“All of these little quotes are simply part of the kaleidoscope of the whole opera. “You’re not meant to seek all of these (references) out,” Carthy said. Argento uses a non-traditional chamber ensemble of eight players that includes classical guitar and saxophone. The music draws from a wide array of genres - classical music in the style of Wagner, Richard and Johann Strauss, Léo Delibes and bel canto opera, 12-tone, vaudeville, jazz and pop balladry. Other sources include “The Odyssey,” James Joyce’s “Ulysses,” Samuel Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot” and John Fowles’ “The Magus.” He also likens it to Kazuo Ishiguro’s “The Unconsoled,” though this novel was published decades later in 1996.Īntonio Esposito as a Man with a Shoe Sample Kit from the Friday/Sunday cast (Courtesy of the Eklund Opera Program) It is loosely based on Robert Louis Stevenson’s “A Child’s Garden of Verses,” a 19th century collection of children’s poems. He explained that the libretto, written by John Donahue, references many different literary sources. “The whole opera is a wonderfully precocious exercise in literature and music,” Carthy added. “It’s a true ensemble piece of theater, meaning there are no stars,” director Leigh Holman said. With an ensemble cast of seven characters, the opera offered opportunities for all of the performers to shine. Each one had their own scene with an aria, showcasing their dramatic and musical skills. Their colorful interpretation leaned into the absurdity of Argento’s opera - with psychedelic color-coded costumes, cartoonish projections and symbolic dancing puppets. The University of Colorado Boulder’s Eklund Opera Program performed the opening night of “Postcard from Morocco” on Thursday, April 21 in the Imig Music Building’s Music Theater. Where did they come from? How did they arrive in that place?” “But everybody has their internal odyssey that they have to deal with. “(This opera) represents an external odyssey that doesn’t happen,” conductor Nicholas Carthy said. In one-act with no linear plot, the opera explores the ephemeral nature of human existence. This is the premise of Dominick Argento’s “Postcard from Morocco,” a surrealistic chamber opera premiered in 1971. As the scene unfolds, each character is forced to examine their own personal baggage, literally and metaphorically. They each hold a symbolic everyday item - a hand mirror, a cake box, a hat box, an old luggage, a paint box, a shoe sample kit and a cornet case - that represents their own stories. Seven strangers find themselves waiting together in a train station on their way to an exotic destination. The colorful Friday/Sunday cast of “Postcard from Morocco” (Courtesy of the Eklund Opera Program)
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