Coming soon: video excerpts of dance work Repeat After Me; staged performance Desire Lines; and opera Weakness.
Weakness | Macha
New CD available on Albany Records.
See below for credits.
Some stories may not need to be told, not at first. Perhaps they need to live quietly deep in our hearts and minds and souls. At some point when the storyteller and storylistener are ready, the stories will emerge. And when they do, some of the mysteries that confounded us will, instead, astound us with the beauty and meaning they have always embodied but that remained hidden for so long.”
—Tom Cowan, “The Story of Macha”
“I was transfixed by this story’s resonance and mystery, by its weaving together of familiar archetypes and curious surprises. A spirit fancies a fleshly man and assumes human form so that she may—cook his dinner? The man betrays their secret bond when he boasts of her—athletic prowess? The king hears the man’s outburst and forces the woman to—race his horses?
—Barbara White, “On Detour”
“This work is imperiled from the start, as are the characters we follow through it. Rigorously established boundaries, once internalized, dissolve. But the bed of sound emerges again, diminishes, and we are left in an accusing, accursed silence. This opera tears contracts to pieces.”
—Andrea Mazzariello, “Blurred Lines Break: On Weakness and Transgression”
Audio Excerpts
“Lover and Loved One, Touch and Tumble” (excerpt) from Weakness. 2012.
“Plea for Compassion—Or, The Indictment Aria” (excerpt) from Weakness. 2012.
“Ordeal” (excerpt) from Weakness. 2012.
“Beyond” (excerpt) from Weakness. 2012.
Credits
Weakness, An Opera by Barbara White
Sarah Davis, soprano
Douglas Gillespie, speaker
Riley Lee, bamboo flute
Barbara White, clarinets
Taylor Levine, electric guitar
Dominic Donato, percussion
Michael Pratt, conductor/speaker
Ned Rothenberg, assistant conductor
Chorus: Millicent Kate Brigaud, Lisa Carlucci, Kristin Clotfelter,
Kate Knodel, Franco Paoletti, Livia Paoletti, John Russell, Katie Welsh
Macha, A Story by Tom Cowan
Written and performed by Tom Cowan
With contributions by Rose Marie McSweeney,
Greg Silver, Charles MacDonald, Konrad Kaczmarek,
Paul Davis, Robert “Boomer” MacDonald.
Weakness | Macha engineered by Andrés Villalta. Edited by Barbara White.
Sound design by Barbara White with Andrés Villalta.
Speaking roles and percussion directed by Mark DeChiazza and Barbara White.
Produced by Ned Rothenberg (Weakness) and Barbara White (Macha).