Ellen West

A Chamber Opera in One Act

Ricky Ian Gordon (composer), Frank Bidart (librettist), Frank Bidart (author)

Instrumentation

  • Soprano
  • Baritone
  • Piano
$65.00
SKU
411-41161

Format:

A remarkable operatic poem written for an intimate instrumentation, Ellen West plunges into the emotional, psychological, and physical challenges of a woman struggling with perceptions of her body, her relationship with food, and the world closing in around her. Inspired by one of the earliest cases of existential analysis, poet Frank Bidart and composer Ricky Ian Gordon examine the lives of psychiatrist Ludwig Binswanger and his patient, Ellen West. Bidart’s poem, which serves as the opera’s libretto, juxtaposes the clinical observations of Binswanger with fictitious entries of Ellen’s journals, illuminating a psychological portrait of a woman at war with her body.
SKU: 411-41161
Ensemble: Chamber Opera
Duration: 1:15:00
Language: en
Commission Notice: Commissioned by Beth Morrison Projects: Beth Morrison, President and Creative Producer; Opera Saratoga: Lawrence Edelson, Artistic and General Director; The Ted & Mary Jo Shen Charitable Gift Fund and David and Kiki Gindler. The development of Ellen West was funded, in part, by an award from OPERA America’s Opera Fund: Repertoire Development Fund.
Publisher: Theodore Presser Company
Score Type: Vocal Score
Product Type: Score
Page count: 104
UPC: 6-80160-68060-3
ISBN: 978-1-4911-3198-5
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