| Their Thought and Back Again: An Opera for Two Singers, Six Dancers, String Quartet, and Piano 1997 Original Cast Recording music & lyrics: Michael Roth text derived from cut-ups assembled by Michael Roth and John Malashock With Celeste Tavera, Roxane Carrasco, Elan Ensemble String Quartet (Hernan Constantino, violin; Edmund Stein, violin; John Stubbs, viola; Mary Oda Szanto, cello), and Michael Roth, piano Their Thought and Back Again had its world premiere in San Diego in 1994. This recording is of the 1996 revised version, which also premiered in San Diego. Composer-lyricist Michael Roth and choreographer John Malashock came together to create a song-sequence for Malashock Dance and Company. The two agreed that they didn't want a regular narrative that the dancers would either dance with or against. Instead, they decided on the William Burroughs-inspired notion of cut-ups: the lyrics are composed of found texts (newspaper clippings and the like) cut up and reassembled by Roth and Malashock. As the piece evolved, a plot began to emerge: two female singers arrive in a space inhabited by six dancers, observe, interact somewhat, and finally settle down. Roth found inspiration in the classic musical Wonderful Town, in which two women come to terms with their new town. Their Thought's score is gorgeous, beautifully sung by Celeste Tavera, a classical soprano, and Roxane Carrasco, who is more of a belter. The music is intriguingly classical with some pop blended in. The biggest stumbling block for me was the lyrics. I'm more used to traditional musicals which tell a story through songs, and Their Thought is definitely attempting something different. Nonetheless, I soon discovered method in the madness, although the method may lie in the eye of the beholder (or ear of the listener, as the case may be). For instance, two classified ads were combined to create the wonderful: "Seeking a woman to bird dream car hold respect and body new light aqua matching owner too seeking a woman to bird dream car" It doesn't mean anything, and yet I can almost understand it. It's like listening to a language that you haven't spoken since you were a child. (Roth includes the original two ads in the CD liner notes, and thereby shows the amount of effort that went into transforming these "found" texts into usable lyrics.) Their Thought and Back Again is subtle, and surprisingly good. The CD is available from the composer: rothmusik@aol.com Courtesy of Mermaniac.com |