Opus (play)

Last updated
Opus
Written by Michael Hollinger
CharactersElliot
Alan
Carl
Dorian
Grace
Date premieredJanuary 2006
Place premiered Arden Theatre Company
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Original languageEnglish
SettingInteriors of NYC, London, Pittsburgh, and Washington, D.C.

Opus is a 2006 play written by Michael Hollinger.

Plot

The play involves the Lazara Quartet, a string quartet at the top of their field but with a sudden need to replace violist Dorian, who was just fired. Dorian is a mix of an emotionally unstable man who needs medication and a musical genius who demands the best of the other three. Dorian and his lover Elliot, the first violinist of the quartet, have frequent outbursts, which have slowed the quartet’s progress to the point that Dorian is fired because he "steals" an expensive Lazara violin that was given to the group and is played by Elliot. The three remaining members recruit Grace, a talented, younger musician who is unsure of her career path. The four work to perfect their skills as a team preparing for a special White House performance. We also find out that Carl has cancer and is probably dying.

Contents

The play culminates after the White House performance with the abrupt reappearance of Dorian. Behind the scenes, Dorian proposed to Carl that the group fire Elliot, rehire Dorian, and keep Grace. Carl, Alan, Grace, and Dorian unite as a bloc and fire Elliot. An argument over possession of the Lazara violin explodes, and Carl takes the instrument from Elliot and smashes it to pieces, saying that the quartet must have "perspective". In the final words of the play, Alan says, "Elliot, Dorian, Carl and me, all of us in our nineties… playing the Adagio from Opus fifty-nine… And we come to a rest in the middle of the movement and stop, just...stop."

Performances

The play made its New York debut at the 59E59 Theaters as part of the Primary Stages season on October 7, 2007, with David Beach, Mahira Kakkar, Michael Laurence, Douglas Rees and Richard Topol. [1] It was adapted as a radio drama performed in May 2012 by L.A. Theatre Works with Kevin Chamberlin, Jere Burns, Steven Culp and Liza Weil, which was released in September 2012. [2]

Related Research Articles

Antonín Dvořák Czech composer

Antonín Leopold Dvořák was a Czech composer, one of the first to achieve worldwide recognition. Following the Romantic-era nationalist example of his predecessor Bedřich Smetana, Dvořák frequently employed rhythms and other aspects of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia. Dvořák's own style has been described as "the fullest recreation of a national idiom with that of the symphonic tradition, absorbing folk influences and finding effective ways of using them".

La Monte Thornton Young is an American composer, musician, and theorist recognized as one of the first American minimalist composers and an important figure in post-war avant-garde music. He is best known for his exploration of sustained tones, beginning with his 1958 composition "Trio for Strings." His works have called into question the nature and definition of music. Despite having released very little recorded material throughout his career—much of it currently out of print—some sources have described him as "the most influential living composer today". The Observer wrote that his work has had "an utterly profound effect on the last half-century of music."

String orchestra

A string orchestra is an orchestra consisting solely of a string section made up of the bowed strings used in Western Classical music. The instruments of such an orchestra are most often the following: the violin, which is divided into first and second violin players, the viola, the cello, and usually, but not always, the double bass.

The 36th Annual Grammy Awards were held on March 1, 1994. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. Whitney Houston was the Big Winner winning 3 awards including Record of the Year and Album of the Year while opening the show with "I Will Always Love You".

Guarneri Quartet

The Guarneri Quartet was an American string quartet founded in 1964 at the Marlboro Music School and Festival. It was admired for its rich, warm, complex tone and its bold, dramatic interpretations of the quartet literature, with a particular affinity for the works of Beethoven and Bartók. Through teaching at Harpur College, University of Maryland, Curtis Institute of Music, and at Marlboro, the Guarneri players helped nurture interest in quartet playing for a generation of young musicians. The group's extensive touring and recording activities, coupled with its outreach efforts to engage audiences, contributed to the rapid growth in the popularity of chamber music during the 1970s and 1980s. The quartet is notable for its longevity: the group performed for 45 years with only one personnel change, when cellist David Soyer retired in 2001 and was replaced by his student Peter Wiley. The Guarneri Quartet disbanded in 2009.

<i>Music of the Heart</i> 1999 film directed by Wes Craven

Music of the Heart is a 1999 American biographical musical drama film directed by Wes Craven and written by Pamela Gray, based on the 1995 documentary Small Wonders.

Alan Rawsthorne was a British composer. He was born in Haslingden, Lancashire, and is buried in Thaxted churchyard in Essex.

Carl Reinecke

Carl Heinrich Carsten Reinecke was a German composer, conductor, and pianist in the Middle Romantic Era.

<i>Lay It Down</i> (Cowboy Junkies album) 1996 studio album by Cowboy Junkies

Lay It Down is the sixth studio album by the Canadian alt-country band Cowboy Junkies. Released on February 27, 1996, it was the group's first album for Geffen Records after the end of their contract with RCA Records. It was the band's first album that could be described as straight-ahead rock, rather than country rock, country or blues. It was also their first album consisting entirely of original material, with no covers. "A Common Disaster" and "Speaking Confidentially" were notable hits for the band on Canadian radio.

Paganini Quartet American virtuoso string quartet

The Paganini Quartet was an American virtuoso string quartet founded by its first violinist, Henri Temianka, in 1946. The quartet drew its name from the fact that all four of its instruments, made by Antonio Stradivari (1644–1737), had once been owned by the great Italian violinist and composer Niccolo Paganini (1782–1840).

Ferdinand David (musician) German musician

Ferdinand Ernst Victor Carl David was a German virtuoso violinist and composer.

The Shanghai Quartet is a string quartet that formed in 1983. The quartet is made up of: first violinist Weigang Li, violist Honggang Li, and cellist Nicholas Tzavaras. Effective March 17, 2020, the Shanghai Quartet accepted the resignation of second violinist Yi-Wen Jiang. The group's tours have included North America, South America, Japan, China, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe. Among their performances, the Shanghai Quartet has developed a long list of performance collaborators including Yo-Yo Ma, David Soyer, Eugenia Zukerman, Sharon Isbin, Ruth Laredo, Arnold Steinhardt, and Chanticleer.

Fitzwilliam Quartet British string quartet

The Fitzwilliam Quartet (FSQ) is a British string quartet. The group was founded in 1968 by four Cambridge undergraduates. There have been a number of changes in personnel over the years, but Alan George from the original quartet is still a member as of 2019. It currently consists of Alan George, viola; Sally Pendlebury, violoncello; and Lucy Russell and Marcus Barcham Stevens, violins.

Henri Temianka American classical musician (1906-1992)

Henri Temianka was a virtuoso violinist, conductor, author and music educator.

The Danish Quartet is a name which has been carried by four Danish quartets:

The String Quartet in E minor, Op. 83, was one of three major chamber music works composed by Sir Edward Elgar in 1918. The others were the Violin Sonata in E minor, Op. 82, and the Piano Quintet in A minor, Op. 84. Along with the Cello Concerto in E minor, Op. 85 of 1919, these were to be his last major works prior to his death in 1934.

Carl Nielsen's String Quartet No. 1 in G minor, Opus 13, was first performed privately on 18 December 1889 in Copenhagen. It was the first of Nielsen's four string quartets in the official series.

Carl Nielsen's String Quartet No. 3 in E flat major or Quartet for Two Violins, Viola and Cello in E flat major, Opus 14, was composed in 1897 and 1898. The third of Nielsen's four string quartets in the official series, it was first performed privately in Vor Forening on 1 May 1899 with Anton Svendsen, Ludvig Holm, Frederik Marke and Ejler Jensen as performers.

Carl Nielsen's String Quartet No. 2 in F minor or Quartet for Two Violins, Viola and Cello in F minor, Opus 5, was composed in 1890, partly in Denmark but mostly in Germany where the composer was travelling on a stipend. The second of Nielsen's four string quartets in the official series, it was first performed privately for Joseph Joachim on 18 November 1890 at the Hochschule für Ausübende Tonkunst in Berlin.

Maria Newman

Maria Louise Newman is an American composer of classical music, violist and pianist. She is the youngest child of Alfred Newman, a major Hollywood film composer. Maria holds the Louis and Annette Kaufman Composition Chair; and the Joachim Chassman Violin Chair at the Montgomery Arts House for Music and Architecture in Malibu, California, and is a founder of the Malibu Friends of Music,. Her library of original works represents a range of genres, from large-scale orchestral works, works for the ballet, chamber works, choral and vocal works, to new collaborative scores for vintage silent film. She has been presented with many awards and commissions, including musical commendations from the United States Congress (2009), the California State Senate (2009), the California State Assembly (2009), the City of Malibu (2010), and the Annenberg Foundation (2011).

References

  1. Isherwood, Charles. "Before the Big Night: Beethoven, Sweat, Tears". New York Times. Retrieved 2013-03-21.
  2. "LATW "Opus" airs 09/0912, by Michael Hollinger". kpfk. Retrieved 2013-03-21.