José Saramago.
Uma visão apaixonada, sobre o homem que da Estátua descobriu a Pedra.
Perguntam-me não raras vezes:
- "Qual o livro de José Saramago que mais gostaste de ler?"
A resposta que pode ser dada a cada momento:
- "Impossível de dizer... não sei responder, não seria justo para com outros (livros) não nomeados. Mas uma coisa sempre soube. Uma obra de Saramago, enquanto "pseudo ser vivo" ou com "gente dentro" tem que me raptar, prender-me, não me deixar sair de dentro das suas páginas. Fazer de mim um refém, e só me libertar no final da leitura... mesmo ao chegar à última página. Aí, o "Eu" leitor que se mantém refém, liberta-se da "gente que a obra transporta dentro" e segue o seu caminho.
Mas segue um caminho que se faz caminhando, conjuntamente com mais uma família"
"Soprano Nikki Einfeld and baritone Daniel Cilli in Death With Interruptions
Credit: Maggie Beidelman"
"Last weekend, in its most ambitious program to date, Left Coast Chamber Ensemble mounted two chamber operas, both written within the last three years by Kurt Rohde.
Two new, good operas is a lot to ask of any composer, so it’s not disappointing that only one is enjoyable. Death With Interruptions, adapted from the José Saramago novel, has plenty of onstage help from some of the Bay Area’s best performers (including Volti Chorus), but fails to charm — and it tries, hard.
Like so many of Saramago’s stories, Deathhas a fantastical central conceit — a female Grim Reaper, who ultimately spares the life of her lover — that requires special care to come off. The book balances good writing with sufficiently large omissions, gaps to be perfectly filled in by the individual reader. But Rohde’s opera (finished in 2015 and revised this year) doesn’t have this advantage, and too much goes on, diluting any impact that might have been there. The music, though frequently changing, is forgettable, and redundant narration is especially irritating when the core characters are so tired." (...)
"Bay Area vocal ensemble Volti San Francisco, cellist Leighton Fong,
and baritone Daniel Cilli in Death With Interruptions
«No dia seguinte ninguém morreu».Assim começa este novo romance de José Saramago.Colocada a hipótese, o autor desenvolve-a em todas as suas consequências, e o leitor é conduzido com mão de mestre numa ampla divagação sobre a vida, a morte, o amor, e o sentido, ou a falta dele, da nossa existência.
Sinopse de apresentação da obra "As Intermitências da Morte" (2005)
O vídeo da ópera pode ser visualizado via YouTube aqui
Left Coast Chamber Ensemble presents "Death With Interruptions"
an opera in one act [2014-15]
"In a small Iberian country death decided to stop working.
At first everyone was overjoyed but soon all concerned –
the Church, the state, the undertakers, the insurance companies – realized that the situation was dire.
The Maphia offered temporary relief but could not really replace death. death decides to start working again but under new and more regular conditions those who will die will get a timely notice.
She informs the ministry of her intentions."
Recommendations for listening are either using earbuds or a high quality sound system; The limited sound production capabilities provided by laptop speakers will not optimally serve your listening experience.
____________
Leading Blank: Introitus Interruptio
SCENE I
Chorus: The situation was grave
death’s Letter
Chorus: We, here...
Dear sir,
I’ve got a letter for you...
Chorus: Don’t get upset
Like an innocent fool
SCENE II
Interlude I: Dance Mixed
Chorus: Even God has no idea
You look very pretty
I am going to give you one last chance
Chorus: death knows her man
Recitative: I have a big favor to ask...
Trio: death heard her cellist play
SCENE III
Interlude II: Vocalise
Chorus: death heard her cellist play
I only came to thank you
Recitative: I didn’t mean what you were thinking
You must fail sometimes...
I have a recollection
Pantomime: death turns away
Recitative: The wretched cellist
Please go away...
The letter
Trailing Blank: Exeunt
____________
Based on José Saramago’s novel "Death With Interruptions," translated by Margaret Jull Costa
Libretto by Thomas Laqueur/Music by Kurt Rohde
Matilda Hofman, Conductor/Directed by Majel Connery
Nikki Einfeld, soprano/Joe Dan Harper, tenor/Daniel Cilli, baritone
___
Left Coast Chamber Ensemble:
Leighton Fong, solo cello/Eric Zivian, piano/Loren Mach, percussion
Anna Presler, and Jory Fankuchen, violins/Phyllis Kamrin, viola/Tanya Tomkins, cello
Phil Acimovic, electronics
___
Volti San Francisco:
Robert Geary, Artistic Director/Sue Bohlin, Chorus Master
"San Francisco, Estados Unidos, 17 mar (Lusa) -- A ópera "As intermitências da morte" ("Death with interruptions"), de Kurt Rohde, baseada no romance homónimo de José Saramago, estreia-se na quinta-feira, em San Francisco, no Estado norte-americano da Califórnia.
A ópera, com libreto do historiador Thomas Laqueur, tem duas récitas, já esgotadas, no ODC Theater, é encenada por Majel Connery e dirigida pela maestrina Matilda Hofman.
Esta não é a primeira vez que uma obra de Saramago é adaptada ao palco lírico, mas "As intermitências da morte" é a primeira ópera produzida pelo Left Coast Chamber Ensemble."
