Alternate Title Ashes & Snow: A Winterreise Dream
Premiere New York Premiere
Production Language English
Country of Origin United States
Description In his new monodrama, composer Douglas J. Cuomo updates Wilhelm Müller’s 24-poem cycle, which famously became the text for Franz Schubert’s Winterreise. This visceral story of self reflection is set in the present day and unfolds in a run-down motel room in a Western desert town. As an addled everyman, tenor Tony Boutté confronts his inner demons in an emotionally charged operatic solo, accompanied by three on-stage musicians––playing electric guitar, trumpet, and piano––performing a score infused with acid jazz, death metal, ambient electronic music, and contemporary classical piano. The otherworldly soundscape suggests a delirious journey to the underworld and back, in search of forgiveness and atonement.
Identifier 2018f.01107
