Facing Goya (
2000See also:* 2000 in music Record labels established in 2000-Events:*January - Gary Glitter is released from jail, two months before his sentence for sexual offences ends.*January 1**John Tavener is knighted in the New Year's Honours List....
) is an
operaOpera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score. Opera is part of the Western classical music tradition. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
in four acts by
Michael NymanMichael Laurence Edward Nyman, CBE is an English composer of minimalist music, pianist, librettist and musicologist, perhaps best known for the many movie scores he wrote during his lengthy collaboration with the filmmaker Peter Greenaway, and his multi-platinum soundtrack album to Jane Campion's...
on a
librettoA libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, sacred or secular oratorio and cantata, musical, and ballet. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata.Libretto ,...
by Victoria Hardie. It is an expansion of their one-act opera called
Vital Statistics from 1987, dealing with such subjects as
physiognomyPhysiognomy is the assessment of a person's character or personality from their outer appearance, especially the face...
and its practitioners, and also incorporates a musical motif from Nyman's
art songAn art song is a vocal music composition, usually written for one voice with piano or orchestral accompaniment. By extension, the term "art song" is used to refer to the genre of such songs....
, "The Kiss", inspired by a
Paul RichardsPaul Richards may refer to:* Paul Richards * Paul Richards , baseball player, manager, scout and executive* Paul Richards , American actor who starred in the ABC-TV 1963-64 series Breaking Point...
paintingPainting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . In art, the term describes both the act and the result, which is called a painting. Paintings may have for their support such surfaces as walls, paper, canvas, wood, glass, lacquer, clay or concrete...
. Nyman also considers the work thematically tied to his other works,
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a HatThe Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat is a one-act chamber opera by Michael Nyman to an English-language libretto by Christopher Rawlence, adapted from the case study of the same name by Oliver Sacks by Nyman, Rawlence, and Michael Morris...
,
The OgreThe Ogre is a 1996 film based on the 1970 French novel by Michel Tournier, Le Roi des aulnes...
, and
GattacaGattaca is a 1997 science fiction drama film written and directed by Andrew Niccol, starring Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman and Jude Law with supporting roles played by Loren Dean, Ernest Borgnine, Gore Vidal and Alan Arkin...
, though he does not quote any of these musically, save a very brief passage of the latter. It was premièred at the Auditorio de Galicia, Santiago de Compostela, Spain on August 3, 2000. The revision with the cast heard on the album premirered at the Badisches Straatstheater in
KarlsruheKarlsruhe is a city in the south west of Germany, in the Bundesland Baden-Württemberg, located near the French-German border....
,
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
, on October 19, 2002.
Vital Statistics has been withdrawn. The Santiago version included more material from
Vital Statistics.
The expanded opera deals with the
elitismElitism is the belief or attitude that those individuals who are considered members of the elite—a select group of people with outstanding personal abilities, intellect, wealth, specialized training or experience, or other distinctive attributes—are those whose views on a matter are to...
and
prejudiceA prejudice is a preconceived belief, opinion or judgment especially toward a group of people characterized by their race, social class, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age or religion...
of various movements in pseudosciences and
art criticismArt criticism is the discussion or evaluation of visual art.Art critics usually criticize art in the context of aesthetics or the theory of beauty...
, wrapped around a thread of a desire to make a clone of
Francisco GoyaFrancisco José de Goya y Lucientes was a Spanish painter and printmaker regarded both as the last of the Old Masters and as the first of the moderns. Goya was a court painter to the Spanish Crown and a chronicler of history...
through use of his long-lost
skullIn humans, the adult skull is normally made up of 29 bones. Except for the mandible, all of the bones of the skull are joined together by sutures, synarthrodial joints formed by bony ossification, with Sharpey's fibres permitting some flexibility....
, which he hid from the likes of
Paul BrocaPierre Paul Broca was a French physician, anatomist, and anthropologist. He was born in Sainte-Foy-la-Grande, Gironde...
, and which the Art Banker finds under a floorboard in a "
degenerate artDegenerate art is the English translation of the German entartete Kunst, a term adopted by the Nazi regime in Germany to describe virtually all modern art. Such art was banned on the grounds that it was un-German or Jewish Bolshevist in nature, and those identified as degenerate artists were...
" gallery in Act II. This skull is the object of numerous fights in the second and third acts, often with one character snatching it from another. The opera is non-realistic in its presentation, with only one through-character, the Art Banker. Indeed, when Goya does appear, it is not the result of cloning, but a purely fantastical device. Four other performers play different roles in each section who are thematically connected. In addition, two
actorAn actor or actress is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
s are called for in non-speaking roles. The Art Banker also speaks narration into a
dictaphoneDictaphone was an American company, a producer of dictation machines—sound recording devices most commonly used to record speech for later playback or to be typed into print. The name "Dictaphone" is a trademark, but in some places it has also become a common way to refer to all such devices, and...
, but this was omitted from the studio recording, though the lines are reprinted in the booklet.
Roles
- Art Banker, a widow
A widow is a woman whose spouse has died. A man whose spouse has died is a widower. The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed widowhood or viduity. The adjective is widowed.-Economic position of widows:...
(contraltoIn music, a contralto is a type of classical female singing voice with a vocal range somewhere between a tenor and a mezzo-soprano. The term is used to refer to the deepest female singing voice. The typical contralto range lies between the F below middle C to two Fs above middle C...
), loves Goya, but is corrupted by money. She foolishly wants to patent Goya's talent gene. Despite this, she is the most charismatic and sympathetic figure of the satireSatire is often strictly defined as a literary genre or form; although in practice it is also found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, human or individual vices, follies, abuses, or shortcomings are held up to censure by means of ridicule, derision, burlesque, irony, or other methods,...
. She is a time tripper. An art banker is a person who deals in exchange of famous artworks among museums. This character is currently a specialist in the work of Goya.
- Soprano
A soprano is a singing voice with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music...
1 (coloraturaColoratura has several meanings. The word derives from the Italian colorare or colorazione ....
), obsessed with science, she lives in her head, and is the one who ultimately cracks the human genome. (CraniometristCraniometry is the technique of measuring the bones of the skull.It is distinct from phrenology, the study of personality and character, and physiognomy, the study of facial features...
1, Eugenicist/Art Critic 1, MicrobiologistA microbiologist is a scientist who works in the field of microbiology. Microbiologists study organisms called microbes. Microbes can take the form of bacteria, viruses, fungi, and protists...
). At one point she nearly chokes herself with a tape measure, but continues to sing.
- Soprano 2 (lyric
A soprano is a singing voice with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music...
), unhappy indvidualist who sees the dangers of racismRacism is the belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race. In the case of institutional racism, certain racial groups may be denied rights or benefits, or get preferential treatment...
in gene control. She is opposed to cloning and State ownership of genetic readouts. She does not believe that recreating a person recreates that person's talent. (Craniometery Assistant 2, Art Critic 2, GeneticGenetics, , a discipline of biology, is the science of heredity and variation in living organisms. The fact that living things inherit traits from their parents has been used since prehistoric times to improve crop plants and animals through selective breeding...
ResearchResearch can be defined to be search for knowledge or any systematic investigation to establish facts. The primary purpose for applied research is discovering, interpreting, and the development of methods and systems for the advancement of human knowledge on a wide variety of scientific matters of...
DoctorA physician — also known as medical practitioner, doctor of medicine, medical doctor, or simply doctor — practices the ancient profession of medicine, which is concerned with maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease or injury...
)
- Tenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
, a shallow opportunist who believes eugenic theories are reflected in art. His greed leads him to want to make the first laboratory cloned human. A product of genetic engineering himself, he expresses his arrogance in the arietta, "I am an oil painting". (Craniometry Assistant 1, Eugenicist/Art Critic 3, Chief Executive of a Bio-TechBiotechnology is technology based on biology, agriculture, food science, and medicine. Modern use of the term usually refers to genetic engineering as well as cell- and tissue culture technologies...
Company)
- Baritone
Baritone is a type of classical male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek βαρύτονος, meaning 'deep sounding', music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second G below middle C to the F above...
, he doesn't agree with anyone, and they don't like him. He is humorous and self-deprecating, fatalistic, and thinks little of the uniqueness in humankind. (Craniometrist 2, Art Critic 4, Genetic Academic, Francisco Goya)
Soldiers, apparition of Goya, craniometry interns, porters, lab technicians.
Setting
The play moves through three times and places (act 3 and 4 are the same location weeks apart, and all but the baritone remain the same character). The libretto calls for "a Goyaesque landscape of bare branches with
bloodyBloody is the adjectival form of blood but may also be used as an expletive attributive in Australia, Britain, Ireland, Canada, South East Asia, New Zealand, and Sri Lanka...
clothes hanging off them, and
stonesIn geology, rock is a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids.The Earth's outer solid layer, the lithosphere, is made of rock. In general rocks are of three types, namely, igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic...
jutting out of the
earthEarth is the third planet from the Sun. It is the fifth largest of the eight planets in the solar system, and the largest of the terrestrial planets in the Solar System in terms of diameter, mass and density...
like gravestones, in the manner of a
charcoalCharcoal is the blackish residue consisting of impure carbon obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from animal and vegetation substances. Charcoal is usually produced by slow pyrolysis, the heating of wood, sugar, bone char, or other substances in the absence of oxygen...
drawingDrawing is a visual art that makes use of any number of drawing instruments to mark a two-dimensional medium. Common instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, inked brushes, wax color pencils, crayons, charcoals, chalk, pastels, markers, stylus, or various metals like silverpoint...
."
ProjectionA slide projector is an opto-mechanical device to view photographic slides. It has four main elements: a fan-cooled electric incandescent light bulb or other light source, a reflector and "condensing" lens to direct the light to the slide, a holder for the slide and a focusing lens...
s of art and diagrams are used throughout the production.
Costumes
The Genetic Research Doctor (Soprano 2) "wears
jeansJeans are pants, or trousers, made from denim. Mainly designed for work, they became popular among teenagers starting in the 1950s. Historic brands include Levi's and Wrangler....
and a sparkly
T-shirtA T-shirt is a shirt which is pulled on over the head to cover most of a person's torso. A T-shirt is usually buttonless, collarless, and pocketless, with a round neck and short sleeves. The sleeves of the T-shirt extend at least slightly over the shoulder but not completely over the elbow...
".
The Genetic Academic (Baritone) "wears
bicycle clipsBicycle clips may refer to:* Trouser clips* Pedal Clips...
and a
helmetA helmet is a form of protective gear worn on the head to protect it from injuries, a variation of the hat. The oldest known use of helmets was by Assyrian soldiers in 900BC, who wore thick leather or bronze helmets to protect the head from sword blows and arrows...
".
The Microbiologist (Soprano 1) "wears a thigh length zip top,
leatherLeather is a material created through the tanning of hides and skins of animals, primarily cattlehide. The tanning process converts the putrescible skin into a durable and versatile material....
miniskirtA miniskirt, sometimes hyphenated as mini-skirt, is a skirt with a hemline well above the knees – generally no longer than below the buttocks...
, and stud earrings."
Orchestration
This is the first opera Nyman has scored with his
bandThe Michael Nyman Band, formerly known as the Campiello Band, is a group formed as a street band for a 1976 production of Carlo Goldoni's 1756 play, Il Campiello directed by Bill Bryden at the Old Vic...
in mind. The studio recording includes five
violinThe violin is a bowed string instrument with four strings usually tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest and highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which also includes the viola and cello....
s, two
violaThe viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.The casual observer may mistake the viola for the violin because of their similarity in size, closeness in pitch range , and nearly identical playing position...
s, one
celloThe cello is a bowed string instrument. The word derives from the Italian violoncello. A person who plays a cello is called a cellist. The cello is used as a solo instrument, in chamber music, and as a member of the string section of an orchestra...
, two
double bassThe double bass, also called the upright bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra. The name, "double bass," derives from the early use of the instrument to double—an octave lower where possible—the bass part written...
es, two each soprano and alto saxes (doubled), baritone sax,
fluteThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind group. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
,
alto fluteThe alto flute is a type of Western concert flute, a musical instrument in the woodwind family. It is the next extension downward of the C flute after the flûte d'amour. It is characterized by its distinct, mellow tone in the lower portion of its range....
,
piccoloThe piccolo is a half-size flute, and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. The piccolo has the same fingerings as its larger sibling, the flute, but the sound it produces is an octave higher than written...
,
trumpetThe trumpet is a musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BC...
and
flugelhornThe flugelhorn is a brass instrument resembling a trumpet but with a wider, conical bore...
(doubled), French horn, bass trombone (doubled),
tubaThe tuba is the largest and lowest pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the...
(doubled),
euphoniumThe euphonium is a conical-bore, tenor-voiced brass instrument. It derives its name from the Greek word euphonos, meaning "well-sounding" or "sweet-voiced"...
(doubled), and
electric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses pickups to convert the vibration of its steel-cored strings into an electrical current, which is made louder with an instrument amplifier and a speaker. The signal that comes from the guitar is sometimes electronically altered with guitar effects such as...
.
Recording
A recording was released in
2002This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 2002.-Events:*January 9 - Max Lilja leaves Apocalyptica.*January 18 - Rayna Foss leaves Coal Chamber...
. It is Michael Nyman's 44th album.
Alexander BalanescuAlexander Bălănescu is a violinist and founder of the Bălănescu Quartet.He emigrated with his family to Israel in 1969....
left the band during the recording of this album, and his
concertmasterThe concertmaster/mistress, is the leader of the first violin section of an orchestra. In the UK, the term commonly used is leader...
seat awarded to Gabrielle Lester, who previously recorded with the band on
La SeptLa Sept was a French television broadcaster and production company created on 23 February 1986 to develop cultural and educational programming for transmission via the TDF 1 satellite.-History:...
(1989).
Cast
- Hilary Summers
Hilary Summers is a Welsh contralto. She was trained at Reading University, the Royal Academy of Music, and the National Opera Studio in London. She has performed on soundtracks such as The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The Libertine, and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy...
as the Art Banker
- Winnie Böwe as Soprano 1
- Marie Angel
Marie Angel is an Australian-born opera singer. She sings both operas in the standard repertoire as well as contemporary operas by such composers as Mauricio Kagel, Bruno Maderna, Michael Tippett, Harrison Birtwistle, Philip Glass, Louis Andriessen, Michael Nyman, Bernd Alois Zimmermann, and John...
as Soprano 2
- Harry Niccoll as Tenor
- Omar Ebrahim
Omar Ebrahim is an English baritone vocalist and actor. He specializes in the performance of contemporary classical music....
as Baritone
The Michael Nyman Band
- Alexander Balanescu
Alexander Bălănescu is a violinist and founder of the Bălănescu Quartet.He emigrated with his family to Israel in 1969....
, violin (leader, Acts 1-3)
- Gabrielle Lester, violin (leader, act 4)
- Catherine Thompson, violin
- Gillian Findlay, violin
- Katherine Shave, violin
- Catherine Musker, viola
- Bruce White, viola
- Tony Hinnigan
Anthony "Tony" Hinnigan is a multi-talented musician from Glasgow. He is best known for his work with Michael Nyman , Ennio Morricone, and James Horner. He plays cello as well as Irish whistle and various Andean woodwind instruments...
, cello
- Roger Linley, double bass
- Steven Williams, double bass
- Martin Elliott, bass guitar
- David Roach, soprano, alto sax
- Simon Haram, soprano, alto sax
- Andrew Findon
Andrew Findon is an English flautist and saxophonist. Educated at Harrow County School for Boys, he trained as an orchestral flautist, and served as principal flute of the National Youth Orchestra in the early 1970s and three years at the Royal College of Music...
, bartione sax, flute, alto flute, piccolo
- Steve Sidwell
Steve Sidwell is a conductor, composer, and instrumentalist specialising in swing music. He is also the trumpeter for the Michael Nyman Band.He conducted the band during Robbie Williams' performance in the Royal Albert Hall...
, trumpet, flugelhorn
- Nigel Gomm, trumpet, flugelhorn
- David Lee
David Lee is currently solo horn with the Michael Nyman Band. He has held principal positions with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra and Royal Opera House Orchestra....
, French horn
- Nigel Barr
Nigel Barr is a British musician. He has played bass trombone, sometimes euphonium, and occasionally, tuba, in the Michael Nyman Band since 1988...
, bass trombone, tuba, euphonium
- Andrew Fawbert, bass trombone, tuba, euphonium
- James Woodrow, electric guitar
- Conducted by Michael Nyman
Michael Laurence Edward Nyman, CBE is an English composer of minimalist music, pianist, librettist and musicologist, perhaps best known for the many movie scores he wrote during his lengthy collaboration with the filmmaker Peter Greenaway, and his multi-platinum soundtrack album to Jane Campion's...
Crew
- Produced by Michael Nyman and Austin Ince
- Engineer: Austin Ince
- Assistant Engineers: Andrew Dudman, Roland Heap, Ryu Kawashima, Andrew Nicholls, Paul Richardson
Paul Richardson was the home field organist for the Philadelphia Phillies from 1970 to 2005.In 1980 when the Phillies won the World Series, Richardson was awarded a World Series Ring alongside the players....
, Alex Scannell
- Recorded at Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios, established in November of 1931 by EMI in London, England, is an iconic recording studio located at Abbey Road, in St John's Wood in the City of Westminster...
, London, June 2001, March 2002 and May 2002
Snake Ranch, May 2002
- Mixed at Sony Studios, London, June and July 2002
- Mastered by Bob Whitney at Sony Studios, London, August 2002
- A&R
Artists and repertoire is the division of a record label that is responsible for talent scouting and the artistic development of recording artists. It also acts as a liaison between artists and the record label.- Finding talent :...
: Dirk Lange
- Executive Producer: Elizabeth Lloyd
- Production coordinator: Sarah Morley
- Assistant Coordinator: Miranda Westcott
- Composer's Assistant: Robert Worby
- Special thanks: Vivienne Guiness, Nicholas Hare
-References:...
, Michael HastingsMichael Gerald Hastings is a British playwright, screen-writer, and occasional novelist and poet.He is probably best known for his 1984 play about the poet T.S...
, Jude KellyJudith Pamela Kelly OBE is a theatre director and producer from Liverpool. She was awarded the OBE in 1997 for her services to the theatre....
, Graham Sheffield, Harry Lyth, James MackayJames Mackay may refer to:*James MacKay, American politician*James Mackay , New Zealand MP*James Mackay, 1st Earl of Inchcape , British colonial administrator...
, Julio Marti, Jonathan MooreJonathan Moore is an English athlete who specialises in the triple jump and long jump events. Competing in the triple jump event in 2001, he won gold at the World Youth Championships and silver in European Junior Championships...
, Michael Neve, Karen PriceKaren Elaina Price is an American model, stunt woman and television producer. She is sometimes credited as Karen Castoldi. She was Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Month in January 1981...
, James Rushton, Neil WallaceNeil Wallace is an American economist and professor at Pennsylvania State University. Wallace is considered one of the main proponents of new classical macroeconomics....
- Published by Chester Music Limited/Michael Nyman Limited 2002
- Project Manager: Lee Woollard
- Editorial Assistant: Christian Müller
- Translations: French
French is a Romance language globally spoken by about 65 million people as a first language , by 50 million as a second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired foreign language, with significant speakers in 57 countries. Most native speakers of the language live in France,...
, Olivier Laruaz-Gaillard - GermanGerman is a West Germanic language, thus related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. It is one of the world's major languages and the most widely spoken first language in the European Union. Around the world, German is spoken by approximately 105 million native speakers and also by...
, Almut Lenz-Konrad - SpanishSpanish or Castilian is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that originated in northern Spain and gradually spread in the Kingdom of Castile, evolving into the principal language of government and trade in the Iberian peninsula...
, Ángel Seoane
- Art direction and cover illustrations: Thierry Cohen, Paris
Paris is the capital of France and the country's most populous city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
- Cover illustrations contain a detail of Petrus Camper
Peter, Pieter, or usually Petrus Camper was a Dutch physician, anatomist, physiologist, midwife, zoologist, anthropologist, paleontologist and a naturalist. He studied the orangutan, the rhinoceros, the skull of a whale...
, drawing, and portrait of Francisco GoyaFrancisco José de Goya y Lucientes was a Spanish painter and printmaker regarded both as the last of the Old Masters and as the first of the moderns. Goya was a court painter to the Spanish Crown and a chronicler of history...
- Special thanks to Max for the x-ray of his skull.