Constantine Koukias
Constantine Koukias (born 14 October 1965) is a Tasmanian composer and opera director of Greek ancestry based in Amsterdam, where he is known by his Greek name of Konstantin Koukias. He is the co-founder and artistic director of IHOS Music Theatre ...
, a Tasmanian composer and opera director of Greek ancestry based in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
, where he is known by his Greek name of Konstantin Koukias, with libretto by Marianne Fisher.
Plot
The opera depicts Tesla's life as a series of reversals of fortunes. The two-hour work, sung in English, is in two parts and features a bass, a tenor, a bass-baritone, two sopranos, seven musicians (including a
theremin
The theremin (; originally known as the ætherphone/etherphone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox) is an electronic musical instrument controlled without physical contact by the performer (who is known as a thereminist). It is named afte ...
player) and a large male choir. Also audible are clattering typewriters, pigeons (in later life Tesla was deeply affected by the death of a specific white pigeon), Morse code and fragments of
Antonín Dvořák
Antonín Leopold Dvořák ( ; ; 8 September 1841 – 1 May 1904) was a Czechs, Czech composer. Dvořák frequently employed rhythms and other aspects of the folk music of Moravian traditional music, Moravia and his native Bohemia, following t ...
's
New World Symphony
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
. It also included two
Tesla coil
A Tesla coil is an electrical resonant transformer circuit designed by inventor Nikola Tesla in 1891. It is used to produce high-voltage, low-current, high-frequency alternating-current electricity. Tesla experimented with a number of different ...
as props at its premiere. A warning was issued in the program to audience members who might be wearing "pace-makers, hearing aides, or any form of electric, magnetic, mechanical or metallic implant or prosthetic device".
Production
The full opera was produced in 2003 by
IHOS Music Theatre and Opera
IHOS Music Theatre and Opera is a Tasmanian opera company was established in Hobart in 1990, by composer and artistic director Constantine Koukias, and production director Werner Ihlenfeld to create original music-theatre and opera works.
Maj ...
. It was originally commissioned by the
West Australian Opera
West Australian Opera (WAO) is the principal opera company of Western Australia and is a resident company at His Majesty's Theatre, Perth.
The company formed in 1967 and works in close association with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra. It pr ...
and developed over three years through two staged "works in development". Creator and original Artistic Director of Tasmania's
10 Days on the Island 10 Days on the Island is a biennial cultural festival held in Tasmania, Australia. The first was held in 2001. It is Tasmania's premier cultural event, and presents exhibitions, performances and community events in 50 locations around the island.
...
Festival,
Robyn Archer
Robyn Archer, AO, CdOAL (born 1948) is an Australian singer, writer, stage director, artistic director, and public advocate of the arts, in Australia and internationally.
Life
Archer was born Robyn Smith in Prospect, South Australia. She beg ...
, commissioned the full opera to open the festival in 2003. The work, sponsored by the John Holland Group, was staged in a massive shed on Hobart's docks, where the Tesla coils put on a "spectacular display of electron sparks".
Reception
Reviewing the production for the Melbourne ''Age'', David Lander described it as "gorgeous image-based performance art with a fascinating, brittle score in which dilemmas are ignored in favour of sensuality". ''Tesla'' was featured on
ABC Classic FM
ABC Classic, formerly ABC-FM (also ABC Fine Music), and then ABC Classic FM, is an Australian classical music radio station available in Australia and internationally. Its website features classical music news, features and listening guides. ...
's ''New Music Australia'' program and has been cited as far afield as Croatia, where it was noted in a tourist board tribute to the scientist and Croatian Post's web page detailing a stamp to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the inventor's birth.Croatian Post Inc. 2006 150th Anniversary of the Birth of Nikola Tesla
2003 production credits
*Production director: Werner Ihlenfeld
*Production designer: Maria Kunda
*Artist in light: Hugh McSpedden