LAURA ELISE SCHWENDINGER
ARTEMISIA
an opera about Artemisia Gentileschi, fueled by passion, betrayal and art in 17th Century Italy
Left Coast Chamber Ensemble Proves That Great Opera Needn’t Be Grand
By Rebecca Wishnia , June 3, 2019
- Left Coast Chamber Ensemble; World premiere of chamber version, SF, Z Space June 1/ 2, 2019
NY Times review https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/08/arts/music/classical-music-youtube.html
INTERVIEW ON KDFC https://www.kdfc.com/2019/05/artemesia-from-left-coast-chamber-ensemble/
ON BBC Radio 3, a Jo Wheeler production, featuring Laura and Ginger Strand @ https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000cyzs
With a libretto by Ginger Strand, Featuring: Artemisia: Bethany Cofland; Tomasso: Kyle Stegall; Susanna: Marnie Breckenridge; Abra/Tuzia: Nikki Einfeld ; Jonathan Smucker and Igor Vieira; Elder 1/ Tassi, Elder 2/ Cosimo, Matilda Hofman, conductor. With amazing projections by Andrew Lucia.
"talent to burn..."-Fanfare
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Orchestral world premiere by Trinity Wall Street NOVUS, with Christopher Alden - stage director and
Lidiya Yankovskaya conductor, Libretto by Ginger Strand
Artemisia received its orchestral premiere on the Time’s Arrow, Festival -- March 7 and was reviewed by the NEW YORK TIMES
https://www.trinitywallstreet.org/video/times-arrow-artemisia
Full Trinity performance at https://vimeo.com/334827356
Featuring: Augusta Caso – Artemisia Gentileschi; Heather Buck – Susanna; Oliver Mercer – Agostino Tassi/Elder 1,
Christopher Burchett – Cosimo di Medici/Elder 2, Richard Troxell – Tomasso/Oculist, and Melissa Baker Flute
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"Artemisia” lasts just 80 minutes, but fits in big themes set to music of quivering intensity. The story of the rape is there, blended with Gentileschi’s unbearably compassionate painting of the biblical character Susanna, who was ogled and shamed in her bath. But larger questions of idea and form, image and projection, sight and gaze also find nuanced and intelligent treatment." CORINNA da FONSECA-WOLLHEIM
NY Times review https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/08/arts/music/classical-music-youtube.html
"The Genuine Article..onto the season's 'best list' it goes" -Boston Globe
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"Left Coast Chamber Ensemble Proves That Great Opera Needn’t Be Grand"
"Laura Schwendinger's Artemisia, on the other hand, is sumptuous on every level...Schwendinger’s score is striking. ...Tommaso’s aria, a breathtaking piece of worry and longing...Most memorably, the music underscores Artemisia’s
deteriorating vision." -SF Classical Voice
Full LCCE performance https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkj70NE8LKg
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