NY Times Praises "Two Boys"

Jonathan McGovern

Zachary Woolfe has written a review for the New York Times about "Two Boys," which we recently featured. It's nice to see a reviewer not write a "Broadway review" and actually talk about the music and not just the production values and direction. Woolfe's review is important, as the opera is slated to be performed at the Metropolitan Opera in the 2013-14 season. Here is a highlight:

Without using electronic instruments, Mr. Muhly has created a world immersed in technology; his sound palette is Britten, not “Tron.” There are softly chiming gongs and ethereal winds, lyrical and sinuous strings and sympathetic, Romantic orchestral surges. The second act starts with an eerie, suspended calm punctured by string flourishes that develop into something almost folksy. There are foreboding minor-key arpeggios throughout, but Mr. Muhly ventures far beyond stock Minimalism. He even creates a new setting for part of the Anglican service; the sound of church music, dense yet floating, permeates the opera.

Indeed, the choral writing is the work’s most successful element.

You can read Zachary Woolfe's entire review in the NY Times HERE.

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