Opera omnia.
Opera omnia.
New operas and music-theater works are busting out all over… plus, recommended musical events for the week ahead.
In Philadelphia, tonight is opening night for The Listeners, the most recent operatic collaboration by composer Missy Mazzoli and librettist Royce Vavrek, at Opera Philadelphia. The production is staged by Lileana Blain-Cruz, an imaginative, inquisitive theater artist who made her Metropolitan Opera debut last season with the extravagantly inventive El Niño. And, thanks in part to a generous initiative that saw every ticket in the house priced at just $11 – yes, you read that correctly – this fascinating new opera is playing to full houses for its American premiere, tonight, Friday night, and Sunday afternoon. A few tickets might still be available; best to call ahead.
Tomorrow night, in Richmond, VA, What Belongs to You, a new opera by composer David T. Little with a libretto adapted by Garth Greenwell from his debut novel of the same name, has its world premiere at the University of Richmond’s Modlin Center for the Arts. The opera involves just one singer, tenor Karim Sulayman, performing with Alarm Will Sound and conductor Alan Pierson.
I had the extreme privilege and pleasure of hearing Sulayman sing a substantial stretch of the work for director/choreographer Mark Morris in Brooklyn a few months ago, and was deeply moved by this ravishing, ambiguous, and frankly erotic creation. A second performance is scheduled for Saturday, preceded by a panel discussion on Friday; I hope and assume a local production will materialize.
For more, here’s a gift link for a feature published in The New York Times.
Meanwhile, here in New York City: Grounded, by composer Jeanine Tesori and playwright George Brant, continues its New York City premiere run at the Metropolitan Opera this week. Indra’s Web, not an opera per se but a dramatic work of music and dance theater by Meredith Monk, is running at the Park Avenue Armory.
Also in the not-opera-but-still category, singer, songwriter, composer, and general polymath Gabriel Kahane is presenting two staged song cycles directed by Annie Tippe, Magnificent Bird and Book of Travelers, in rotation at Playwright’s Horizons, open now and running through Oct. 13.
And tomorrow night at National Sawdust, Silent Light, a new opera by composer Paola Prestini and librettist Royce Vavrek, begins a run of four performances only. The first night is sold out, but you might still stand a chance at getting in this weekend. You’ll find details and links in the listings below.
I’ve not seen Grounded or Indra’s Net and am uncertain whether I’ll get to, so right now I’m avoiding reviews; you know where to look if you want them.
[Mandatory disclaimer: Paola Prestini was my employer for my three-year term editing and writing National Sawdust Log, 2016–2020.]
The Night After Night Watch.
Concerts listed in Eastern Standard Time.
NOTAFLOF = no one turned away for lack of funds.
25
Peter Evans
Glass Box Theatre, The New School
55 W. 13th St., Greenwich Village
Wednesday, Sept. 25–Saturday, Sept. 28 at 8:30pm; $20 cash only
thestonenyc.com
Iconoclastic improvising trumpeter, composer, and bandleader Peter Evans comes to The New School for a four-night Stone residency. Evans opens tonight unaccompanied, performs on Thursday night with his trio Pulverize the Sound, plays duos with percussionist Cyro Baptista on Friday night, and closes on Saturday with Symphony, a quartet of flutist Alice Teyssier, bassist Nick Joz, and Levy Lorenzo on percussion and electronics.
Gabriel Kahane
Playwrights Horizons
416 W. 42nd St.; Midtown West
Wednesday, Sept. 25–Friday, Sept. 27 at 7pm; Saturday, Sept. 28 at 5 & 8pm; through Oct. 13; $53.50–$78.50
playwrightshorizons.org
A poetic observer of the human condition circa now with a post-Romantic ear, a cartographer’s attention to detail, and a knack for turning phrases at once catchy and profound, Gabriel Kahane settles into Playwrights Horizons to perform staged versions of two recent song cycles in alternation: Book of Travelers, his extraordinary diary of a coast-to-coast train trek, and Magnificent Bird, a collection of musical portraits from near the end of a yearlong retreat from the internet. And mark your calendar now: Trinity Church Wall Street has announced the long-anticipated NYC premiere of emergency shelter intake form, the trenchant oratorio Kahane wrote for the Oregon Symphony, on Oct. 24 at 7pm; details here.
Meredith Monk
Park Avenue Armory
643 Park Ave.; Upper East Side
Wednesday, Sept. 25 at 7:30pm, through Oct. 6; $135–$185
armoryonpark.org
The esteemed singer, composer, choreographer, and all-around innovator Meredith Monk presents the North American premiere of Indra’s Net, an extensive work for her Vocal Ensemble with a 16-piece orchestra and eight additional vocalists. The third part of a trilogy begun with On Behalf of Nature and Cellular Songs, this new work is inspired by a Buddhist/Hindu legend, and is meant to illustrate the preciousness of interconnectedness.
26
Silent Light
National Sawdust
80 N. 6th Street; Williamsburg
Thursday, Sept. 26–Saturday, Sept. 28 at 7pm, Sunday, Sept. 29 at 4pm; $80.66–$85.66
nationalsawdust.org
National Sawdust inaugurates its 10th-anniversary season with the New York City premiere of Silent Light, a new opera by NS co-founder Paola Prestini with a libretto by Royce Vavrek. Based on the ambiguous yet luminous 2007 Carlos Reygadas film, the opera tells a story of intimacy, infidelity, and a search for redemption in a close-knit Mennonite community in Mexico. An impressive cast includes Anthony Dean Griffey, Maggie Lattimore, Daniel Okulitch, Julia Mintzer, and Brittany Renee; Christopher Rountree conducts NOVUS NY, and the staging is directed by Thaddeus Strassberger. Due to mature themes, nudity, and simulated intimacy, attendance is for adults only.
27
Everloving
La Plaza Cultural de Armando Perez Community Garden
9th St & Ave C (southwest corner); Lower East Side
Friday, Sept. 27 at 6:30pm; free admission
lungsnyc.org
It takes a lot for an NYC band to qualify as a supergroup, but the Henry Flynt homage quartet Everloving – drummer Jonathan Kane (La Monte Young, Swans), violinist Dave Soldier (Soldier String Quartet), and Sunwatchers guitarist Jim McHugh and bassist Peter Kerlin – certainly qualifies. This free early-evening set is presented under the aegis of the 13th annual LUNGS (Loisaida United Neighborhood Gardens) Harvest Arts Festival; for more details, look here.
Grounded
Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center
70 Lincoln Center Plaza; Upper West Side
Friday, Sept. 27 at 6:30pm, through Oct. 19; $35–$460
metopera.org
The Metropolitan Opera opens its 2024–25 season with the local premiere of Grounded, the new opera by composer Jeanine Tesori with a libretto by George Brant, based on his award-winning play. The excellent Canadian mezzo Emily D’Angelo portrays a military fighter pilot forced by unexpected pregnancy to transition to a ground-based drone unit. The play is a powerful meditation on modern warfare, with lines that practically sing off the page. Michael Mayer’s production involves extensive use of video screens – certainly appropriate given details of the story – and Met music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts all performances apart from Oct. 5, led by Steven Osgood. (If you don’t mind spoilers, the New York Times review of last year’s Washington National Opera premiere is here, and a discussion with Tesori and Brant about what’s been changed for the Met, also from the Times, is here.)
1
Either/Or
Miller Theatre, Columbia University
2960 Broadway; Upper West Side
Tuesday, Oct. 1 at 6pm; free admission
millertheatre.com
The intrepid new-music ensemble Either/Or returns to Miller Theatre for a casual free pop-up event featuring the New York premiere of L'Algérie, a substantial work composed by ensemble director Richard Carrick weaving together Arabic and Cantoral melodies of his maternal Algerian heritage.
More vital directories of new-music destinations:
Find even more events in Night After Night Watch: The Master List, here.
Photographs by Steve Smith, except where indicated.