Operas
COMPOSER'S NOTES
A large
part of my work revolves around opera and vocal music. I started out as
a singer-songwriter. I had some opera training and later studied Indian
raga singing. Only at home...I sing parts from baritone to mezzo and I
do the soprano part with my head voice. What helps me the most is memorizing
the sound of each and every unique voice I compose for.
In the left sidebar you can link to six of my operas. The genre definition of these works is still controversial.
For instance, Waking in New York was described by the New York
Times (Kozinn) as "a lovely, effecting and affecting song cycle",
and technically, that is correct, but the New York City Opera called it
an opera when it featured it in the VOX festival. My operas are operatic
in their treatment of the voices and characters and the dramatic nature
of the music, but the sound varies according to each piece, and can include
computer-generated or other electronic tracks, or unusual combinations
of instruments; antiquated plots are not to be found in their librettos;
they can also integrate multimedia visual elements. The subjects deal
with what some call the 4th dimension - collective consciousness beyond
sensory perception, and often refer to a timesless perspective, but the emotions are human and intense. There are
settings of Verlaine, Rilke, Allen Ginsberg, Michael Andre, Sumner Carnahan,
and some of my own writing. In relation to story-based opera, my librettos
are like Ellsworth Kelly vs. Michelangelo, or possibly even like Duchamp
vs. Picasso.
Elodie Lauten
The Death of Don Juan on Youtube
The Two-Cents Opera Preview on Youtube
Closure from The Two-Cents Opera on Youtube
Crazy Time from The Two-Cents Opera on Youtube