European American Music Distributors Company is a member of the Schott Music Group

Gavin Bryars's Marilyn Forever Premieres with Aventa Ensemble

Sep. 05, 2013

Gavin Bryars's <em>Marilyn Forever</em> Premieres with Aventa Ensemble

On September 13, the Aventa Ensemble presents the world premiere of Gavin Bryars’s latest work for the lyric stage, Marilyn Forever. Commissioned by Aventa and with a libretto by Marilyn Bowering, the opera is based on aspects of the life of actress Marilyn Monroe. Eivør Pálsdóttir stars in the turbulent title role along with baritone Thomas Sandberg who performs the role of “The Men” in Monroe’s life. Joining the ensemble are pianist Anthony Genge, saxophonist Phil Dwyer and Bryars himself on double bass. 

The production, which takes place at the McPherson Playhouse Theatre in Victoria, Canada, features stage direction by Joel Ivany, lighting design by Kevin Lamotte, and stage design by Camellia Koo, with the ensemble led by conductor and Artistic Director Bill Linwood. A repeat performance takes place on September 14.

Aventa writes:

Marilyn Forever examines Marilyn Monroe’s intellectual and emotional relationship to death and love. As the work progresses, the performance interweaves what is taking place on stage with the trajectory of Monroe’s life through relationships, fame and myth. Ultimately, the characters of the musicians as performers and men in Monroe’s life fuse with the forces that lead to her death. Marilyn Monroe is often looked at as a sex object, victim or fantasy. In this work, we are given through Monroe’s own voice, her combination of sensitivity and exhibitionism, allied to the narrative of the “chorus”, a view from the ‘inside’ of the conflicting emotions and ambitions of this compelling and timeless personality.

To find more information about Gavin Bryars, please visit www.schott-music.com 

Details on the Aventa Ensemble production can be found at www.aventa.ca     

Gavin Bryars
Marilyn Forever (2010-2013)
a chamber opera
libretto (Eng) by Marilyn Bowering
for soprano, baritone and small chorus of tenor, baritone and bass
bcl.bsn-hn-perc-str(0.0.2.1.1); jazz trio (tsax-pno-jazz bass)
75’

News