Neither (opera)

Neither is the only opera by Morton Feldman, dating from 1977. Its libretto is a 16-line poem by Samuel Beckett. Composer and librettist had met in Berlin two years earlier with plans for a collaboration for Rome Opera. However, Beckett told Feldman that he himself did not like opera. Feldman had echoed Beckett’s sentiment, so that the work emerged in Rome as a setting for soprano soloist only, accompanied by orchestra.

Recordings

• HatHut, hat (now) ART 180: Sarah Leonard, soprano; Radio-Sinfonie-Orchester Frankfurt; Zoltán Peskó, conductor
• Col Legno, WWE 1CD 20081: Petra Hoffman, soprano; Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks; Kwamé Ryan, conductor

References

External links

• The Modern World, pages on: Feldman and Beckett Neither
• JazzLoft page on recording of Neither
• Neither Wealth Nor Splendor: Getting Morton Feldman’s and Samuel Beckett’s 1977 opera NEITHER from a Workshop Performance in NYC to the Konzerthaus in Vienna and the Obstacles Concerned.