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afterWARds is an opera about the emotional battles that continue to rage after “war” is long over. It's an opera about displaced refugees, and the lingering, post-traumatic effects of war. But most of all, it's an opera about love, healing, and the resilience of the human spirit. |
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afterWARds uses the words and music of Mozart's IDOMENEO – perhaps his most radical, modern opera...
...in a reorganized and distilled 80-minute format... ...shifting the opera's focus towards its four protagonists and their timeless – and timely – struggles for love and peace in a world full of carnage and destruction. WATCH THE TRAILER ON YOUTUBE |
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The WORLD PREMIERE of afterWARds took place on January 26, 2019 at Pittsburgh Opera.
For more information on this production, including press coverage, video, and still images, click here.
The NEW YORK WORKSHOP PRESENTATION took place on October 3, 2017
Review available from Voce di Meche
For more information on this production, including press coverage, video, and still images, click here.
The NEW YORK WORKSHOP PRESENTATION took place on October 3, 2017
Review available from Voce di Meche
Why this story?
Mozart's IDOMENEO is set in the Mediterranean Sea, following an endless war that has caused unprecedented carnage and human hardship. Two of its four characters are refugees, landed on a Greek island and trying to forge a path forward. The title character is returning home from war, while his son has grown up without a father. All are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder in very real, extreme ways.
The world of 2017 is a world with an unprecedented number of refugees and victims of war, both on the battlefield and back at home. IDOMENEO's setting and characters bear a unique, uncannily powerful relevance to our world today. Presented with a fresh lens, it has the ability to move and speak to a 2017 audience in a way that very few operas can.
The world of 2017 is a world with an unprecedented number of refugees and victims of war, both on the battlefield and back at home. IDOMENEO's setting and characters bear a unique, uncannily powerful relevance to our world today. Presented with a fresh lens, it has the ability to move and speak to a 2017 audience in a way that very few operas can.
An 80-minute opera?
Opera performances are the longest spectacles in any western art form. In the era of Youtube and ever shortening attention spans, opera needs to accept the realities of modern entertainment: a focus on succinct, dramatically explosive material, presented compellingly and directly.
By distilling this three-act opera into a 80-minute tour de force – eliminating choral passages, sections of recitative, and several arias – afterWARds zeroes in on the emotional climaxes of the story, leaving even a non-opera audience on the edge of their seat.
By distilling this three-act opera into a 80-minute tour de force – eliminating choral passages, sections of recitative, and several arias – afterWARds zeroes in on the emotional climaxes of the story, leaving even a non-opera audience on the edge of their seat.
Cast of 4.
afterWARds requires only 4 singers:
- Ilia (soprano)
- Idamante (mezzo-soprano or tenor)
- Idomeneo (tenor)
- Electra (soprano)
The chorus and all remaining characters have been eliminated.
- Ilia (soprano)
- Idamante (mezzo-soprano or tenor)
- Idomeneo (tenor)
- Electra (soprano)
The chorus and all remaining characters have been eliminated.
Mozart's music.
The story is told through the words and music of Mozart's opera. In order to shift the focus to the four protagonists and ensure a more relentless dramatic thrust, the order of musical numbers and recitatives has been adjusted and significant cuts have been made. Contact us for more specific information on musical numbers and their revised order.
The plot.
afterWARds reimagines the plot of Mozart's IDOMENEO, focusing on the tragedy of the four major characters. Click here to read a synopsis of the revised plot.
The creators.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (music)
The greatest composer of the 18th Century and arguably beyond.
Read more
GIambattista Varesco (libretto)
Active in Italy and Salzburg primarily as a cleric. Wrote the libretto for IDOMENEO based on a French text. His only completed collaboration with Mozart and only enduring completed operatic libretto.
David Paul (adaptation)
German-American director for opera, theater and film.
Website
The greatest composer of the 18th Century and arguably beyond.
Read more
GIambattista Varesco (libretto)
Active in Italy and Salzburg primarily as a cleric. Wrote the libretto for IDOMENEO based on a French text. His only completed collaboration with Mozart and only enduring completed operatic libretto.
David Paul (adaptation)
German-American director for opera, theater and film.
Website
For more information.
For more information on the world premiere production at Pittsburgh Opera in January 2019, click here
To watch the TRAILER, please click here
For more info about the project and how to present afterWARds at your company, please contact David Paul or Ken Benson:
To watch the TRAILER, please click here
For more info about the project and how to present afterWARds at your company, please contact David Paul or Ken Benson:
