Hi Elizabeth,
It is a great project. Mr. Glass has taken a beating in the press but he is laughing all the way to the bank as the audiences love the piece. It is not based on the Brecht because the librettest and director, Mary Zimmerman, did not want to only base the story on the end of Galileo's life. The story is told in reverse so the first three scenes are adapted from the transcripts of the trial and inquisition. The scene concerning Galileo's daughter is taken from her letters to her father. There is a scene that is adapted from Galileo's "Dialogue..." as well as a scene that deals with a famous priest of the day and his exhortations against Galileo from the pulpit. The remainder of the opera deals with Galileo's presentation of the telescope to the Italian court as well as his childhood. The last scene concerns Galileo watching an opera composed by his father Vicenzio Galileo (on of the Camerata that included Caccini, Monteverdi and the like) on the subject of Orion.
We have finished Chicago, New York and London and are on hiatus. There are possibilities for Seattle and Paris but no deals are final. Mr. Glass is also working on funding for a recording of the piece.
I would love to tour more with this piece as I really enjoy it and the response it gets. Mr. Glass' music is very different here. Nothing is repeated! No text! No nothing! Some of the musical language is the same but most of the accompaniment for the singers consists of broken/driven chords "alberti" style. The harmonic structure changes almost every four measures...it was quite difficult to learn! I think that this is what has caused the fury. The critics did not get what they were expecting and they did not know how to accept it.
Take care, Mark
--- In vocalist-temporary@y..., "Elizabeth Finkler" <mightymezzo@h...> wrote: > Hello, Mark. Sounds like a great project. Is it based on the Berthold > Brecht play? Any chance you're coming to one of the fine performing venues > in Northern California? > > Elizabeth Finkler > San Jose, California > mightymezzo@h... > http://home.earthlink.net/~mightymezzo > > We all live in a place called "23 skiddoo." --John Prine > > > > > >From: "Mark Crayton" <mralto@a...> > >Reply-To: vocalist-temporary@y... > >To: vocalist-temporary@y... > >Subject: [vocalist] Hello > >Date: Thu, 05 Dec 2002 20:50:06 -0000 > > > >Hi, > > > >I am new to the list. My name is Mark Crayton. I am a countertenor > >who lives in Chicago and performs (just about) everywhere. I have > >been singing professionally since I was 9 years old. This season so > >far, I have spent 6 months touring with the new opera by Philip Glass > >called "Galileo Galilei." > > _________________________________________________________________
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