Darling, please don’t be offended (by what I wrote.) (2019)
The most recent operatic work was composed for the Bloomsday festivities in New Orleans. Bloomsday is the annual celebration of James Joyce’s groundbreaking masterpiece, Ulysses.
The opera is on the subject of James Joyce’s ‘Dirty Letters’ to his partner, Nora Barnacle, for a brief stretch during his only return to Dublin where he was to attempt to get The Dubliners published and set up the first cinema in Dublin. The letters are extremely sexually graphic and the text for the libretto was completely taken from Joyce’s actual words in that correspondence. The lyric is totally unexpurgated. Immoral restoration theater type directness for our tightening times…except of course- of and for the common people.
The music was written for Mezzo Soprano, Guitar (Electric, acoustic nylon and steel string) , and flute (bass flute, flute, piccolo). The staging was collaborative and the design was primarily by photographer, David Gamble with lighting and design by Joan Long.
The festival is now being handled by the collaborator in two of my previous operas (‘Bang the Law’, ee me and pollock thee’) , Chris Lane and he was the co-producer.
The opera is also to remember the great victory over victorian censorship of Ulysses.
There were 3 performances at the church at the Hotel Peter and Paul in the Marigny neighborhood of New Orleans. Performances were on the 14th and two on the 16th of June.
The artists:
Zara Zemmels- Mezzo-Soprano
Nelson Gonzalez- Joyce
Tim Robertson- Guitar
Janna Saslaw- Flutes
David Gamble- projections and design
Joan Long- Lighting/ stage design/ performance consultant
Adam Sekulur- projection consultant
Jonathan Freilich- composer/librettist
Chris Lane- producer and set builder.
There will be a movie by David Gamble and a recording in the next year.
Selected score excerpts:
ee me & pollock thee (2011)
-E.E. Cummings and Jackson Pollock journey to the dark heart of inspiration in this multidisciplinary extravaganza. As poet and painter wrestle their muse, mutual obsession and mystical appropriation ensue. This modern opera with live musical accompaniment explores the cost of great art and dangerous genius.-
an opera
by Adam Falik and Jonathan Freilich
Director: Chris Kammenstein | Musical Director: Francis Scully
Venue: The Marigny Opera House(Trinity Church on St. Ferdinand in the Marigny)
Thursday, November 17th, 7pm
Friday, November 18th, 9pm
Saturday, November 19th, 11pm
Sunday, November 20th, 7pm
ee me & pollock thee accounts a relationship between poet E. E. Cummings and painter Jackson Pollock. The two artists journey to the dark heart of inspiration in this multidisciplinary extravaganza. As poet and painter wrestle their muse, mutual obsession and mystical appropriation ensue. This modern opera with live musical accompaniment explores the cost of great art and dangerous genius. Dramatic scenes are interwoven with original musical compositions and operatic performance of E. E. Cummings poems.
Goat in the Road Productions’ Chris Kamenstein will direct, and Francis Scully, conductor of the New Resonance Orchestra, will serve as musical director.
The production features: Chris Lane as Jackson Pollock, Andrew Vaught (Cripple Creek Productions) as E. E. Cummings, Kathleen Halm as Lee Krasner, and JeAnne Swinley as Rebecca Cummings.
From the first announcement--
ee cummingsNew Orleans playwright, Adam Falik approached me about writing the music for his recent original libretto, ee me and pollock thee. The work is set to be performed in New Orleans in the middle of November. The production will involve conductor Francis Scully (New Resonance Orchestra) who conducted my previous opera, Bang The Law. It will also involve actor, Chris Lane who played the lead acting role in Bang the Law in November 2009.
It looks like it will be partially operatic and partially melodramatic.
Score excerpts-
BANG THE LAW- A MODERN OPERA BUFFA (2009)
The following relates to an opera written by Freilich that was mounted in New Orleans in late 2009. the opera was conceived in an intermezzo format with the pieces intended to be stuck in between the acts of another piece. The interstitial idea was rejected by the producers and Freilich required a solution to the amount of time lost in the initial idea. The gestures and projection of classical, mannered art forms such as opera, ballet, theater are often lost to general modern audiences. The dissonance with popular forms of performance delivery is often vast and, general audiences might wonder where those gestures from the old forms came from and what they might be for. Freilich's idea was that gestural systems would have understood meaning if the work shared the audiences view of the oddness of the mannerisms but didn't water down their techniques at all. What follows is the 2009 description and information given about the piece...
"The opera is in intermezzo form- originally intended to go between the acts of another work. However, it seems that current economic restraints have directed things on a new course.
The original, satirical, pieces are 2-5 minutes long and detail the exploits of a couple of New Orleans lawyers as they travel through the class detritus of modern day New Orleans. It is scored for 4 singers (2 baritone, soprano, mezzo-soprano) piano, violin, and flute. To these central segments I have appended a theatrical segment to precede the opera segment. It’s characters are the same as the opera segment and would detail their more naturalistic behaviors while the operatic sections would be indicative of a more internal, emotional side of the same character’s personality. To the back end of each opera segment will be added a dance episode which will further develops the characters by showing how fast they imagine themselves to be moving through the world.
So...each segment is expanded to around 15 minutes. The theatre sections will be directed by Nick Slie (Mondo Bizarro) and the dance parts choreographed by Jeffrey Gunshol (Tsunami Dance.)
Composed, scored, Directed by Jonathan Freilich
Conducted by Francis Scully
Libretto by Jonathan Freilich
Co- directed by Chris Lane, Nick Slie, Holly Anne Ruggiero
Costumes by Oliver Manhattan
Line producer- Holly- Anne Ruggiero
Score examples:
Here are audio files of the midi:
Intermezzo 1-"Mutual Titillating Contempt"