This work is a collaboration between myself and my good friend Diana Silver who is the librettist of the work; the text is used with full permission from the author. It is conceptually a blend between a musical and a chamber opera: sung in a musical theater style, but without scenes of dialogue and containing very few spoken words. It features three actors: Girl 1 (high voice), Girl 2 (medium/low voice), and Boy 1 (medium voice) who rotate roles throughout the work. The work begins and ends with a telling of the Biblical story of Sodom and Gomorrah, with the in-between material consisting of three large scenes with a main character, a supporting character, and a character who only quotes directly from the Bible (various translations). In these scenes, the main character presents and works out a very personal conflict while interacting with the other two characters in various ways. The conflict is also invariably discussed through the lens of sometimes unexpected lessons learned from the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. The accompaniment is scored as a piano reduction (not a piano part) and is intended to be flexibly scored for the combination of piano and any other combination of instruments. It is also notable that this is not the complete work, but a sufficient portion of it as per request by the thesis supervisor. The portion submitted includes: the Prologue and Epilogue, which serve as framing for the entire piece and tell/retell the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, later to be drawn upon in the body of the work; the first large vignette, which involves a conflicted woman (Katie) coming to terms with newfound sexual expression; Katie's “aria,” in which she has grown confident in her newfound freedom and expresses it openly; and James's “aria” (to follow the second vignette), in which he laments the loss of his mother's relationship but also welcomes his new life and love. / text

This thesis describes an exploration of creative process and a set of methods used to find new ideas for theatrical design. The project began with questions about repetition and disruption. Can altering a typical process of designing a show help when designing the same show repeatedly, as an opera designer needs to be able to do? Can new ideas be generated not from streamlining one process but using a diverse pattern of research methods? How does using one design of the same opera as a lens for another affect the sum of both works and the understanding of the work? Several methods of work process are examined and explained. / text

No description available.

How can we re-empower opera singers, extending their control over accompaniment and vocal expressivity? To answer this question, I have opened a novel design space, Extending Opera, consisting of interactive artist–operated tools to be used on-stage. The research has its methodological groundings in Research through Design (RtD) and Research through the Arts (RttA). This particular method is coined "research-throughthe- art-form-opera" – as I have worked within the realms and traditions of opera, probing its boundaries by designing, researching and creating through its own artistic toolbox. Originally conceived for personal use, the artifacts were later used by other singers and incorporated in performances of opera in small and large scale. By composing and designing for the requirements in operatic productions, high demands on robustness were explored in and through custom-built interfaces. The work resulted in ten novel artifacts and performances exploring the expressivity of these tools. Extending Opera is guided by and probed through three questions: 1. How can the design and creation of interactive, artist-operated instruments be informed by deep musical knowledge and be probed by the particular conditions surrounding an operatic production? 2. What impact can interactive, artist-operated instruments have on the opera singers themselves and on their vocal technique? 3. How can interactive, artist-operated instruments empower opera singers, thus challenging contemporary power hierarchies – thereby reconnecting to the explorative practice in opera's early days? My knowledge contribution has surfaced through artistic practice and consists of the exemplars and the artworks, as well as three abstractions – one procedure, one requirement and one experiential quality. Sensory Digital Intonation highlights how the fine-tuning of technologies and real-time interactivity is incorporated in a feed-back loop with artistic concerns and creativity. Performative Stamina ("The Premiere-Factor") highlights how the traditional procedures leading up to a premiere in opera influence the demands on robustness and reliability within the components and the overall design of the novel artifacts. Vocal Embodiment is an experiential quality that describes how the interactive artifacts change the singing itself. In the conclusion, Artistic Re–Empowerment is discussed, proposing that power structures in opera have been probed through the use of the novel artist-operated interactive instruments. / <p></p><p></p>

In this work I concentrate on the sources from which Christoph Willibald Gluck and Nicola-Francois Guillard had come out when they are processing their story of Ifigenia in Tauris. At the same time, I describe my way to the setting of this piece in Silesian theatre Opava.

This thesis introduce readers with a role of Dorabella and the opera Così fan tutte. At first from a general aspects of literature which was allready written but also according advices and observation from experiences of opera singers, who performed this role. It is offering several views for one and the same role.

This thesis includes a portfolio of written compositions and a written commentary. The compositions submitted present the development of a bespoke notation that reflects a specific set of aesthetic concerns. The written commentary is comprised of five chapters. The first four each deal with a specific aesthetic interest and present the majority of the composition portfolio as an ongoing research project. The final chapter is a commentary on the final work in the portfolio, the opera Palace of Junk, and reflects on this work as the culmination of the research undertaken. Throughout the commentary, aesthetic ideas are considered for both their sonic capabilities and the possibilities of imbuing a more physical style of playing. The subsequent notation developed, represents a method in which the resultant sound and physical action is implicit within the score.

Texte remanié de: Diss.--München--die Hochschule für Musik und Theater, 2005. / Sources et bibliogr. p. 213-222.

Ariadne auf Naxos / Richard Strauss -- Das Lied von der Erde / Gustav Mahler. / text

Lecture: Le nozze di Figaro / Da Ponte-Mozart. / text