w17844
| Title | Tragedia Dell'arte |
| Contributors |
Derek Ball (composer) Derek Ball (author) |
| Composition date | 2008 |
| Duration (mins) | 15 |
| Category | chamber opera theatre |
| Instrumentation | S M-S T 2 Bar B / Cl Tpt Pf |
| Commissioned by | |
| Key signature | |
| First line | |
| First performed | |
| Notes | |
| Programme Note | Your first reaction on hearing that this is a wordless opera might be to regard it as a solecism! My answer would be to point out that sometimes music is more about emotions than ideas. Simple ideas can be conveyed by mime, so that in this case the singing can devote itself wholly to what it's best at - feeling, not thinking! I would argue further that words are how we make sense of the world around us, they help us to deal with conflict. In this opera, the unfortunate characters don't deal with their feeling at all; they're buffeted by them and destroyed by them, but in no way do they even start to deal with them, perhaps because I've deprived them of the very tools they would need : words! Boxed Stage Directions The boxed directions given in the score are abbreviated versions of what is written in much more detail in the libretto. Please don't rely solely on the score but always refer to the libretto for more information on the singers' movements on the stage, gestures, reactions, explanation of their behaviour, etc. |
This work is associated with the following collection items:
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