''Neither'' is the only opera by
Morton Feldman, 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 Tragicomedy, tr ...
. 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 orchest ...
; Kwamé Ryan, conductor
See also
*
neither (short story)
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.
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English-language operas
Operas
Operas by Morton Feldman
Works by Samuel Beckett
1977 operas