Friday, October 5, at 7 pm and Sunday, October 7, at 2 and 7 pm
Parallele-the Bay Area's innovative contemporary chamber opera company-will open its 2018-2019 season with a new production of Philip Glass' In the Penal Colony (2000), based on a story by Franz Kafka, with libretto by Rudolph Wurlitzer. A parable for the consequences of the abuse of power, the opera is set at the turn of the last century on a remote island, where a high-ranking visitor arrives to witness the use of a strange machine in execution of a prisoner. The OP creative team is led by founder and Artistic Director Nicole Paiement, who will conduct, and Creative Director Brian Staufenbiel.
A high-ranking visitor arrives in the penal colony. He was invited there to witness the public execution of a prisoner using a strange machine invented by the former commandant of the colony. The machine slowly carves a description of the condemned man's crimes into his flesh and after hours of excruciating torture kills him. The device is operated by the officer in charge of the prison who is utterly devoted to the machine and to the memory of the deceased commandant who invented it. He is disturbed by the machine's state of disrepair and the growing criticism of its use, including criticism from the island's current commandant. He hopes that the visitor will be impressed by the machine and will speak in favor of its "redemptive powers" to the commandant. The visitor is appalled by the machine but sings "It's always risky interfering in other peoples' business [...] I oppose this procedure, but I will not intervene." When the officer realizes that the visitor will not actively support him, he frees the condemned prisoner from the machine and climbs onto it himself, seeking the redemption of a slow and painful death. The machine, however, goes haywire and instead of killing him slowly, kills him almost instantly by piercing his skull. It then self-destructs. The visitor boards a boat and leaves the island.
show less
Parallele-the Bay Area's innovative contemporary chamber opera company-will open its 2018-2019 season with a new production of Philip Glass' In the Penal Colony (2000), based on a story by Franz Kafka, with libretto by Rudolph Wurlitzer. A parable for the consequences of the abuse of power, the opera is set at the turn of the last century on a remote island, where a high-ranking visitor arrives to witness the use of a strange machine in execution of a prisoner. The OP creative team is led by founder and Artistic Director Nicole Paiement, who will conduct, and Creative Director Brian Staufenbiel.
A high-ranking visitor arrives in the penal colony. He was invited there to witness the public execution of a prisoner using a strange machine invented by the former commandant of the colony. The machine slowly carves a description of the condemned man's crimes into his flesh and after hours of excruciating torture kills him. The device is operated by the officer in charge of the prison who is utterly devoted to the machine and to the memory of the deceased commandant who invented it. He is disturbed by the machine's state of disrepair and the growing criticism of its use, including criticism from the island's current commandant. He hopes that the visitor will be impressed by the machine and will speak in favor of its "redemptive powers" to the commandant. The visitor is appalled by the machine but sings "It's always risky interfering in other peoples' business [...] I oppose this procedure, but I will not intervene." When the officer realizes that the visitor will not actively support him, he frees the condemned prisoner from the machine and climbs onto it himself, seeking the redemption of a slow and painful death. The machine, however, goes haywire and instead of killing him slowly, kills him almost instantly by piercing his skull. It then self-destructs. The visitor boards a boat and leaves the island.
Friday, October 5, at 7 pm and Sunday, October 7, at 2 and 7 pm
Parallele-the Bay Area's innovative contemporary chamber opera company-will open its 2018-2019 season with a new production of Philip Glass' In the Penal Colony (2000), based on a story by Franz Kafka, with libretto by Rudolph Wurlitzer. A parable for the consequences of the abuse of power, the opera is set at the turn of the last century on a remote island, where a high-ranking visitor arrives to witness the use of a strange machine in execution of a prisoner. The OP creative team is led by founder and Artistic Director Nicole Paiement, who will conduct, and Creative Director Brian Staufenbiel.
A high-ranking visitor arrives in the penal colony. He was invited there to witness the public execution of a prisoner using a strange machine invented by the former commandant of the colony. The machine slowly carves a description of the condemned man's crimes into his flesh and after hours of excruciating torture kills him. The device is operated by the officer in charge of the prison who is utterly devoted to the machine and to the memory of the deceased commandant who invented it. He is disturbed by the machine's state of disrepair and the growing criticism of its use, including criticism from the island's current commandant. He hopes that the visitor will be impressed by the machine and will speak in favor of its "redemptive powers" to the commandant. The visitor is appalled by the machine but sings "It's always risky interfering in other peoples' business [...] I oppose this procedure, but I will not intervene." When the officer realizes that the visitor will not actively support him, he frees the condemned prisoner from the machine and climbs onto it himself, seeking the redemption of a slow and painful death. The machine, however, goes haywire and instead of killing him slowly, kills him almost instantly by piercing his skull. It then self-destructs. The visitor boards a boat and leaves the island.
read more
Parallele-the Bay Area's innovative contemporary chamber opera company-will open its 2018-2019 season with a new production of Philip Glass' In the Penal Colony (2000), based on a story by Franz Kafka, with libretto by Rudolph Wurlitzer. A parable for the consequences of the abuse of power, the opera is set at the turn of the last century on a remote island, where a high-ranking visitor arrives to witness the use of a strange machine in execution of a prisoner. The OP creative team is led by founder and Artistic Director Nicole Paiement, who will conduct, and Creative Director Brian Staufenbiel.
A high-ranking visitor arrives in the penal colony. He was invited there to witness the public execution of a prisoner using a strange machine invented by the former commandant of the colony. The machine slowly carves a description of the condemned man's crimes into his flesh and after hours of excruciating torture kills him. The device is operated by the officer in charge of the prison who is utterly devoted to the machine and to the memory of the deceased commandant who invented it. He is disturbed by the machine's state of disrepair and the growing criticism of its use, including criticism from the island's current commandant. He hopes that the visitor will be impressed by the machine and will speak in favor of its "redemptive powers" to the commandant. The visitor is appalled by the machine but sings "It's always risky interfering in other peoples' business [...] I oppose this procedure, but I will not intervene." When the officer realizes that the visitor will not actively support him, he frees the condemned prisoner from the machine and climbs onto it himself, seeking the redemption of a slow and painful death. The machine, however, goes haywire and instead of killing him slowly, kills him almost instantly by piercing his skull. It then self-destructs. The visitor boards a boat and leaves the island.
show less
Date/Times:
Monte Verde St. and 8th Ave., Carmel-By-The-Sea, CA 93921
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