Exciting Programmatic Details for THE RECITAL!
FILM FESTIVAL MEETS LIVE PERFORMANCE IN BOUNDARY-PUSHING WORK.
For our second annual LB Opera & Film Festival, LBO presents THE RECITAL; a day’s worth of expansive programming that explores the intersection of film and opera with new live stagings and a robust and unexpected slate of filmic content that breaks through the boundaries between these two mediums of art.
Anchoring the expanded festival is a new production that stages Franz Schubert’s 1823 song cycle Die Schöne Müllerin and pairs it with a film directly inspired by the songs: the 2022 animated short Christopher at Sea. Premiering at the prestigious Venice International Film Festival and winning awards at SXSW and Sundance Film Festival, this film, combined with a live staging of the Schubert cycle, uniquely links these two works of art from two different mediums crafted 200 years apart. THE RECITAL is co-curated by Tom C. J. Brown and Raviv Ullman who also co-direct the staging of the Schubert song cycle. In order to make Christopher at Sea, Brown lived in his film’s setting on a large cargo vessel at sea and used historic recordings of Schubert’s song cycle as constant inspiration for the queer-focused intimate story, the score, and the mood of his animated work.
Live performances will include a lineup of debuts with Long Beach Opera as well as familiar faces from LBO’s past performances. Headlining Die Schöne Mullerin is mezzo-soprano and award-winning vocalist, Hope Nelson, with pianist and celebrated collaborative pianist, Sky Haneul Lee. Guided by the musical direction of Rakefet Hak, an opera veteran having worked with the Metropolitan Opera and coached opera’s biggest stars, this favorite work of Schubert’s will be brought to life in a completely reinvented way. Also joining the LB Opera & Film Festival lineup will be an additional live-scoring performance by Sharon Chohi Kim (Giustino, 2022)whose work explores immersive experimental opera, performance art, improvisation, and space activation through movement and voice. This live-scoring performance will take place on Sunday, June 25th.
Please note that the complete festival schedule will be released in the coming days, including a detailed listing of the order of events so that ticket-holders can best plan their experience at the event!
In addition to the featured programming of Die Schöne Müllerin / Christopher at Sea, (Tom C. J. Brown, 2022, England), the festival lineup will showcase a curated array of critically-acclaimed animated films, live-action shorts, feature-length works, and more. The vast lineup of material is from a staggering cohort of award-winning directors and filmmakers and includes:
Interesting Ball (DANIELS), 2014, United States
Cousin John (Tom C. J. Brown), 2019, England
Last Snow (Celia Rowlson-Hall), 2022, United States
Warsha (Dania Bdeir), 2022, Lebanon
La Pequeña Muerte (Pedro Lavin), 2023, Mexico
Snowy Bing Bongs (Alex H. Fischer & Rachel Wolther), 2017, United States
Rigoletto (Barry Purves), 1995, England
Squid (Raman Djafari), 2021, Germany
Marilyn Myller (Mikey Please), 2013, England
Hi Stranger (Kirsten Lepore), 2016, United States
The Event (Julia Pott), 2012, England
Mound (Allison Schulnik), 2011, United States
Hotel Kalura (Sophie Koko Gate), 2021, England
Fall of the Ibis King (Mikai Geronimo & Josh O’Caoimh), 2021, Ireland
Middle Dog Gets Angry (George Gendi), 2011, England
Mahler (Ken Russell), 1974, England
The June 25th date will also present a live Q+A session with performers and filmmakers, moderated by LBO’s Artistic Director, James Darrah, focusing on exploring the connections between operatic themes and cinematic language. The LB Opera & Film Festival presents an opportunity to ask questions about how opera and film inform each other and what it means to touch on work hundreds of years old and make it anew with modern performance and technology.
Taking place on “Retro Row” (4th Street) in Long Beach at the historic Art Theatre, THE RECITAL is a chance to explore the lineup of local businesses and make a day of adventurous art and a variety of great cuisines from which to choose. Patrons are encouraged to come and go from the venue as they like and find themselves at the center of one of Long Beach’s most vibrant neighborhoods. Ticket holders will have an all-day pass that will let them in and out of the venue to make the most of their experience. This immersive and expansive event marks LBOs commitment to exploring the intersection of cinema and opera. Patrons, creators, artists, and lovers of live performance and film will be surrounded by imaginative art-making at its finest.
Show Your Support for the Boldest Art-Making
As LBO approaches the end of our 2023 season filled with critical acclaim and art that is always at the forefront of our time, now is a great time to make a show of support for a "congenitally radical company." At Long Beach Opera, the majority of our support comes from individual supporters just like you. Help us continue to nurture and build on this commitment to advancing art with a gift today. Every gift counts, and every expression of love for the work we do ensures that what we do lives on. Thank you from all of us at LBO, and we can't wait to show you what's ahead.
