Facing Goya
Facing Goya (
Santiago de Compostela, Spain on 3 August 2000. The revision with the cast heard on the album premiered at the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe, Germany, on October 19, 2002. Vital Statistics has been withdrawn. The Santiago version included more material from Vital Statistics.[1]
The opera was most recently performed at the 2014 Spoleto Festival USA, located in Charleston, South Carolina.
The expanded opera deals with the
skull, which he hid from the likes of Paul Broca, and which the Art Banker finds under a floorboard in a "degenerate art" gallery in Act II. This skull is the object of numerous fights in the second and third acts, often with one character snatching it from another. The opera is non-realistic in its presentation, with only one through-character, the Art Banker. Indeed, when Goya does appear, it is not the result of cloning, but a purely fantastical device. Four other performers play different roles in each section who are thematically connected. In addition, two actors are called for in non-speaking roles. The Art Banker also speaks narration into a dictaphone
, but this was omitted from the studio recording, though the lines are reprinted in the booklet.
Roles
- Art Banker, a widow (contralto), loves Goya, but is corrupted by money. She foolishly wants to patent Goya's talent gene. Despite this, she is the most charismatic and sympathetic figure of the satire. She is a time tripper. An art banker is a person who deals in exchange of famous artworks among museums. This character is currently a specialist in the work of Goya.
- Eugenicist/Art Critic 1, Microbiologist). At one point she nearly chokes herself with a tape measure, but continues to sing.
- Soprano 2 (lyric), unhappy individualist who sees the dangers of racism in gene control. She is opposed to cloning and State ownership of genetic readouts. She does not believe that recreating a person recreates that person's talent. (Craniometery Assistant 2, Art Critic 2, Genetic Research Doctor)
- Chief Executive of a Bio-TechCompany)
- Academic, Francisco Goya)
Soldiers, apparition of Goya, craniometry interns, porters, lab technicians.
Setting
The play moves through three times and places (act 3 and 4 are the same location weeks apart, and all but the baritone remain the same character). The libretto calls for "a
diagrams
are used throughout the production.
Costumes
The Genetic Research Doctor (Soprano 2) "wears jeans and a sparkly T-shirt".
The Genetic Academic (Baritone) "wears bicycle clips and a helmet".
The Microbiologist (Soprano 1) "wears a
stud earrings
."
Orchestration
This is the first opera Nyman has scored with his
baritone sax, flute, alto flute, piccolo, trumpet and flugelhorn (doubled), French horn, bass trombone (doubled), tuba (doubled), euphonium (doubled), and electric guitar
.
Recording
| Facing Goya | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Warner Classics | ||||
| Producer | Michael Nyman Austin Ince | |||
| Michael Nyman chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| MusicWeb International | (mostly favorable) [1] |
A recording was released in
Alexander Balanescu left the band during the recording of this album, and his concertmaster seat awarded to Gabrielle Lester, who previously recorded with the band on La Sept (1989). Nyman's own label, MN Music, reissued the opera with a cover featuring his own photograph of a mass of dolls wrapped in plastic, in 2011. That edition contains a third disc with excerpts of Man and Boy: Dada and Love Counts
.
Personnel
Cast
- Hilary Summers as the Art Banker
- Winnie Böwe as Soprano 1
- Marie Angelas Soprano 2
- Harry Niccoll as Tenor
- Omar Ebrahim as Baritone
The Michael Nyman Band
- Alexander Balanescu, violin (leader, Acts 1-3)
- Gabrielle Lester, violin (leader, act 4)
- Catherine Thompson, violin
- Gillian Findlay, violin
- Katherine Shave, violin
- Catherine Musker, viola
- Bruce White, viola
- Tony Hinnigan, cello
- Roger Linley, double bass
- Steven Williams, double bass
- Martin Elliott, bass guitar
- David Roach, soprano, alto sax
- Simon Haram, soprano, alto sax
- Andrew Findon, baritone sax, flute, alto flute, piccolo
- Steve Sidwell, trumpet, flugelhorn
- Nigel Gomm, trumpet, flugelhorn
- David Lee, French horn
- Nigel Barr, bass trombone, tuba, euphonium
- Andrew Fawbert, bass trombone, tuba, euphonium
- James Woodrow, electric guitar
- Conducted by Michael Nyman
Crew
- Produced by Michael Nyman and Austin Ince
- Engineer: Austin Ince
- Assistant Engineers: Andrew Nicholls, Paul Richardson, Alex Scannell
- Recorded at Abbey Road Studios, London, June 2001, March 2002 and May 2002
Snake Ranch, May 2002 - Mixed at Sony Music Studios London, London, June and July 2002
- Mastered by Bob Whitney at Sony Studios, London, August 2002
- A&R: Dirk Lange
- Executive Producer: Elizabeth Lloyd
- Production coordinator: Sarah Morley
- Assistant Coordinator: Miranda Westcott
- Composer's Assistant: Robert Worby
- Special thanks: Vivienne Guiness, Nicholas Hare, Michael Hastings, Jude Kelly, Graham Sheffield, Harry Lyth, James Mackay, Julio Marti, Jonathan Moore, Michael Neve, Karen Price, James Rushton, Neil Wallace
- Published by Chester Music Limited/Michael Nyman Limited 2002
- Project Manager: Lee Woollard
- Editorial Assistant: Christian Müller
- Translations: French, Olivier Laruaz-Gaillard - German, Almut Lenz-Konrad - Spanish, Ángel Seoane
- Art direction and cover illustrations: Thierry Cohen, Paris
- Cover illustrations contain a detail of Petrus Camper, drawing, and portrait of Francisco Goya
- Special thanks to Max for the x-ray of his skull.
References
Libretto by Victoria Hardie. Essays by Michael Nyman, Robert Worby, and Dr. Michael Neve in the booklet of the album, Warner Classics 0927-45342-2
- ^ Pwyll ap Siôn. The Music of Michael Nyman: Text, Context and Intertext. Aldershot, Hants: Ashgate Publishing, 2007. p. 197
