From the Towers of the Moon is an opera in one act by Robert Moran, with a libretto by Michael John LaChiusa.[1][2] It is based on the classic Japanese tale Princess Kaguya, or The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, which tells of a princess from the Moon who comes to Earth. Moran knew the story as The Tale of the Shining Princess and had seen a film adaptation of the legend, Princess from the Moon, made by Kon Ichikawa in 1987.
Moran's third opera,[3] it was commissioned and premiered by the Minnesota Opera in 1992.[4] Four excerpts, written for string quartet, were recorded as "Music from the Towers of the Moon" by the Balanescu Quartet.[5]
Performance history
The opera premiered on the March 27, 1992 at the Minnesota Opera, in a production conducted by David Rudge[6] and directed by Nic Muni.[7] The part of the Emperor was performed by baritone Peter Halverson; the part of the girl was performed by Elisabeth Comeaux.[8] Assistant conductor was Carl Witt.[9]
While librettist Michael John LaChiusa was an artist-in-residence at the University of North Carolina, UNC Opera presented the U.S. east coast premiere of the opera.[10]
Music from the Towers of the Moon was performed in a new string orchestra version in April 2008, at the State University of New York, Fredonia, conducted by David Rudge.[11]
Most recently, the opera was produced in April 2024 by Opera Chapman at the Musco Center for the Arts, directed by Marc Callahan and conducted by Danko Druško.
The opera is approximately 80 minutes duration, and is scored for flute/piccolo, oboe/English horn, clarinet/bass clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, horn, trombone, three synthesizers, one percussionist: one timpani, triangle, two suspended cymbals (high and low), large tam, suspended car coil, vibraphone, chimes, two timbales, two sets of bongos (low to high, only 3 bongos used) two violins, viola, and cello (or strings without bassi).
Synopsis
The story of the opera relates how an exceptionally beautiful moon goddess came to Earth and was confronted with human emotions when she falls in love with an Emperor before returning to the Moon. In the finale, the Moon princess, accompanied by Moon gods, departs from her cosmic abode to return to Earth.
Recordings
Balanescu Quartet, Byrne/Moran/Lurie/Torke, ARGO label of London Records, October 1992.
Four Towers was inspired by House's first hearing of Moran's music for From the Towers of the Moon and was created for Toronto Dance Theatre's twenty-fifth anniversary season. The first solo was performed by Laurence Lemieux, the trio by Naoko Murakoshi, Miriane Braaf, and Bill Coleman, and the second solo by Coralee McLaren.[12]
↑ International Who's Who In Music And Musicians' Directory 2000/2001 (International Who's Who in Classical Music), Routledge; 17th edition, 200, p. 451, ISBN0-948875-53-4
Philip Glass is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimalism, being built up from repetitive phrases and shifting layers. Glass describes himself as a composer of "music with repetitive structures", which he has helped to evolve stylistically.
"The Snow Queen" is an 1844 original fairy tale by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. It was first published 21 December 1844 in New Fairy Tales. First Volume. Second Collection. The story centers on the struggle between good and evil as experienced by Gerda and her friend, Kai. Unlike Andersen's other stories, The Snow Queen is written in a novel-styled narrative, being divided into seven chapters.
"Sleeping Beauty", also titled in English as The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods, is a fairy tale about a princess cursed by an evil fairy to sleep for a hundred years before being awakened by a handsome prince. A good fairy, knowing the princess would be frightened if alone when she wakes, uses her wand to put every living person and animal in the palace and forest asleep, to awaken when the princess does.
Rusalka, Op. 114, is an opera by Antonín Dvořák. His ninth opera (1900–1901), it became his most successful, frequenting the standard repertoire worldwide. Jaroslav Kvapil wrote the libretto on Karel Jaromír Erben's and Božena Němcová's fairy tales. The rusalka is a water sprite from Slavic mythology; it usually inhabits a lake or river.
Michael John LaChiusa is an American musical theatre and opera composer, lyricist, and librettist. He is best known for musically esoteric shows such as Hello Again, Marie Christine, The Wild Party, and See What I Wanna See. He was nominated for four Tony Awards in 2000 for his score and book for both Marie Christine and The Wild Party and received another nomination in 1996 for his work on the libretto for Chronicle of a Death Foretold.
Robert Moran is an American composer of operas and ballets as well as numerous orchestral, vocal, chamber and dance works.
The Princess of Wales Theatre is a 2,000-seat live theatre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located on King Street West, in Toronto's downtown Entertainment District. The theatre's name has a triple meaning: it honours Diana, Princess of Wales, with whose consent the theatre was named; it links the building to its sister theatre, the Royal Alexandra, one block to the east, also named – with Royal assent – for a former Princess of Wales; and it recalls the Princess Theatre, Toronto's first "first-class legitimate" playhouse, that stood three blocks to the east until 1931.
Jonathan Dove is an English composer of opera, choral works, plays, films, and orchestral and chamber music. He has arranged a number of operas for English Touring Opera and the City of Birmingham Touring Opera, including in 1990 an 18-player two-evening adaptation of Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen for CBTO. He was Artistic Director of the Spitalfields Festival from 2001 to 2006.
Letitia Elizabeth Rudge, known professionally as Letty Lind, was an English actress, singer, dancer and acrobat, best known for her work in burlesque at the Gaiety Theatre, and in musical theatre at Daly's Theatre, in London.
The Juniper Tree is an opera co-composed by Philip Glass and Robert Moran in 1985 to a libretto by Arthur Yorinks based on the Brothers Grimm fairy tale.
Thomas Frederick Dunhill was a prolific English composer in many genres, though he is best known today for his light music and educational piano works. His compositions include much chamber music, a song cycle, The Wind Among the Reeds, and an operetta, Tantivy Towers, that had a successful London run in 1931. He was also a teacher, examiner and writer on musical subjects.
Kimilee Karyn Bryant is an American actress, singer and former Miss South Carolina. Bryant is best known for playing the role of Christine Daaé in the Broadway and other productions of The Phantom of the Opera, and later the role of Carlotta in the same musical. She has sung at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall and played many roles in U.S. regional theatres and opera, including at New York City Center with the New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players. She has also performed in cabaret, film and television.
Alexander Bălănescu is a Romanian violinist, and founder of the Balanescu Quartet.
The Virginia Arts Festival is a Norfolk-based non-profit arts presenter which serves southeastern Virginia, offering dozens of performances during the spring and throughout the year. Virginia Arts Festival performances have included international ballet companies, along with modern, contemporary, and ethnic dance companies; world-renowned soloists and ensembles in musical genres including classical, jazz, world, folk, rock, blues, bluegrass, country, and pop; opera; theater and cabaret; and collaborative productions with local arts organizations like the Virginia Symphony Orchestra.
Eleanor Deanne Therese Alberga is a Jamaican contemporary music composer who lives and works in the United Kingdom. Her most recent compositions include two Violin Concertos, a Trumpet Concerto and a Symphony.
Henning Rübsam is a choreographer and dancer based in New York City. He is the artistic director of SENSEDANCE, a faculty member of The Juilliard School and Fordham University, and a visiting guest professor at Texas Academy of Ballet. He is the dance curator for Arts at Work and a resident choreographer for Hartford City Ballet.
Úna Palliser is an Irish born, London-based violinist, violist, singer and multi-instrumentalist who as well as being classically trained, is recognised for her proficiency in many musical genres, including rock, jazz, Balkan and Irish folk. She has collaborated as guest soloist with London Chamber Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra and many high profile artists including Shakira, A. R. Rahman, Leona Lewis, Terrafolk and Otis Taylor and as the Irish folk singer on several film and television soundtracks, including Mo Ghile Mear on the Specsavers 'Collie Wobble' advertisement. Herself (film), Obi-Wan Kenobi, My Mother and Other Strangers and Kat and Alfie: Redwater. Palliser became a member of the Balanescu Quartet in 2023
Ann E. Millikan is an American composer.
The New World String Quartet was a classical music string quartet formed in Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States, in 1975 and active through the early 1990s. Founding members were: Yosef Yankelev and William Patterson, violins; Yuri Vasilaki, viola; and Ross Harbaugh, cello. These were also the members in a 1981 Minnesota Public Radio interview and performance. As of 1983, members were: Curtis J. Macomber and William Patterson, violins; Robert Dan, viola; and Ross T. Harbaugh, cello. These are also the members listed on the quartet's recording of Ben Johnston's String Quartet No. 6. As of 1985, members were: Curtis Macomber and Vahn Armstrong, violins; Robert Dan, viola; and Ross Harbaugh, cello. Members on recordings in the late 1980s and early 1990s included Curtis Macomber and Vahn Armstrong, violins; Benjamin Simon, viola; and Ross Harbaugh, cello. The quartet also recorded a Brahms piano quintet with Derek Han, piano.
Bruce Coughlin is an American orchestrator and musical arranger. He has won a Tony Award, a Drama Desk Award, and an Obie Award.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
