Stewart Copeland, Philip Glass works set for Long Beach Opera
Works by former Police band member Steward Copeland and composer Philip Glass will be part of Long Beach Opera’s 2013 season that is scheduled to begin in January. The eclectic lineup, which the company will announce this week, also will feature opera by Gabriela Ortiz, Michael Gordon and Ernest Bloch.
Long Beach Opera specializes in cutting edge and experimental works that major opera companies don’t normally produce. The company will stage its productions in venues around the Long Beach area.
Copeland’s recent chamber opera “Tell-Tale Heart” (May 11, 18 and 19) will be presented at the Expo Art Center in Long Beach. The 30-minute piece is based on the Edgar Allan Poe short story and was presented by the Royal Opera House in London in 2011. The Long Beach production will be the piece’s U.S. premiere.
The company said Copeland won’t perform in the opera, but said that the former drummer of The Police is interested in attending the performances.
“Tell-Tale Heart” will be performed on a double bill with Gordon’s “Van Gogh,” a 1991 work based on the painter’s letters to his brother, Theo.
The season will begin with Glass’ “The Fall of the House of Usher” (Jan. 27, Feb. 2 and 3), at the Warner Grand Theatre in San Pedro. The piece, also based on a Poe literary work, debuted in 1988 and will be making its West Coast premiere.
Ortiz’s “Unicamente la Verdad (Only the Truth)” (March 24 and 30) will run at the Terrace Theatre in Long Beach. The 2008 opera uses video created by the composer’s brother, artist Rubén Ortiz-Torres, to tell the story of a pair of drug traffickers crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.
Bloch’s “Macbeth” (June 15, 22 and 23) will close the season. The rarely performed 1910 opera, which is based on the Shakespeare tragedy, will run at a site-specific location at the Port of Los Angeles.
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