A Conversation for The Operatic Way of Death

Dead Man Walking

Post 1

Phoenician Trader

The opera Dead Man Walking takes the extreme position by being completely about the death of the leading man. You don't even get to guess about the mode of expiry: electric chair.

You can belt out a great aria while being strapped into an executioner's chair.

smiley - lighthouse


Dead Man Walking

Post 2

Azara

That's not a work I knew anything about--I've just looked it up and it sounds very interesting. Its reception seems to have been exceptionally good for a new work. I'll watch out for it!

Azara
smiley - rose


Dead Man Walking

Post 3

(crazyhorse)impeach hypatia

who wrote this opera?


Dead Man Walking

Post 4

Azara

An American composer called Jake Heggie--it's very recent (by opera standards smiley - winkeye), from about the year 2000. It's the story that was made into the film of the same name, about a nun who visits a man on Death Row. All the reviews say that it's very poweful and moving, and the music seems to be very accessible, which is not always the case with modern operas. I'd certainly be keen, if it turns up somewhere I can see it.

Azara
smiley - rose
(I learned all that this morning, since this is the first I've heard of it!)


Dead Man Walking

Post 5

(crazyhorse)impeach hypatia

Thankyou for that but i'm sure tickets would be out of my price range.


Dead Man Walking

Post 6

Phoenician Trader

If you have any fondness for modern opera, the two I am recommending at the moment are Dead Man Walking and Flight. I was totally blown away by Dead Man Walking: it has the best libretto of any opera I know of - by miles and miles and miles.

Nobody dies in Flight.

smiley - lighthouse

PS: A good guide to the difficulties of writing libretti can be found in the (second) novel, The Cornish Trillogy by the Canadian Robertson Davies.


Dead Man Walking

Post 7

David B - Singing Librarian Owl

Ooh, I saw Flight on TV (I know, not the same as seeing it at the theatre, but I can't afford a trip to Glynedbourne, and I'd rather disgracefully prefer to see a musical comedy than an opera). It was wonderful stuff. It was some time ago, but I recall that it used a counter tenor, which is so rare these days.


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