red
harvest project
| My Red Harvest
Project is a chamber opera is based on Dashiell Hammett's hardboiled mystery
novel Red Harvest. The full score is for seven instruments
(clarinet/bass clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, trombone, violin, contrabass,
and percussion), and six voices. I have envisioned an approximately
100 minute opera of 12 short scenes, and completed four (included as part
of my NYU dissertation in 2003. I hope to return to the project soon. The
four completed scenes have been performed by amazing instrumentalists
and singers (albeit in arrangements for smaller ensembles). |
| I'm a longtime
Hammett fan, and had been thinking about creating an opera based on Red
Harvest since I first read it. I think that the author's
style - terse and decidedly unpretty - is quintessentially American and
has its own staggered kinds of rhythm and cadence.
So much of opera has only 5 minutes of real action or
confrontation (and that often offstage), about which characters reflect,
pine, and fret for two hours. With this novel, the physical action,
arguments, and rapid advancement of the plot continue at a rapid pace
throughout. I hope that this will make for a more entertaining
experience.
Another decision I made as I embarked on the project
was that no one in the audience should have to read the program to find
out what's happening. I'm trying to make all the action and dialogue
as transparent as possible, more like a film or stage play than a 19th-century
opera.
|
| The great performances
I've received so far are due to the excellent musicians who have endured
my wacky music and made it sound like something great. I'd like
to acknowledge the especially devoted contributions of the baritone Dominic
Inferrera, and the conductor Paul Hostetter. |
| For general information
about Red Harvest (the novel) or Dashiell Hammett, please
consult Michael E. Grost's excellent website.
I've been lucky enough to get permission for perormances of the opera
from Gelfman Schneider Literary Agents in New York. |
Dominic Inferrera
(who sang the role of the Op) and Elizabeth
Farnum (who sang the role of Dinah Brand)
at a reception after the Oct 15, 2001 performance.
[fellow composer Jesse Sklar can be seen in the background]
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