opera
Articles about opera:
Mirabile Mysterium – a operatic electronica performance by mael & Elena Doytcheva-Dragomir.
via maelmusician:
Music by: mael. Soprano: Elena Doytcheva-Dragomir (Bulgaria).
All orchestral parts are synth sounds played by: mael.
Recorded at Christmas concert 2008 in Elisabetin Church, Timisoara.
The New York City Opera has announced that American composer Charles Wuorinen has accepted the City Opera’s invitation to compose an opera based on Annie Proulx’s gay cowboy-themed short story Brokeback Mountain.
Mr. Wuorinen said, “Ever since encountering Annie Proulx’s extraordinary story I have wanted to make an opera on it, and it gives me great joy that Gerard Mortier and New York City Opera have given me the opportunity to do so.”
Mr. Wuorinen, who celebrates his 70th birthday today, June 9, won a Pulitzer Prize for his electronic work Time’s Encomium in 1970. He became the youngest composer ever to receive this award. Read more…
David Soldier’s American Most Unwanted Song is a horribly good piece of work that brings together everything that Americans hate musically, and combines them into one long song, frequently to hysterical effect.
By using market research with hundreds of people, Soldier determined that:
The most unwanted music is over 25 minutes long, veers wildly between loud and quiet sections, between fast and slow tempos, and features timbres of extremely high and low pitch, with each dichotomy presented in abrupt transition.
The most unwanted orchestra was determined to be large, and features the accordion and bagpipe (which tie at 13% as the most unwanted instrument), banjo, flute, tuba, harp, organ, synthesizer (the only instrument that appears in both the most wanted and most unwanted ensembles).
An operatic soprano raps and sings atonal music, advertising jingles, political slogans, and “elevator” music, and a children’s choir sings jingles and holiday songs.
The most unwanted subjects for lyrics are cowboys and holidays, and the most unwanted listening circumstances are involuntary exposure to commercials and elevator music.
Therefore, it can be shown that if there is no covariance—someone who dislikes bagpipes is as likely to hate elevator music as someone who despises the organ, for example—fewer than 200 individuals of the world’s total population would enjoy this piece.
Sprechstimme & kids rapping about Wal-Mart? What’s not to like?
Are you one of the 200?
Give it a listen, below, and let me know what you think!
via Dial “M” for Musicology; Image: miketheactuary
Neodrone – Extended Horizon
Extended Horizon is the debut release by Neodrone, a trio that makes music combining elements of electronica and classical music.
Neodrone is Magnus Tak, the composer/producer; Johanna E Martell, vocalist; and Brent Swarthout, lyricist. The three make music with a neoclassical symphonic electronica feel. Martell is classically trained and brings an operatic style to her vocals; Tak seems to be as comfortable exploring the Vangelis-style world of orchestral electronica as he is making techno grooves; even Swarthout’s lyrics have a classical quality about them.
Opera and electronica have a long history, ranging from the music of Philip Glass to Operatica to Malcolm McLaren’s take on Madam Butterfly to Eric Serra’s score for The Fifth Element. When done well, the mix can work stunningly, but locking an opera singer to a rigid beat can also deprive a vocalist of one of opera’s most important expressive elements – a fluid, rubato approach to rhythm.
Fortunately, Neodrone largely avoids the potential pitfalls of the combination and creates some attractive, expressive music on Extended Horizon. At its best, the electronic orchestrations and classical vocals play off each other perfectly, creating a blend that seems to extend the worlds of electronica and classical music both. Read more…
