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The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant
Conductor's score and parts on hire
978-0-19-355393-4
01 May 2003
Price: Available on request
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Opera in five acts Forces or CategoryOperaDuration110 minutesDifficultyDifficultOrchestration2 fl (I+picc, II+picc&alfl), 2 ob (II+ca), 3 cl (I&II+Ebcl, III+bcl), 3 bn (III+cbn), 4 hn, 2 tpt in C (I+tpt in D), 3 tbn, tba, timp, 2 perc (mba, vib, SD), pn, strProgramme NotesPetra von Kant is a
famous fashion designer whose marriages have ended in death and divorce. The first was a great love, the second began as that and ended in disgust.
Through a friend she meets Karin, a desirable, young, knowing, ruthless twentythree-year-old, recently separated from her husband. She persuades her to become a model and very quickly falls madly in love. Her wooing is amusing to watch and unintentionally comical. She is wide eyed, childlike, anxious, pompous, poignant. Blinded by love, the looming disaster is obvious to everyone but her. (Completely understandable!) The world is suddenly alive again with possibilities. She is ecstatically happy. All is acceleration and euphoria. The opera deals with her obsession, her rejection by Karin, and her disintegration.
There is also
the intriguing mistress/slave relationship between Petra and her assistant, the mute Marlene. When Petra's world collapses she offers to atone to Marlene for her treatment of her over the years. Before the final blackout, the last line of the opera is Petra's to Marlene: "Tell me about your life." Marlene leaves. Of this Fassbinder has written: "If, at the end, Marlene leaves Petra, it is not in my opinion because she is seeking her freedom, but because she is looking for a new position as a slave. It would be far too optimistic and utopian to believe, as many do, that someone who has docilely obeyed others for 30 years can suddenly choose to be free."
In this witty tragedy of lovesickness Act 2 is the world still smiling.
© Gerald Barry
Reproduced by permission
of Oxford University Press
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Gerald Barry (b.1952) Gerald Barry was born in Ireland in 1952 and studied composition with Stockhausen and Kagel. He first came to public attention in 1979 with his radical ensemble works __________ and 'Ø.
Barry's music has been performed at the Warsaw Autumn, Musik Triennale Köln, Musica Viva, Festival Présences, Huddersfield and St Denis Festivals, the ISCM and many others. His music has been recorded on the NMC, Largo, Black Box, Marco Polo and Challenge labels.More on Gerald Barry from The Contemporary Music Centre, Ireland
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"There is real expressive subtlety in this scoreit's one of the strangest but most satisfying of recent operas." - Tom Service, The Guardian "The piece is invigorating, fresh, and curiously satisfying. Barry perfectly captures the barren, pungent, desperate world of Fassbinder, but does so with unstoppably upbeat material." - Keith Clarke, Musical America
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The specification in this catalogue, including without limitation price, format, extent, number of illustrations, and month of publication, was as accurate as possible at the time the catalogue was compiled. Occasionally, due to the nature of some contractual restrictions, we are unable to ship a specific product to a particular territory. Jacket images are provisional and liable to change before publication.
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