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Opera Philadelphia's New Production of Thomas Adès’s Powder Her Face

Jun. 03, 2013

Opera Philadelphia's New Production of Thomas Adès’s <em>Powder Her Face</em>

Opera Philadelphia opens its new production of Thomas Adès’s evergreen chamber opera Powder Her Face as part of Opera Philadelphia’s Aurora Series for Chamber Opera on June 7. Directed by William Kerley and conducted by Corrado Rovaris, the production features soprano Patricia Schuman as the Duchess of Argyll, soprano Ashley Emerson, bass Ben Wager, and tenor Christopher Tiesi.

Powder Her Face chronicles the highly publicized, extramarital exploits of socialite Margaret Campbell, Duchess of Argyll. Also known as the “Dirty Dutchess,” Campbell’s story is relayed through a series of flashbacks from moments leading up to the demise of her marriage. Through Campbell’s infamy, Adès presents a satirical outlook on media scandal, while exploring the sensationalized power and celebrity often attributed to public figures by society. Alex Ross refers to Powder Her Face as a “rare modern opera that has you walking out with melodies on your lips… Adès has the extrovert panache of a great opera composer.”

Powder Her Face also graced the stage of New York City Opera earlier this season in four acclaimed performances at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Howard Gilman Opera House, about which The New York Times remarked:

The music, a slithering sequence of gasps, gurgles and spasmodic rhythms, intentionally both aspires to seductiveness and conveys clumsiness, vulnerability and animal urges. The aria crystallizes a think-again sophistication that permeates this astonishing, precocious masterpiece.

Performances of Powder Her Face run June 7, 9, 12, 14 and 16 at the Kimmel Center’s Perelman Theater. For more detailed concert information, visit www.operaphila.org.

To learn more about Thomas Adès, go to www.thomasades.com or www.fabermusic.com.

Read The New York Times’ recent feature on Powder Her Face at www.nytimes.com.

Thomas Adès
Powder Her Face (1995)
chamber opera in two acts
libretto (Eng) by Philip Hensher
2 sopranos, tenor, bass
3cl(I.bcl, ssax, bsax; II.bcl, asax, bsax ad lib; III.bcl, cbcl, swanee whistle)-hn.tpt.trbn-perc-hp-pno -accordion-2vn.va.vc.db
115’

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