Glass Connections Continue

New Philip Glass Commission …

As our tour of Philip Glass’s In the Penal Colony came to an end last autumn, we were thrilled to hear that the composer has agreed to write a new chamber opera expressly for the company, based on the Kafka novel, The Trial. The opera will go into production in 2013 - the year we celebrate our 25^th anniversary.

MTW’s relationship with Glass dates back to 1989 when we gave the European premiere of The Fall of the House of Usher - a production the composer greatly admired. In a BBC Radio 3 interview prior to the opening of Penal Colony Glass reiterated his affection and respect for the company.

“I’ve enjoyed working with Music Theatre Wales,” he commented, “they are wonderful to work with and they seem to like these ‘odd’ pieces of mine and do them very well”. He has described his pocket operas as “neutron bombs - small but packing a powerful punch”. We look forward to receiving the score of The Trial in a package clearly labelled ‘handle with care’!

… plus a recording

Watch out, too, for the first publicly released recording of In the Penal Colony made by Glass’s own music label, Orange Mountain Music. The Music Theatre Wales Ensemble is conducted by Michael Rafferty with Omar Ebrahim as The Officer and Michael Bennett as The Visitor.

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