Librettos

Exagoge

Music by Avner Finberg. An immersive opera/play/Passover seder, based on the oldest known Jewish play, written in Alexandria in the second century BCE by Ezekiel the Tragedien. The audience gathers round the seder table or watches from the risers, joining the performers for a traditional 15-part modern seder. An opera composer, Zeke, has brought home his girlfriend Aliyah, a non-practicing Muslim, for the first time. Meanwhile, in the middle of it all, opera performers sing an adaptation of the ancient Greek interpretation of the Book of Exodus.

Produced in full at La MaMa

Singers (Soprano, Tenor and Bass); Actors: 2M, 1F Running time: 90 minutes

The Velvet Oratorio

Music by Henry Akona. An opera/theater retelling of the Velvet Revolution, as seen through the eyes of Václav Havel's signature character, Ferdinand Vaněk. The piece is organized as a series of alternating scenes and choruses, the chorus representing the crowds in Prague during the events spanning November 17 1989 to January 1, 1990. The text for the oratorio is based partly upon recently released U.S. State Department documents and corresponding Czechoslovakian / Soviet documents and interviews with journalists, diplomats, and ordinary people who were in the streets of Prague during the revolution.

Produced as a concert at Lincoln Center’s Bruno Walter Auditorium at the Library for the Performing Arts as part of their festival, Performing Revolution in Central and Eastern Europe; Produced as a full production at the Bohemian National Hall/Czech Consulate

Cast: 3W, 8M, plus chorus of 4 or more (Soprano, Mezzo, Tenor and Bass); Running time: 70 minutes

The Boy Who Wanted to be a Robot

Music by Pedro Finisterra. In a future when humans can no longer procreate, robots create a boy named Orgo to continue the human race. The boy wants to be a robot, like his friends Cleano (the cleaning robot) and Calco (the calculating robot). The robot king (Kingo) brings in a woman named Sally to teach the boy to be human, but Orgo resists. Where can he find his place when he fits in neither human nor robot society? Adapted from an earlier one act.

Presented at Milton Court at the Barbican/The Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London England; Presented by One Ounce Opera in Austin, Texas.

Cast: 1 Soprano, 2 Mezzo, 1 Tenor, 1 Bass; Running time: 25 minutes.

Years Ago I Died

Music by Clare Elton. A woman, Katie, is suffering from Cotard’s Delusion: she thinks she has died. Her sister Beth comes to visit her, but Katie is sure they are in heaven…or maybe hell. Beth tries to take Katie away from her morose musings, and for a moment they connect, as they once did when they were young.

Presented at Peckham Asylum Chapel in London.

Cast: 1 Soprano, 1 Mezzo. Running time: 20 minutes.

A Taste of Damnation

Music by Avner Finberg. Based on the short story “A Souvenir of Hell” by Etgar Keret. A woman who works in a convenience store at damnation's doorstep falls in love with a man on a one-day furlough from Hell. He leaves, but her obsession for him remains. Her father, also condemned, sacrifices himself to reunite them, but when she sees her lover again, she faces a terrible choice.

Produced as a fully staged and orchestrated on book performance at the Manhattan School of Music; Act 1 produced in concert at the Frontiers Festival at Fort Worth Opera in Texas; Act 1 also produced in New York, NY by American Opera Projects in New York City.

Cast: 1 Soprano, 1 Tenor, 1 Baritone; Running time: 40 minutes.

Our Lobotomist

Music by Mateo Neri. A four scene opera about Dr. Walter Freeman, the man who developed and popularized the lobotomy. One of his early patients, Ethel, is obsessive compulsive. After Dr. Freeman is able to help her, she recommends him to her husband, for his depression. Dr. Freeman now has a new way of doing his operation: with an ice pick. The story of the early days of psychosurgery.

Performed as a concert with piano at Yeoryia Studios in New York City.

Cast: 1 Soprano, 1 tenor, 1 Bass; Running time 40 minutes.

Letters to Engels, A Karl Marx Opera

Music by Avner Finberg. A short solo opera. Marx sings three of his letters to Engels, in which he is asking Engels, once again, for money.

Presented at part of Money Lab, an economic vaudeville, performed March 2015 at HERE Arts Center in New York City.

Cast: 1 Tenor; Running time: 7 minutes.

Nymphus: Mithraic Initiation Rite No. 2

Music by Pedro Finisterra. Mithras is a Roman god (possibly originating from Persia) who was worshipped between the 1st and 4th centuries AD. This is a reconstruction of the 2nd level initiation, the Nymphus or male bride. A Mystagogue, probably a higher level initiate, leads the ceremony.

Performed at Goodenough College in London.

Cast: 1 Mezzo or Countertenor, 1 Tenor, 1 Bass; Running time 7 minutes.

Sorting Photos

Music by Nell Shaw Cohen. An aria in which a woman who is visiting her elderly mother tries to get her to remember the people in the photos…or her daughter.

Performed at American Opera Projects in New York City.

Cast: 1 Soprano; Running time: 8 minutes

Bury Me

Music by Nell Shaw Cohen. The Dartmoor in Devon, England, during the 14th century. Amyas Childe, a young nobleman and head of a large estate, has been caught in a blizzard while on a hunt. Besides him is his horse, which he cut open. He now writes his final will, with the horse’s blood. An aria based on an old legend.

Performed at American Opera Projects in New York City.

Cast: 1 Baritone; Running time 8 minutes

I am Not I

Music by Sky Macklay. An aria sung by a man with Capgras Syndrome, who can no longer recognize himself in the mirror.

Performed at American Opera Projects in New York City.

Cast: 1 Bass-Baritone, Running time 7 minutes.

Tetrachromacy

Music by Sky Macklay. An aria sung by a man who can see more colors than the average eye, because of a genetic quirk.

Performed at American Opera Projects in New York City.

Cast: 1 Tenor, Running time 7 minutes.