New Opera: Arjuna's Dilemma
This in from the New Yorker
Douglas J. Cuomo, the composer made famous by his spicy theme for “Sex and the City,” is a serious professional with interests that range across classical, jazz, and world music. He brings them all to bear on his most ambitious project, a chamber opera inspired by an episode from the Bhagavad Gita. In this new chamber opera mixing Western and Indian musical styles, the Mr Cuomo explores Arjuna’s misgivings and Krishna’s sweeping explanation of life, death, reality, illusion and destiny.
Douglas J. Cuomo, the composer made famous by his spicy theme for “Sex and the City,” is a serious professional with interests that range across classical, jazz, and world music. He brings them all to bear on his most ambitious project, a chamber opera inspired by an episode from the Bhagavad Gita. In this new chamber opera mixing Western and Indian musical styles, the Mr Cuomo explores Arjuna’s misgivings and Krishna’s sweeping explanation of life, death, reality, illusion and destiny.
Amazon has a recording available with samples you can listen to. The music is a lovely blend of Indian vocal styles, with lovely soft Western harmonies. Some of the choral work is really beautiful with a good mix of both worlds. We'll see how it fairs when the reviews come out later this week.
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http://www.wnyc.org/flashplayer/player.html#/play/%2Fstream%2Fxspf%2F113699