FULL On The Axis of This World (Matt Rogers) London 2014 Magid El-­‐Bushra, Nicholas Crawley, Gary Merry

Information on the Performance

• Work Title: On The Axis of This World  
• Composer: Rogers Matt  
• Libretto: verbatim from the archives of the Scott Polar Research Institute    Libretto Text, Libretto Index
• Venue & Opera Company: Kings Place St Pancras Room, London, UK, Cambridge City Opera Ltd  
• Recorded: August 7 & 8, 2014
• Type: Staged Opera Live
• Singers: Magid El-­‐Bushra, Nicholas Crawley, Gary Merry
• Conductor:   
• Orchestra: Instrumental Ensemble  
• Stage Director: Sinéad O’Neill  
• Stage Designer: Flora Robertson  
• Costume Designer:   

Information about the Recording

• Format: Streaming
• Quality Video: 4 Audio:4
• Subtitles: nosubs  

• ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIS PERFORMANCE

  Genesis

  Cambridge City Opera (CCO) was founded by Sinéad O’Neill to create new operatic works inspired by people, places, and stories connected with the city of Cambridge. ON THE AXIS OF THIS WORLD is our first project, and is the result of collaboration between CCO and the Scott Polar Research Institute at the University of Cambridge.

  Future plans include The Singing Line – inspired by the story of Alice Springs, a young woman from Cambridge who married the man responsible for Australia’s first trans-­‐continental telegraph wire – and The Barrington Hippo – inspired by the famous fossil discovered in the Cambridgeshire countryside.

  Synopsis

  ON THE AXIS OF THIS WORLD is inspired by Antarctic exploration and, in particular, the British Antarctic Expedition of 1911-­‐13, when Captain Robert Falcon Scott and four of his companions died on their way back from the South Pole.

  The piece comprises five regions: Snow, Land, Light, Life and Sea – each a meditation on the layers of time and memory that haunt Antarctica. Together they become a shifting musical landscape in which the explorers’ words and phrases are embedded, encompassing scientific observations and personal accounts.

  The texts for ON THE AXIS OF THIS WORLD are drawn from the following sources: Henry Bowers’ letter to his sister, Terra Nova’s Meteorological Log-­‐book, Terra Nova’s Ship’s Log-­‐book, Raymond Priestley’s Meteorological Diary, Victor Campbell’s Journal (all thanks to the Scott Polar Research Institute), Lester King’s The Morphology of the Earth (Edinburgh and London, Oliver and Boyd, 1962). The title is a quotation from a lecture given by Captain Scott.

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