''Neither'' is the only opera by

Morton Feldman Morton Feldman (January 12, 1926 – September 3, 1987) was an American composer. A major figure in 20th-century classical music, Feldman was a pioneer of indeterminate music, a development associated with the experimental New York School ...

, dating from 1977. Its libretto is a 16-line poem by

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish novelist, dramatist, short story writer, theatre director, poet, and literary translator. His literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal and tragicomic expe ...

. Composer and librettist had met in Berlin two years earlier with plans for a collaboration for Rome Opera. However, Beckett told Feldman that he himself did not like opera. Feldman had echoed Beckett’s sentiment, so that the work emerged in Rome as a setting for soprano soloist only, accompanied by orchestra. It could theoretically be termed a “monodrama”; however, given the creators’ disdain for opera, the label “anti-opera” fits better.

Recordings

* HatHut, hat (now) ART 180: Sarah Leonard, soprano;

Radio-Sinfonie-Orchester Frankfurt The Frankfurt Radio Symphony (german: hr-Sinfonieorchester) is the radio orchestra of Hessischer Rundfunk, the public broadcasting network of the German state of Hesse. From 1929 to 1950 it was named ''Frankfurter Rundfunk-Symphonie-Orchester''. F ...

;

Zoltán Peskó Zoltán Peskó (15 February 1937 – 31 March 2020) was a Hungarian conductor and composer who held leading positions at German, Italian and Portuguese opera houses and orchestras, including the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Teatro Comunale di Bologn ...

, conductor * Col Legno, WWE 1CD 20081: Petra Hoffman, soprano;

Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks The Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (german: Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, BRSO) is a German radio orchestra. Based in Munich, Germany, it is one of the city's four orchestras. The BRSO is one of two full-size symphony orchestr ...

; Kwamé Ryan, conductor

References

External links

* The Modern World, pages on
Feldman and Beckett

JazzLoft page on recording of ''Neither''

Neither Wealth Nor Splendor: Getting Morton Feldman’s and Samuel Beckett’s 1977 opera NEITHER from a Workshop Performance in NYC to the Konzerthaus in Vienna and the Obstacles Concerned.
{{Authority control English-language operas Operas Operas by Morton Feldman Works by Samuel Beckett 1977 operas

Recordings

See also

References

External links