Martín’s Before Night Falls Released on Amazon

Fort Worth Opera announced yesterday that their recording of Jorge Martín’s opera Before Night Falls, which was given its world premiere at FWO this past spring, will be released on Amazon.com on October 1st.  American Opera Projects was lucky enough to have given the opera its first concert reading of scenes from Act I back in 2004, when they were presented as part of the Dance Theater Workshop here in New York, and again in 2005, at the Clark Studio Theatre at Lincoln Center (during the Third Annual Cuban Arts Festival).

Before Night Falls traces the life of Cuban poet Reinaldo Arenas, beginning with his early years growing up in poverty in Cuba, to his emigration to the US in 1980, to his last decade suffering from AIDS.  Based on his famous memoir, the opera follows his trials and tribulations as a political prisoner forced to smuggle his manuscripts abroad for publication.

Joshua Rosenblum of Opera News raved in his May 2010 article,

“Martín’s opera…bursts with restless passion and sustains a dark undertone of anxiety throughout. The composer skillfully draws on numerous influences, including suave Cuban dance rhythms, which are sometimes overt but more often dextrously embedded within the colorful orchestral texture. In addition, one is reminded variously of Mahler, Shostakovich, Ravel, Villa-Lobos and even Varèse…but Martín has the skill and individuality to synthesize these strands into a coherent and dramatically potent tapestry. Best of all, his melodies almost always blossom and sing, even in the extended recitative-style dialogue.” To continue reading, click here.

Interested in pre-ordering?  Purchase Before Night Falls on Amazon.

AOP Welcomes Luca Rauch to the World

Congratulations are in order for AOP veteran singer Jessica Miller-Rauch and her husband Naren, whose son Luca Amare Rauch was born at 10:11 pm on Friday, September 3rd, 2010.  He was 8 lbs. 5 oz. and 21 inches long.  We at AOP wish the Rauch family all the best!

Luca Rauch

New Ince CDs Released On Naxos

Kamran Ince

Kamran Ince, the composer of AOP’s upcoming concert in Turkey of Judgment of Midas, had three new CDs released digitally on Naxos this past month, with a fourth making its debut in October.

(Reviews excerpted from Tom Strini’s “About This Recording” on Naxos.)

Music for a Lost Earth, with the Istanbul Modern Music Ensemble

“Imagine travelling through a desert, all sand and stars and moon on a still night. And there, without explanation or context, stands a chair, placed just so on the sand. Thus the ordinary becomes an object of mystery and contemplation. Kamran’s lonely little chords are like that chair—utterly familiar, utterly strange, utterly ambiguous, and somehow poignant. They prompt a small, unidentifiable heartache. Something is present, but someone is missing.” To continue reading, click here.

Hammers and Whistlers, with the Present Music Ensemble

“The stream-of-consciousness whirl, built around a surreal poem by İzzeddin Çalışlar, includes jangle and clatter and avian chirping, iron-foundry pounding, bedlams of overlapping melodies and all manner of alarms and cries. Calm, quiet choral chants butt against crashing gongs and blasting brass…” To continue reading, click here.

Symphony No. 5, “Galatasaray,” with the Bilkent Symphony

“In the third movement, a swaggering advance in 3/4 time underpins building pre-match excitement, anticipated in sung dialogue between tenor and boy soprano…With its soloists and chorus and reverent and rousing words and music, the Symphony No. 5 is like an oratorio devoted to a soccer team.” To continue reading, click here.

The CDs can also be downloaded through Amazon by searching for “Kamran Ince” on their website.

Galatasaray will be released in hard copy in April 2011 and Hammers and Whistlers will have a limited hard copy release in a few months.  The fourth CD, Constantinople, will be released in hard copy in July 2011.