Opera Review: "Wake, My Beauty, Wake!"

The Prototype Festival unleashes Acquanetta.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Image from Acquanetta by Maria Baranova-Suzuki © 2018 Prototype Festival.

A hovering, rotating camera rig. A mysterious room. A Hollywood starlet. A transplanted brain. And the thunderous sound of an electric guitar, electric bass, three string players and an electronic keyboard.. These are just some of the elements that made up Acquanetta, the new opera by Bang on a Can! Founder David Gordon that opened the Prototype Festival last night.

Festival Preview: 2017 Prototype Festival

Femme fatales, infidelity, gross anatomy and yes...opera!
by Paul J. Pelkonen

This conceptual image for Julian Wachner's Rev. 23 promises a hot two weeks
of avant-garde opera at the fifth annual Prototype Festival.
Image © 2017 Prototype Festival.

New York's celebration of avant-garde opera in the dead of winter returns for its fifth season with the eagerly awaited New York premiere of Breaking The Waves as the marquee event. There are six new works being performed, plus one being workshopped. In addition, the Festival offers pop-up concerts, music, dance, multimedia presentations and the odd swanky soirée.