Recorded at the Assia Auditorium, Tel Aviv Museum of Art | 31.7.2021 (Staged Première)
Libretto: Royce Vavrek | Based on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s short story The Cut Glass Bowl
Commissioned by the Adele and John Gray Endowment fund in collaboration with the Felicja Blumental Music Festival
New York, the beginning of the 20th century. “I am going to give you a present as hard, as beautiful, as empty and as easy to see through as you are” says a disappointed suitor to Evelyn – a beautiful young woman – and gives her a big cut glass bowl. From that moment, onwards the bowl becomes an ominous object in Evelyn’s life and determines her fate: the collapse of her marriage to Harold, the handicap of her daughter Julie, the disappearance in war of her younger son, Donald, and the breaking down of her own life.
Conductor – Yuval Zorn | Director – Shirit Lee Weiss Sets
Costumes – Polina Adamov | Lighting – Yoav Barel
Evelyn Piper – Keren Motseri
Harold Piper – Yair Polishook
Hilda – Edit Zamir
Mrs. Fairboalt \ Mrs. Ahearn – Reut Ventorero
Fred Gedney \ Mr. Ahearn – Noam Heinz Lowenstein
Donald & Julie (Children) – Daniel and Evyatar Dolberg
Meitar Ensemble:
Snir Kaduri – Flute, Member of Tedarim Ensemble – M. Mus for contemporary music at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance |
Danny Erdman – Clarinet | Benedikt Bindewald – violin | Yoni Gotlibovich – Cello | Amit Dolberg – Piano | Oded Geizhals – Percussion
Makeup artist – Dana Nina Reuven | Musical preparation – Amit Dolberg | Hebrew titles – Rivka Meshulach and Hemdi Kfir | Assistant director – Daniel Boggio Producer – Nadav Cohen
David Louria – Audio | Dror Heller – Video | Yoni Gotlibovich – Video editing
The Ensemble wishes to thank our supporters: The Adele and John Gray Endowment fund, Helen Conway and Dan Yakir. Special thanks to the Ernst von Siemens Musikstiftung, to the Independent Creators Fund of the Ministry of Culture and Sport, to Marsha Gray, to Peter Pohly, to Joseph Hackmey, to the Israeli Opera, to Tremolo – the Israeli Percussion Center, to the supporters of the project on Headstart and to all the people who have made this evening possible.
Link to the Jerusalem Post review:
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/culture/hypnotizing-new-opera-cut-glass-captures-audience-from-first-note-676104
Photographers: Maxim Reider and Ziv Barak
