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Oedipe paris opera pulls6/13/2023 The long-shuttered, crescent-shaped room offers an intimate space of bleak, decayed grandeur apt for Turnage’s blistering depiction of Thatcher-era social dissolution in London’s East End.Īmid the usual early-rehearsal disorder, a relaxed camaraderie prevails among Reda, the cast and music team at St. The second-floor Lutheran church was founded in 1890 by the community’s Norwegian immigrants-who would likely be rendered mute by Greek‘s subject and libretto. Paul Arts Center in Wicker Park, Reda has certainly found a suitable venue for this belated Chicago premiere. Reda, 33, sees his upstart company as the operatic equivalent of aggressive storefront theater, presenting modern works and offbeat presentations with an appeal to younger, nontraditional audiences who may be less interested in Verdi or Puccini. We want to be the operatic gateway drug.” “But we’re trying to create a lot of entry points into opera. We present challenging works in an intimate space that’s highly visual, appealing and fast-paced. “I don’t want to say we’re expanding the definition of opera,” said Reda during a break in rehearsals. The young composer-director-impresario feels a strong sense of mission about Turnage’s opera, and, more broadly, that there is a place in Chicago for this brand of unusual classical repertoire and innovative presentation. Still, artistic director Eric Reda is determined to forge ahead with the full six-performance run. They backed out, leaving a $10,000 shortfall in the show’s budget, which accounts for about a third of the cost of the production. The controversial subject matter of Greek and the libretto’s copious use of the F-bomb and other profanity rarely heard on the opera stage were judged too raw and edgy by one of the company’s main financial supporters. The English composer’s in-your-face revamp of the Oedipus myth opens Tuesday, presented by the city’s newest and most envelope-pushing company, Chicago Opera Vanguard. Granted, opera isn’t always the most decorous of art forms, with adultery, betrayal, and vengeance often common themes.īut if you thought Richard Strauss took opera to the dark side with Salome and Elektra, brace yourself for Mark-Anthony Turnage’s Greek.
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