ONE-OF-A-KIND OPERA PRODUCTION
This is quite a find - even for VAI, who consistently comes up with fascinating rarities from the archives of televised performing arts programming. Jack Beeson's LIZZIE BORDEN is one of the few indisputably great American operas. With a libretto by Kenward Elmslie (based on a scenario by Richard Plant), it addresses a classically American theme - family dynamics and the effects of repression - through a brilliantly conceived re-telling of the iconic Lizzie Borden story (taking poetic license where necessary to turn the gritty reality of the story into gripping drama). Like all modern works (and, for the most part, most music grouped under the broad heading "classical"), the full beauty and depth of the score becomes more and more apparent upon each hearing. In fact, some people may be surprised at how much of the score is bathed in lyrical beauty; some of the most haunting and expressive scenes are the "Garden aria" of the younger sister, Margret; the duets between Margret and...
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