FULL SPIRIT HARBOUR (Lliam Paterson) London 2014 Opera Kitsune

Information on the Performance

• Work Title: Spirit Harbor  
• Composer: Paterson Lliam   
• Libretto: based on Kyoko Miyake’s film    Libretto Text, Libretto Index
• Venue & Opera Company: Platform Theatre Central Saint Martins, London, UK, Opera Kitsune  
• Recorded: August 1, 2014
• Type: Staged Opera Live
• Singers: Hannah Patridge, Hamish Mackay, Judy Brown, Oliver Marshall
• Conductor:   
• Orchestra:
• Stage Director: Bryony J. Thompson  
• Costume Designer:   

Information about the Recording

• Published by: tete a tete  
• Date Published: 2014  
• Format: Streaming
• Quality Video: 4 Audio:4
• Subtitles: nosubs  

• ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIS PERFORMANCE

  Genesis

   

  “The idea of creating an opera that deals with contemporary themes had lingered in my mind for along time. Kyoko Miyake’s film, Surviving the Tsunami: My Atomic Aunt inspired me to present the story of a refugee from the 2011 Fukushima Nuclear Disaster. The opera’s central character, Ayako Hamasaki embodies many of the qualities I found in Miyake’s Aunt Kuniko. She longs to return to her old life, and so we find an intense nostalgia undercut by a sense of hope; happiness might return, even though things will never be quite the same again.

  My enduring interest in Japanese culture led me to the idea of combining elements ofNōh theatre with a more recognizable chamber opera idiom. However, the formal structures, acting style and music of Nōh are only hinted at in an abstracted form. The play is, after all, recounted from Ayako’s memory; we hear it at a distance and in the form her own understanding gave to the play”.

  Synopsis

  Ayako Hamasaki reflects on the loss of her hometown, Tomioka. She is a refugee from the 2011 Fukushima Nuclear Disaster. To pass the time she tells stories from her past; presently, she recounts the Nōh play: Sesshōseki (The Killing Stone).

  Act 1: The travelling monk, Gennō has arrived at the field of Nasuno-­‐no-­‐hara. He notices a stone surrounded by dead birds. A mysterious woman appears and explains that she is Lady Tamamo – the spirit possessing the rock Sesshōseki.

  Act 2: At nightfall, Gennō performs a rite for the Killing Stone. The rock splits in two, revealing the spirit’s true form: the Evil Fox. It recounts that Lady Tamamo attempted to overthrow the Emperor’s reign, but was exposed and banished to Nasuno-­‐no-­‐hara. An army was sent to kill the spectre, now resembling a fox. Once killed, its mind transformed into the Killing Stone.

  The spirit receives the precious law of Buddha and disappears.

  Her story at an end, Ayako sits alone singing the tune, Furusato to herself.

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