Coraline (opera)

Last updated
Coraline
Opera by Mark-Anthony Turnage
LibrettistRory Mullarkey
Based on Coraline by Neil Gaiman
Premiere
27 March 2018 (2018-03-27)

Coraline is an opera in two acts by English composer Mark-Anthony Turnage, with a libretto by Rory Mullarkey. It is based on the 2002 dark fantasy children's novella by Neil Gaiman.

The opera had its world premiere at the Barbican Centre in London from 27 March to 7 April 2018, presented by the Barbican and produced by the Royal Opera House in a co-production with Folkoperan, Opéra de Lille, Theater Freiburg and Victorian Opera. [1] The premiere was directed by Aletta Collins and conducted by Sian Edwards. [2] [3]

Roles

RoleVoice typePrimere Cast
Coraline Soprano Mary Bevan
Mother / Other Mother Mezzo-soprano Kitty Whately
Father / Other Father Baritone Alexander Robin Baker
Mr. Bobo / Other Mr. Bobo Tenor Harry Nicoll
Miss Spink / Other Miss Spink Soprano Gillian Keith
Miss Forcible / Other Miss Forcible Mezzo-soprano Frances McCafferty
Ghost Child 1 Mezzo-soprano Gillian Keith
Ghost Child 2 Tenor Harry Nicoll
Ghost Child 3 Baritone Dominic Sedgwick

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neil Gaiman</span> English writer (born 1960)

Neil Richard MacKinnon Gaiman is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre, and screenplays. His works include the comic book series The Sandman and the novels Good Omens, Stardust, Anansi Boys, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book. He co-created the TV series adaptions of Good Omens and The Sandman.

<i>Coraline</i> 2002 childrens novel by Neil Gaiman

Coraline is a 2002 British dark fantasy horror children's novella by British author Neil Gaiman. Gaiman started writing Coraline in 1990, and it was published in 2002 by Bloomsbury and HarperCollins. It was awarded the 2003 Hugo Award for Best Novella, the 2003 Nebula Award for Best Novel, and the 2002 Bram Stoker Award for Best Work for Young Readers. The Guardian ranked Coraline #82 in its list of 100 Best Books of the 21st Century. It was adapted as a 2009 stop-motion animated film, directed by Henry Selick under the same name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark-Anthony Turnage</span> English composer (born 1960)

Mark-Anthony Turnage is an English composer of contemporary classical music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dave McKean</span> British artist (born 1963)

David McKean is an English artist. His work incorporates drawing, painting, photography, collage, found objects, digital art, and sculpture. McKean has illustrated works by authors such as Neil Gaiman, Grant Morrison, Heston Blumenthal, Ray Bradbury and Stephen King. He has also directed three feature films.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Selick</span> American filmmaker (born 1952)

Charles Henry Selick Jr. is an American filmmaker and clay animator, best known for directing the stop-motion animated films The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), James and the Giant Peach (1996), Monkeybone (2001), Coraline (2009), and Wendell & Wild (2022). Selick is also known for his collaborations with the late voice actor and artist Joe Ranft.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Adès</span> British composer, pianist and conductor

Thomas Joseph Edmund Adès is a British composer, pianist and conductor. Five compositions by Adès received votes in the 2017 Classic Voice poll of the greatest works of art music since 2000: The Tempest (2004), Violin Concerto (2005), Tevot (2007), In Seven Days (2008), and Polaris (2010).

Anna Nicole is an English opera in 2 acts and 16 scenes, with music by Mark-Anthony Turnage to an English libretto by Richard Thomas. Based on the life of American model Anna Nicole Smith, the opera received its première on 17 February 2011 at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, directed by Richard Jones. A recording of the opera was broadcast on BBC Four and BBC iPlayer on 25 March 2011. The broadcast drew in 67,700 viewers. The opera received its first London revival at Covent Garden in September 2014.

<i>Coraline</i> (film) 2009 film by Henry Selick

Coraline is a 2009 American stop-motion animated dark fantasy horror film written and directed by Henry Selick, based on Neil Gaiman's novella of the same name. Produced by LAIKA, as the studio's first feature film, it features the voice talents of Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French, Keith David, John Hodgman, Robert Bailey Jr., and Ian McShane. The musical score is by Bruno Coulais. The film tells the story of its eponymous character discovering an idealized alternate universe behind a secret door in her new home, unaware that it contains something dark and sinister.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kazushi Ōno</span> Japanese conductor

Kazushi Ōno is a Japanese conductor. He is currently music director of the Brussels Philharmonic and of the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, and artistic director of New National Theatre Tokyo.

<i>Wheres Neil When You Need Him?</i> 2006 compilation album by various

Where's Neil When You Need Him? is a tribute album based on the works of fantasy writer Neil Gaiman.

The Silver Tassie is an opera in four acts by the English composer Mark-Anthony Turnage. The English libretto was written by Amanda Holden based on the 1927/28 play of the same name by Seán O'Casey. The opera was composed between 1997 and 1999.

Coraline is a 2002 novella by the British writer Neil Gaiman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eva-Maria Westbroek</span> Dutch soprano opera singer (born 1970)

Eva-Maria Westbroek is a Dutch soprano opera singer.

<i>Twice Through the Heart</i> Opera by Mark-Anthony Turnage

Twice Through the Heart is a musical work by the English composer Mark-Anthony Turnage, variously described as a dramatic scena, as a monodrama, as a song cycle, as a chamber opera or even as a "dramatic song-cycle-cum-scena". It is scored for mezzo-soprano and 16 instrumentalists and sets an English-language libretto by the Scottish poet Jackie Kay based on her script for a television programme about a woman jailed for killing her violent husband.

Greek is an opera in two acts composed by Mark-Anthony Turnage to a libretto adapted by Turnage and Jonathan Moore from Steven Berkoff's 1980 verse play Greek. The play and the opera are a re-telling of Sophocles's Greek tragedy Oedipus Rex with the setting changed to the East End of London in the 1980s. The opera was first performed on 17 June 1988 in the Carl-Orff-Saal of the Gasteig, Munich, in a co-production by the Munich Biennale, the Edinburgh International Festival and the BBC.

<i>Coraline</i> (musical) 2009 musical by Stephin Merritt

Coraline is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephin Merritt and a book by David Greenspan. It is based on the 2002 novella of the same name by Neil Gaiman. The story follows Coraline Jones, a young girl who discovers a parallel world beyond a secret door in her new home. The world has everything Coraline dreams of, but hides an ominous secret.

Amanda Juliet Holden was a British pianist, librettist, translator, editor and academic teacher. She is known for translating opera librettos to more contemporary English for the English National Opera, and for writing new librettos, especially in collaboration with Brett Dean. She contributed to encyclopedias such as the New Penguin Opera Guide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grant Doyle (baritone)</span> Musical artist

Grant Doyle is an Australian/British operatic baritone.

Rory Mullarkey is an Irish playwright and librettist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coraline (given name)</span> First name

Coraline is a feminine given name, usually considered a French diminutive of the name Coral, which is derived from the name for the precious coral used to make jewelry. It was first used by French composer Adolphe Adam for a character in his 1849 comic opera Le toréador. As a diminutive of Coral, the name is traditionally pronounced with an een ending. It might also be a diminutive of the name Cora. Coraline is also a name for a red, pink, or orange shade of the color coral. Author Neil Gaiman believed that he had invented the name as a rhyming variant of the name Caroline for the title character in his dark fantasy horror children's novella Coraline. Gaiman pronounced the name of the character with a long i to rhyme with the word wine. Gaiman also liked the name's resemblance to the word coral, which he explained is "both beautiful and hard and hidden." He also later found the name had been used for a tragic heroine in a Victorian-era song as well as for a type of material used to make corsets.

References

  1. "Mark-Anthony Turnage: new opera Coraline announced". www.boosey.com. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  2. Ashley, Tim (30 March 2018). "Coraline review – creepy adaptation of Neil Gaiman's tale will turn kids on to opera". the Guardian. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  3. "As If It Couldn't Get Any Creepier, Neil Gaiman's 'Coraline' Is Becoming an Opera" . Retrieved 9 April 2018.