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Opera |
Rock Hard Woman - A Comic Book Opera (2009) (12 minutes) |
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For baritone voice, dancer, alto sax, violin, piano, double bass, and drum set. |
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libretto by Linda Hauser |
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program notes: |
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Rock Hard Woman is a short chamber opera based on mechanisms used by comic book authors to control the pace of the reader, including panel size, language, and plot development. The work’s plot concerns a demented sculptor and his statue. After a dizzying ritual the statue comes to life, but is soon fed up with the sculptor's mad ravings. The libretto is based on Pygmalion, a tale from the Roman poet Ovid (43 BC-17 AD). Sections are translated into Middle English to represent the sculptor’s dementia. |
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Rock Hard Woman Video Recording |
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Rock Hard Woman is available for performance both in full ensemble and piano score versions. |
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Please email Nathan at contact@nathanriebli.com for a copy of the score. |
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Song of the Cricket - A Tragic Opera in One Act (2007) (1 hour) |
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for soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, and baritone |
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chamber chorus |
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1 flute, 1 oboe, 1 Bb clarinet, 1 bassoon, 3 percussionists, chamber strings |
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libretto by Linda Hauser |
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program notes: |
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In 215 BC, China was caught up in a time of war and political unrest. This was during the Reign of Qin Shi Huang, who is considered the First Emperor and Unifier of China following the Warring States Period. Qin Shi Huang’s kingdom was one of seven powerful states which dominated China. As Qin grew more powerful, the other states either banded together to stand against him, or allied with him. In the end, he unified China using his alliances. However, his rule was a time of great war. To suppress the Xiongnu, a powerful well-organized military force invading from the North, Qin Shi Huang constructed an immense wall. This wall linked previous structures of the Warring States Period, and is a precursor to the Great Wall of China. Hundreds of thousands of men were enlisted to fight the Xiongnu and to construct the wall. This fictional story features a young man who has been drafted to fight as a Wǔ Shì, a warrior. He’s fled during the night, deserting his army unit which is on its way north to fight the Xiongnu. After running for hours, he has stopped to get out of a thunder storm at the Anyuan Gate in the failing defensive wall surrounding Xi’an, a large city stricken with famine and poverty. Although miles north of his home village, this gate is a familiar site from his childhood adventures away from his family farm. It has been hundreds of years since the gate was used and fortified, and now its decrepit structure is is all but reclaimed by moss and brambles. This is not to say that the grey stone tower atop the gate stands without use. Now it is a place where corrupt city officials throw unclaimed bodies in order to avoid paying for proper burials. This, the Wǔ Shì thinks, is the perfect hiding place, a place to ponder his future. |
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Song of the Cricket scores and parts are available for performance, both as full ensemble and piano/vocal instrumentations.
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©2010 by Nathan Riebli |
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