Knot an Opera!

Constantin Basica

PORTFOLIO

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