The Wake World
Opera by David Hertzberg
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The Wake World is an opera with music and libretto by David Hertzberg. It premiered September 18, 2017, at the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia.[1][2] The Wake World was a co-presentation of Opera Philadelphia and the Barnes Foundation, directed by R. B. Schlather and conducted by Elizabeth Braden.[1][2] The opera is based on the story "The Wake World" by Aleister Crowley.[1] The opera's debut recording was released April 24, 2020 on Tzadik Records.[3]
| The Wake World | |
|---|---|
| Opera by David Hertzberg | |
| Language | English |
| Based on | The Wake World by Aleister Crowley |
| Premiere | |
Critical reception
"The whole evening felt celebratory", Opera News wrote of The Wake World.[1] The New York Times called the music engrossing. "Just five instrumentalists produce wondrous colors and sonorities. The score, spiked with modernist elements, makes Mr. Hertzberg seem a 21st-century Ravel", wrote Anthony Tommasini.[4]
"The prose was purple, and so was the music, so thoroughly an antique musical language that it sounded like a half-remembered dream", wrote Peter Dobrin in The Philadelphia Inquirer.[5]
In 2018, The Wake World was awarded the Music Critics Association of North America Award for Best New Opera.[6]
The New York Times listed the track "Is that you, my love?" from the opera's debut recording among 'The 25 Best Classical Music Tracks of 2020'.[7]
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere cast, 18 September 2017 Conductor: Elizabeth Braden[2] |
|---|---|---|
| Lola | soprano | Maeve Höglund |
| The Fairy Prince | mezzo-soprano | Rihab Chaieb |
| Parthenope | soprano | Rebecca Myers |
| Ligeia | soprano | Veronica Chapman-Smith |
| Leucosia | mezzo-soprano | Joanna Gates |
| Luna/Hecate | soprano | Jessica Beebe |
| Morbus | tenor | George Ross Somerville |
| Pestilitas | bass | John David Miles |
| Giant/Bone Man/Man in the Azure Coat/Man of the Blue House | bass | James Osby Gwathney, Jr. |
Instrumentation
- Violin, trumpet, horn, piano, Rhodes piano, percussion.
Recording
- 2020: Elizabeth Braden, conductor; Jessica Beebe, Andrew Bogard, Samantha Hankey, Maeve Hoglund. Tzadik (TZ 4030-2)[citation needed]
