Wayne Shorter & Opera Philadelphia

[Mark Stryker]

Opera Philadelphia has commissioned Wayne Shorter to write an opera with a libretto by Esperanza Spalding

 

http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/david_patrick_stearns/grammy-winner-esperanza-spalding-has-found-a-new-creative-homebase-in-philly-20170717.html?mobi=true

[JSngry]

Scoffers gonna scoff, but I want to hear the results, done well, hopefully.

[Mark Stryker]

Me too,  and I hope the final results rock

Caveat Emptor: Opera is a BEAST -- very tricky to get right even for experienced composers in the idiom much less a newcomer to the form. Moreover, I'd feel better if there was an experienced librettist on board, because the failure of a number of contemporary operas is really a result of dramatic issues with the libretto or language that doesn't work well when sung. Just because you can write good songs, doesn't mean that you can tell an evening-length story through music. My gut says given Wayne's inexperience in the form, a seasoned librettist as a partner would be a better bet -- but Godspeed to all. 

Edited July 18, 2017 by Mark Stryker

[felser]

On 7/18/2017 at 3:23 PM, Mark Stryker said:

Just because you can write good songs, doesn't mean that you can tell an evening-length story through music. 

What, you mean 'Tommy' didn't coalesce as a coherent story  .  See, there was this blind kid born sometime before 1921, and he had this bad uncle and this bad stepfather (and mom wasn't so great, either), and he liked pinball (unless he actually hated it), and  ,,,, whatever all that other stuff was, and some parts sound sorta like Jesus or something.  But "Pinball Wizard" and the other  cuts SOUND great.  And it's, like, an opera, a rock opera at that, see!