, anna ajatusten harhailla; vastaus ei ehkä löydykään odotuksen kohteena olevasta maasta vaan odotuksesta, matkasta itsestään. Kun maa lopulta löytyy, ei se tunnuenää tärkeältä.

Sävellys: Philip Glass
Tekstit: Lauri Otonkoski
Ohjaus: Janne Lehmusvuo
Musiikinjohto: Jari Hiekkapelto
Ohjaajan assistentti: Benita Laakso
Valosuunnittelu: Harri Peltonen
Äänisuunnittelu: Timo Muurinen
Koreografia: Thomas Freundlich
Puvustaja: Tyra Therman
Maskeeraus: Riina Laine
Valokuvat: Jussi Aalto

Petri Bäckström, tenori
Essi Luttinen, mezzosopraano
Vikke Häkkinen, baritoni
Laura Heinonen, sopraano
Satu Jaatinen, mezzosopraano
Riku Pelo, baritoni
Max Savikangas, alttoviulu
Linda Hedlund, viulu
Thomas Freundlich, tanssija
Tanja Kuisma, tanssija

Kamariooppera
Ensi-ilta 21.4. klo 19.30 Astoria salissa
Iso-Roobertinkatu 14, Helsinki
Liput 11/16 euroa ennakkoon www.lippu.fi

Esitykset:
keskiviikkona 22.4. klo 19.30
torstaina 23.4. klo 19.30
perjantaina 24.4. klo 19.30
maanantaina 27.4. klo 19.30

Kuvia esityksestä.

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PHILIP GLASS - LAURI OTONKOSKI

A Madrigal Opera - Cameo. A Symphonic Poem

"All people are islands.
Only the ocean blessed alone."

Skaala Opera Helsinki's latest production brings together Philip Glass' rarely performed chamber work A Madrigal Opera and poet Lauri Otonkoski's symphonic poem Cameo. The themes of the work include searching for and finding oneself, traveling, as well as curiosity, fear and greed. What does it mean to be adrift in the midst of life?

Accept the journey, let your thoughts wander; the answer may not be at the long awaited destination, but in the waiting; the trip itself. When land is found at last, it no longer feels important. 

Music: Philip Glass
Text: Lauri Otonkoski
Direction: Janne Lehmusvuo
Music direction: Jari Hiekkapelto
Director's assistant: Benita Laakso
Lighting design: Harri Peltonen
Sound design: Timo Muurinen
Choreography: Thomas Freundlich
Costumes: Tyra Therman
Make-up: Kukka Silius

Petri Bäckström, tenor
Essi Luttinen, mezzo-soprano
Vikke Häkkinen, baritone
Laura Heinonen, soprano
Satu Jaatinen, mezzo-soprano
Riku Pelo, baritone
Max Savikangas, viola
Linda Hedlund, violin
Thomas Freundlich, dancer
Tanja Kuisma, dancer

A chamber opera
Premiere April 21st, 2009 at 7.30 pm
Astoria hall, Iso-Roobertinkatu 14, Helsinki, Finland
Tickets 11/16 euros, advance reservations at www.lippu.fi

Subsequent performances:
Wed, April 22, 2009
Thu, April 23, 2009
Fri, April 24, 2009
Mon, April 27, 2009

All performances at 7.30 pm.

Pictures of A Madrigal Opera taken by Jussi Aalto

Internationally touring productions:

"A Madrigal Opera", composed by Philip Glass, texts by Lauri Otonkoski

”Turing Machine”, composed by Eeppi Ursin and Visa Oscar, libretto by Taina Seitovirta based on the play by Miko Jaakkola and Jussi Lehtonen

”Fitness Light Opera”, composed by Kirmo Lintinen, libretto by Veli-Pekka Hänninen, libretto translated in English by Taina Seitovirta