Out West Arts: Performance at the end of the world

Photo: LAO 2008

So the results are in on my recent 21st-century opera audio quiz, which turned out to be a tad more difficult overall than I imagined. But, nonetheless, from the many entries received the one with the most correct answers belonged to none other than the ever-knowledgeable and ever-present Henry Holland. Congratulations! Below is a link to the clues and the complete answers.

The Clues - Press to Play

The seven segments are as follows:

1. Appomattox by Philip Glass – Music from the opening of Act II

2. The Tempest by Thomas Adès – with Simon Keenlyside as Prospero and Cynthia Sieden as Ariel

3. Tea: A Mirror of Soul by Tan Dun – with Haijing Fu as Seikyo

4. Ainadamar by Osvaldo Golijov – with Dawn Upsahw as Margarita Xirgu and Jessica Rivera as Nuria

5. Doctor Atomic by John Adams – with Gerald Finley as J. Robert Oppenheimer

6. L'amour de Loin by Kaija Saariaho - with Dawn Upshaw as Clémence

7. Alice in Wonderland by Unsuk Chin – with Sally Matthews as Alice, Dietrich Henschel as The Mad Hatter, and Andrew Watts as The March Hare

So there you go, and a DVD of Chin’s Alice in Wonderland is on its way! And speaking of Alice in Wonderland, which was directed by the acclaimed Achim Freyer, one other note of interest came out of this weekend’s very uneven Los Angeles Opera season-opening performances. The programs and LAO’s website include some choice photos of Freyer and his team in rehearsal with local actors working out details of the new Das Rheingold and Die Walküre which will open here next spring. Although the captionless photos may not be exactly what we get in the end, it certainly makes some interesting suggestions towards a Ring that will certainly have a unique look if nothing else.

From the LAO press materials:

Photo: Monika Rittershaus/LAO 2008

Photo: Monika Rittershaus/LAO 2008

Photo: Monika Rittershaus/LAO 2008

From the 7/08 Freyer workshop (as well as above):

Photo: LAO 2008

Photo: LAO 2008