Knot an Opera!

for three sopranos, baritone, pianist, electronics, and three-channel video

2016

Performed by kallisti

 

Kyle Adam Blair, pianist

Ashley Cutright, mezzo-soprano

Jonathan Nussman, baritone

Kirsten Wiest, soprano

Hillary Jean Young, soprano

 

Lighting design: Jessica Flores

Light board operator: David Espiritu

Technical director: Jason Ponce

Dinkelspiel Auditorium

Stanford University, CA

October 18, 2016

 

Supported in part by the Ben and A. Jess Shenson Fund at Stanford University. Additional support from Professor Jaroslaw Kapuscinski and Professor Susan Narucki.

Dedicated to my favorite (and only) brother, Teodor.

 

 

OPERA? OPERA WHAT? WHAT IS THIS? IS THIS OPERA? This opera This work knots binds operatic practices with elements from old and new media—such as TV and YouTube—into a chain of preposterous ludicrous events episodes. Disparate pieces with of text—original or appropriated quoted—generate symbols characters and situations on the border between the mundane and the absurd. #PostOpera #KnowYourMeme #FunnyCats

 

Special thanks to Teodor Basica and Simona Fitcal for all their support in the making of this work.

 

 

00:13 - Prelude

02:14 - Interlude 1: A Vocal Warmup

03:55 - Sketch 1: Opera News

06:53 - Video 1: Bud Light

07:32 - Sketch 2: Soprano Light

11:40 - Interlude 2: A ViRal Experience

14:47 - Sketch 3: Table Manners

21:20 - Video 2: Cat Table Manners

22:50 - Sketch 4: These Potatoes

31:33 - Interlude 3: A Random Word Generator

35:07 - Sketch 5: Chatbots

40:00 - Video 3: Posthuman

41:10 - Sketch 6: Meema

45:00 - Interlude 4: An Acceptance Speech

46:35 - Sketch 7: Opera Band

50:40 - Postlude

 

 

Text, music, audio-video, and stage direction (mostly) by Constantin Basica, with the following exceptions:

 

Sketch 4: These Potatoes

Text co-written with Teodor Basica

Lyrics by Teodor Basica

 

Sketch 5: Chatbots

Lyrics by Teodor Basica (translated from Romanian with Google Translate)

 

Postlude

Text enhanced by Jonathan Nussman

 

In addition, pieces of text, video, and/or audio have been extracted and manipulated from the following sources:

 

Sketch 1: Opera News

Text: Fryer, Paul (ed.). The Business of Opera: Opera, Advertising and the Return to Popular Culture. In Opera in the Media Age: Essays on Art, Technology and Popular Culture. McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. 2014

 

Video 1: Bud Light

Video: Bud Light Opera Commercial

 

Sketch 2: Soprano Light

Videos: Laura Bretan: 13-Year-Old Opera Singer Gets the Golden Buzzer - America's Got Talent 2016 Auditions

Laura Bretan '13-Year-Old' Opera Singer Gets Golden Buzzer America's Got Talent 2016 - MJ's Reaction

Laura Bretan 13 Year Old Opera Singer Gets Golden Buzzer America's Got Talent REACTION

Laura Bretan: 13-Year-Old Opera Singer Gets the Golden Buzzer | REACTION

Laura Bretan Delivers Stunning Cover of "The Prayer" AGT QUARTER FINALS REACTION!!!

Laura Bretan '13-Year-Old' Opera Singer Gets Golden Buzzer America's Got Talent 2016 - Reaction

Laura Bretan: 13-Year-Old Opera Singer Gets the Golden Buzzer - America's Got Talent 2016 Reaction

Reacting to Laura Bretan amazing so talented

 

Interlude 2: A ViRal Experience

Text: Yosemitebear Mountain Double Rainbow 1-8-10

 

Sketch 3: Table Manners

Audio: Dinner Party

 

Video 2: Cat Table Manners

Video: Cat Birthday Party - Cats Video

 

Interlude 3: A Random Word Generator

Lyrics: Random word generator JavaScript by James Padolsey