Angel's Bone
{{Short description|2011/2016 Opera by Du Yun and Royce Vavrek}}
{{italic title}}
Angel's Bone is an opera by composer Du Yun and librettist Royce Vavrek in one act that follows the plight of two angels discovered on earth who are forced into spiritual and sexual slavery at the hands of a financially troubled couple. The work is a contemporary parable{{cite web|url=http://www.arabtimesonline.com/news/opera-takes-new-look-at-trafficking-angels-bone-explores-complexities-of-culprits/|title=Opera takes new look at trafficking – Angel's Bone explores complexities of culprits|work=Arab Times|date=9 January 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170317062808/http://www.arabtimesonline.com/news/opera-takes-new-look-at-trafficking-angels-bone-explores-complexities-of-culprits/|archive-date=2017-03-17|accessdate=2016-01-31}} that explores the dark effects behind modern-day slavery, and human trafficking and probes the psyche of traffickers.{{Cite web|url=https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/201811/02/P2018110200481.htm|title=Pulitzer Prize for Music winner Du Yun to present Angel's Bone|last=|first=|date=November 2, 2018|website=Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region|access-date=February 20, 2020}} Du Yun draws her inspiration from a range of musical genres – from classical to punk to the cabaret.{{Cite web|url=https://www.scmp.com/native/lifestyle/topics/scene-changers/article/2160424/chinese-born-du-yuns-pulitzer-winning-fantasy|title=Du Yun's Pulitzer-winning trafficking opera comes to Hong Kong|date=2018-08-20|work=South China Morning Post|access-date=2020-02-20}}
Performance history
The original 35-minute chamber version of Angel’s Bone was commissioned by the Mann Center for the Performing Arts. Philadelphia, and directed by Habib Azar.[https://manncenter.org/history "History – Commissions / Co-Commissions"], Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia
Julian Wachner conducted the world premiere performance of the full-length opera with Novus NY and the Trinity Wall Street Choir. The production, which opened on January 6, 2016, at the 3LD Art & Technology Center in Greenwich Street, Lower Manhattan, as part of the Prototype Festival in New York City, was directed by Michael McQuilken{{cite web|url=http://prototypefestival.org/archive/show/angels-bone1/|title=Angel's Bone production details|date=2016-01-06|website=Prototypefestival.org|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170502195353/http://prototypefestival.org/archive/show/angels-bone1/|archive-date=2017-05-02|accessdate=2017-04-11}} and co-produced by Beth Morrison Projects, HERE, and Trinity Wall Street.Trinity of Wall Street Choir, NOVUS NY, Wachner, Julian. National Sawdust. 2017, compact disc.
The opera's premiere in Asia took place on 10 November 2018 at the Kwai Tsing Theatre in Hong Kong during the New Vision Art Festival .{{Cite web|url=https://www.newvisionfestival.gov.hk/2018/en/angel.html|title=Angel's Bone – New Vision Arts Festival 2018|website=www.newvisionfestival.gov.hk|access-date=2020-02-19}} The Ventura College streamed a production in January 2021.{{Cite web|url=https://www.venturacollege.edu/departments/academic/music/upcoming-performances|title=Upcoming Performances – Angel's Bone by Du Yun|date=January 2021|access-date=29 January 2021}}
Roles
| class="wikitable"
|+{{sronly|Roles, voice types, premiere cast}} | |||
| Roles | 35-minute chamber premiere, 2011
!Premiere cast, 6 January 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Mrs. X.E. | mezzo-soprano | Hai-Ting Chin | Abigail Fischer |
| Mr. X.E. | baritone | Royce Vavrek | Kyle Pfortmiller{{Cite web|url=http://www.kylepfortmiller.com/|title=Kyle Pfortmiller|website=www.kylepfortmiller.com|access-date=2020-02-19}} |
| Boy Angel | tenor | Peter Tantsits | Kyle Bielfield |
| Girl Angel | vocalist | Du Yun | Jennifer Charles |
| Man on the TV | n/a
|Thomas McCargar[https://www.bach-cantatas.com/Bio/McCargar-Thomas.htm Thomas McCargar (Baritone) - Short biography] | ||
| Female Customer/TV Host | n/a
|Melanie Russell |
Synopsis
Angel's Bone follows the plight of two angels whose nostalgia for earthly delights has, mysteriously, brought them back to our world. Battered and bruised from their long journey, they are found by a husband and wife, Mr. and Mrs. X. E.
Facing a financial crisis, the couple had grown far apart. The unspoken aggression between them is palpable. Nevertheless, when they find the fallen cherubs in their garden, Mr. and Mrs. X.E. Set out to nurse the wounded angels back to health.
They bathe them, wash the dirt from their nails and lock them in a room, leaving them in a claw-foot bathtub for a bed. They then decide to exploit the magical beings, clipping their wings and forcing them into prostitution to earn back their plucked feathers.{{cite web |last=Vavrek|first=Royce|author-link=Royce Vavrek|title=Synopsis |url=https://www.laopera.org/performances/201920-season/angels-bone/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191016135548/https://www.laopera.org/performances/201920-season/angels-bone/|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 16, 2019|publisher=Los Angeles Opera|access-date=19 February 2020}}
Critical reception
"Du Yun's audacious and searing Angel's Bone. It's an appallingly good work when you consider that it takes on the subject of child trafficking and mixes in elements of magic realism and a musical cocktail of Renaissance polyphony, electronica, Modernism, punk rock and cabaret ... The director, Michael McQuilken, drew courageous and memorable performances from all." Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim, The New York Times.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/08/arts/music/review-in-angels-bone-terrified-seraphim-at-the-mercy-of-mortals.html|title=In Angel's Bone, Terrified Seraphim at the Mercy of Mortals|author=Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim|newspaper=The New York Times|date=7 January 2016|accessdate=2016-01-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171028042728/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/08/arts/music/review-in-angels-bone-terrified-seraphim-at-the-mercy-of-mortals.html|archive-date=28 October 2017|url-status=live}}
"Angel's Bone is a mature and complex work. It is a fable inside an allegory and its soundscape ranges across the history of Western music." Natalie Axton, Hyperallergic.{{cite web |url=http://hyperallergic.com/266890/an-opera-about-plucking-and-pimping-fallen-angels/ |title=An Opera About Plucking and Pimping Fallen Angels |website=Hyperallergic.com |date=2016-01-11 |accessdate=2016-01-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160125230831/http://hyperallergic.com/266890/an-opera-about-plucking-and-pimping-fallen-angels/ |archive-date=2016-01-25 |url-status=live}}
"Disturbing, powerful and original, effectively using electronics and video, the opera ended with the evil wife tearfully pleading her case on daytime TV, adding the final nail of credibility to a work that gave me nightmares, yet one that I would nonetheless see again." Anne Midgette, The Washington Post.{{cite news|last=Midgette|first=Anne|author-link=Anne Midgette|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/classical-music-isnt-in-trouble-but-the-institutions-performing-it-are/2016/01/18/ffae1bc4-be08-11e5-9443-7074c3645405_story.html|title=At an opera festival, tales of drug cartels. At opera houses, same old song.|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=2012-12-14|accessdate=2016-01-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160121111504/https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/classical-music-isnt-in-trouble-but-the-institutions-performing-it-are/2016/01/18/ffae1bc4-be08-11e5-9443-7074c3645405_story.html|archive-date=2016-01-21|url-status=live}}
"Mezzo Abigail Fischer's wonderfully pitiless demeanor and chilly coloratura set up a Lady Macbeth-like Mrs. X.E.; Kyle Pfortmiller brought out the brutish insecurity of her husband, so easily persuaded to do her dirty work. Kyle Bielfield's wide vocal range and sweetness embodied the heartbreaking innocence of the Boy Angel; as the Girl Angel, Jennifer Charles's nonclassical voice scraped and howled against an electronic score, making her pain excruciatingly audible." Heidi Waleson, The Wall Street Journal.{{cite web|last=Waleson|first=Heidi|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/dystopia-on-stage-at-prototype-festival-1452549439|title=Dystopia on Stage at Prototype Festival|work=The Wall Street Journal|date=2016-01-11|accessdate=2016-01-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160131005711/http://www.wsj.com/articles/dystopia-on-stage-at-prototype-festival-1452549439|archive-date=2016-01-31|url-status=live}}{{subscription required}}
The opera received the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Music. The Pulitzer jury described the piece as a bold work "that integrates vocal and instrumental elements and a wide range of styles into a harrowing allegory for human trafficking in the modern world."[https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/du-yun "Angel's Bone, by Du Yun], The Pulitzer Prizes. Columbia University. Accessed February 20, 2020. Du Yun is the first Asian woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Music.
Recordings
- Abigail Fischer (Mrs. X. E.), Kyle Pfortmiller (Mr. X.E.), Jennifer Charles (Girl Angel), Kyle Bielfield (Boy Angel), Thomas McCargar (Man on the TV), Melanie Russell (Female Customer/TV Host), Choir of Trinity Wall Street, NOVUS NY, recorded at National Sawdust, Williamsburg, New York, conducted by Julian Wachner. Label: VIA Records 2017.[https://channelduyun.com/angels-bone-du-yun-2017/ "Angel's Bone (2017)"], album
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Vimeo|332753106|Trailer}}, Beth Morrison Projects
- {{YouTube|1uTyGH93J9Y|Abigail Fischer sings Mrs. X. E.'s Mirror Scene}}
- {{YouTube|pd5UWXMVeEU|Boy Angel aria|link=no}}
- {{YouTube|YJ2W3XjC_FA|Angel's Bone, a film based on the opera|link=no}}
- [https://channelduyun.com/ Du Yun's website]
{{PulitzerPrize Music 2011–2020}}
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Category:English-language operas
Category:Pulitzer Prize for Music–winning works
Category:Opera world premieres at the Prototype Festival