The history of twentieth century opera. 1977B.
While in 1977 both the Eagles with ‘Hotel California’ as well as Ennio Morricone with ‘Once upon a time in the West’ topped the charts, some things happened in the land of opera. Not just a fair amount of interesting and unique productions, but also the first opera from Karlheinz Stockhausen, an icon who would be controlling the coming two decades and who signaled in a new episode in modernism. To this day Karlheinz is regarded as one of the most influential composers of the second half of the twentieth century, by both those people who championed his music as well as those who opposed it. And he did have a fair few opponents: his electronic music, his aleatoric compositions in which coincidental as well as unpredictable factors are used intentionally, his serialism and his spatial techniques. For many a music lover it all went too fast and it was too much of a good thing. Oddly enough the 70s left enough space for a mixture of old and new. This would change during the start of the 80s, when modernism would begin dominating completely. Care to join our voyage of discovery?
In this episode excerpts of:
- Morton Feldman- Neither
- Peter Bellamy- The transports (2017 arr.)
- Peter Bellamy- The Transports (original)
Other opera and operetta productions from 1977:
- Michael Tippett- The Ice Break
- Peter Maxwell Davies- The Martyrdom of St. Magnus
- William Alwyn- Miss Julie
- Felix Werder- Agamemnon
- KarlHeinz Stockhauen- Atmen gibt das leben
- Thea Musgrave- Mary, Queen of Scots
- Giselher Klebe- Das Rendezvous
- Dominick Argento- Miss Havisham’s Fire
- Harry Somers- Death of Enkidu
- Hans Werner Henze- Der Taugenichts
- Wolfgang Fortner – That Time
- Gordon Crosse- World Within
- Robert Ward- Claudia Legare
- Minoru Wiki-タロウ (Tarou)
- Carl Orff- De temporum fine comoedia (revised)
- Nino Rota- Il cappello di paglia di Firenze
- Harrison Birtwistle- Bow Down
