Joshua Jeremiah and Trevor Martin(photo: Frank Zipperer)
The Asheville Lyric Opera has a huge success on its hands and bragging rights for landing the highly anticipated world premiere
of composer Clint Borzoni and librettist John de los Santos' "When Adonis Calls," which debuted on May 11th. There are additional performances on May 12 and 13. Asheville is also the home of Gavin Geoffrey Dillard, whose poetry was refashioned into the libretto. Tickets are available online.
Joshua Jeremiah and Trevor Martin(photo: Frank Zipperer)
The opera, which was work-shopped at the Fort Worth Opera Festival's
Frontiers series of new works in 2015, chronicles the tale of a distant relationship between an accomplished, if aging and discouraged Poet an a young, inspired, and impetuous Muse. Two male dancers create the emotional subtext as the poets banter back and forth of their loves, their animosities, their jealousies, and their creative furies.
Trevor Martin(photo: Frank Zipperer)
The piece is scored for two baritones, string quartet, percussionist and two dancers (and comes with an adult content warning). When Adonis Calls features
a low and high baritone, and Asheville Lyric Opera featured two
amazing performers in Trevor Martin and Joshua Jeremiah, as well as two
local dancers.
Joshua Jeremiah and Trevor Martin and dancers(photo: Frank Zipperer)
"When Adonis Calls" already has a second performance scheduled in
Chicago with the Thompson Street Opera Company this Fall. Details are
forthcoming. Our site has also learned that discussions are underway for
a West Coast premiere.
Malte Roesner(Photo: Jack Michaels)
For those on the West Coast, you'll have an opportunity to experience another world premiere from Clint Borzoni, when German bass Malte Roesner premieres the song cycle "The Hidden Singer, " based on the poetry of Wendell Berry. The cycle revolves around seven poems all associated with birds,
which are normally correlated with high soprano voices. The song cycle is scored for string
quartet, but opens with an a cappella setting.
The concert will be held at Ansel Adams' former home in San Francisco
and tickets include a generous supply of wine and food, in keeping with
Musica Marin's tradition to present chamber music in the original
intimate, salon setting of a home. The song cycle will be paired with
Mendelssohn's String Quartet in A minor. Tickets for the June 3rd
concert are available online.
We've always maintained that the smaller houses and festivals are where the best new operas are being performed. So kudos to the Asheville Lyric Opera for landing the highly anticipated world premiere of composer Clint Borzoni and librettist John de los Santos' "When Adonis Calls" on May 11th. Asheville is also the home of Gavin Geoffrey Dillard, whose poetry was refashioned into the libretto.
The opera, which was work-shopped at the Fort Worth Opera Festival's Frontiers series of new works in 2015, chronicles the tumultuous correspondence between an established writer and an eager young admirer.
"Two Nooses" from the Fort Worth Opera Festival
The piece is scored for two baritones, string quartet, percussionist and two dancers (and comes with an adult content warning). When Adonis Calls features a low and high baritone, and Asheville Lyric Opera will feature two amazing performers in Trevor Martin and Joshua Jeremiah, as well as two local dancers. The opera will have additional performances on March 12 and 13 and is expected to sell out in the 110 seat Masonic Temple. Tickets are available online.
Composers and opera administrators will tell you that a second performance of a work is often more difficult than the premiere. Remarkably, Adonis already has a second performance scheduled in Chicago with the Thompson Street Opera Company this Fall. Details are forthcoming. Our site has also learned that discussions are underway for a West Coast premiere.
Marco Vassalli sings Clint Borzoni's beautiful "Stufen" with Musica Marin:
Borzoni, along with Jake Heggie, has become particularly associated for writing major roles and works for low male voices. He has written a song cycle for bass-baritone Tim
Hill, several songs for bass-baritone Randal Turner, penned two pieces for String Quartet and baritone for Marco Vassalli, and is currently working on a commission for bass Malte Roesner to be premiered at Musica Marin this year. Turner’s songs
appear on his CD, “Living American Composers” and were performed at the 9/11 tribute at the U.S. embassy in Switzerland. He also wrote a two act opera titled “Antinous and Hadrian,” which features a baritone lead. His opera The Copper Queen, also to a libretto by John de los Santos, won Arizona Opera's Sparks Competition for new works in a runaway. The opera is based on a true story about the alleged ghost of a prostitute haunting a historic hotel in Bisbee, Arizona.
There are a number of composers who have had an amazing gift for writing for the baritone voice. In an earlier era, Verdi, Wagner, Poulenc and Carl Loewe all wrote timeless music for baritones. In contemporary times, Jake Heggie and Clint Borzoni have kept the tradition alive, with Heggie writing baritone leads for almost every opera.
Randal Turner sings Clint Borzoni's "That Shadow, My Likeness":
Borzoni has written over seventy pieces, including two full-length operas, two
one-act operas, a piano concerto, percussion quartet, work for
orchestra, two string quartets, several works for chamber orchestra and
over forty art songs.
Much of his vocal writing prominently features baritones, including the two lead roles in his recent opera When Adonis Calls, a leading bass role and baritone role in Antinous and Hadrian, two recent works for String Quartet and Baritone (Stufen and Margere Kost) written for Marco Vassalli, a set of Walt Whitman songs for baritone, the song cycle Awake the Dawn written for baritone Seth Kershisnik, and the song cycle Live Oak Growing written for baritones Tim Hill and Randal Turner.
Marco Vassalli sings Clint Borzoni's "Stufen":
His opera Antinous and Hadrian tells the story of the second century Roman emperor Hadrian
and his love for the Greek youth Antinous. It examines the mystery
behind the tragic death of the young Antinous. Upon his death, the
distraught Emperor declared his beloved a god. Drawing on both
historical sources and dramatic imagination the work has been written in
the grand opera tradition.
Wes Mason sings "Two Nooses" from "When Adonis Calls":
Borzoni recently completed his fourth opera, When Adonis Calls,
based on the poetry of Gavin Dillard and arranged by John de los Santos. The opera was presented at
Fort Worth Opera’s 2015 Frontiers Showcase.
He fifth opera, The Copper Queen, also written with librettist John de los Santos, won Arizona Opera’s new opera competition, Arizona SPARK.
After the instant popularity of our post featuring Wes Mason singing "Two Nooses" from Clint Borzoni's "When Adonis Calls," we thought we'd share the duet, as well. The performances are from Frontiers, the new opera workshop at the Fort Worth Opera. The selection features Matt Moeller as the Muse and Wes Mason as the Poet, and is conducted by Tyson Deaton with accompaniment by Stephen Carey at the piano.
The libretto was constructed by John de los Santos from the poems
of Gavin Geoffrey Dillard. It tells the story of an accomplished author,
called the Poet, who is struggling with writer’s block and isolation.
He is contacted by an eager young fan, known as the Muse, who is
interested in both an artistic and personal correspondence. At first
reluctant, the Poet joins the Muse in a sensual game of literary
discovery that leads the two into unexpected realms of unbridled
eroticism. Through their poems, they unleash one another’s pasts,
demons, and secret longings. Their harmonized writings culminate with a
final meeting in the flesh that transcends beyond what either of them
ever believed was possible when they first put pen to paper.
