Turnage, M.-A. (1988) Greek. [Composition]
Abstract
Opera in two acts, duration 90 minutes. Based on Steven Berkoff's stage play of the same title, which transfers Sophocles' tragedy Oedipus Rex to the East End of London in the 1980s. The libretto is adapted by Mark-Anthony Turnage and Jonathan Moore. The work was commissioned for the Munich Biennale where it was premiered on 17 June 1988 with Fiona Kimm (mezzo-soprano); Helen Charnock (soprano); Quentin Hayes (baritone); and Richard Suart (baritone) conducted by Sian Edwards. The UK premiere was given at the Edinburgh Festival the following month. A television version of Greek was filmed at the Liverpool Warehouse in 1990 with the original world premiere cast and the Almeida Ensemble. This is now available on DVD (Arthaus Musik, 102105) see https://arthaus-musik.com/de/dvd/a-z/media/details/Greek.html. An audio recording of the original cast conducted by Richard Bernas was made in 1992 and was released on Argo (4403682) in 1994 (see https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8042215--turnage-greek) and re-released by Decca (4734262) in 2002, see https://www.deccaclassics.com/en/catalogue/products/turnage-greek-145. This recording is now available on YouTube, for the Act I Prologue see the video tab below. Greek was performed in Berlin in September 2021 conducted by Yi-Chen Lin, and in Hannover in November 2021 conducted by Stephan Zilias.
Actions (login required)
 |
View Item |
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)