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BOSTON, MA (For Release 09.10.24) — Hailed by The New York Times as “one of the nation’s most intriguing opera companies,” Odyssey Opera, in partnership with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP), presents a rare Boston showing of the Gershwin brothers’ two political musicals at New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall, Saturday, October 12, 2024, at 7:30 p.m. With scores by George Gershwin, libretti by Ira Gershwin, and books by George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind, the stories of Of Thee I Sing (1931) and Let ‘Em Eat Cake (1933) are both centered on American politics: the former being a politically correct Pulitzer Prize-winning musical; the latter, a politically incorrect flop. Reimagined as a live concert experience, conductor Gil Rose leads a formidable ensemble of established singers including Heather Buck, Aaron Engebreth, Neal Ferreira, and more, accompanied by the Odyssey Opera chorus and the acclaimed BMOP orchestra.
“What better time to bring political satires to the stage than at the height of a Presidential Election. Politics, captivating music, humor, and eerie foreboding reminds us why the Gershwins remain as relevant today as they ever did,” says Gil Rose, multi-Grammy Award-winning conductor and artistic director of both Odyssey Opera and BMOP. “It is astonishing that their librettos, written almost 100 years ago, are not only not dated but resonate more with modern-day audiences.”
When it was first performed on Broadway, Of Thee I Sing was a hit with over 440 performances. It won the Pulitzer Prize in 1932 in Drama, the first musical to win that prestigious award. The Prize Committee said: “Of Thee I Sing is not only coherent and well-knit enough to class as a play, but it is a biting and true satire on American politics and the public attitude towards them.”
The Gershwins teamed up again with Kaufman and Ryskind for their second and final collaboration, the 1933 sequel Let ‘Em Eat Cake. The show ran just 89 performances and is largely forgotten about today. Let ‘Em Eat Cake concerns the actions of a rogue President who lost re-election, fires the Supreme Court, stages a military coup, and paints the White House blue. “Concertgoers might assume we updated the libretto, adding contemporary references,” says Rose. “The resemblance to current day politics is purely coincidental and uncanny!” Gershwin said that this show was a favorite work of his and that it “was the composer’s claim to legitimacy.”
About Gil Rose
Gil Rose is one of today’s most trailblazing conductors, praised as “amazingly versatile” (The Boston Globe) with “a sense of style and sophistication” (Opera News). Equally at home performing core repertoire, new music, and lesser-known historic symphonic and operatic works, “Gil Rose is not just a fine conductor, but a peerless curator, sniffing out—and commissioning—off-trend, unheralded, and otherwise underplayed repertoire that nevertheless holds to unfailingly high standards of quality. In doing so, he’s built an indefinable, but unmistakable, personal aesthetic” (WQXR). A global leader in American contemporary music, Grammy Award-winner Rose is the founder of the performing and recording ensemble, the Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP), who “bring an endlessly curious and almost archaeological mind to programming…with each concert, each recording, an essential step in a better direction” (The New York Times), as well as the founder of Odyssey Opera, praised by The New York Times as “bold and intriguing.” GilRoseConductor.com
About Odyssey Opera
Founded in 2013 by artistic director/conductor Gil Rose, Odyssey Opera presents adventurous and eclectic works that affirm opera as a powerful expression of the human experience. Its world-class artists perform the operatic repertoire from its historic beginnings through lesser-known masterpieces to contemporary new works and commissions in varied formats and venues. Odyssey Opera takes its audience on a journey to places they’ve never been before. odysseyopera.org
About BMOP
The Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP) is the premier orchestra in the United States dedicated exclusively to commissioning, performing, and recording music of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. A unique institution of crucial artistic importance to today’s musical world, BMOP exists to disseminate exceptional orchestral music of the present and recent past via performances and recordings of the highest caliber. Founded by Artistic Director Gil Rose in 1996, BMOP has championed composers whose careers span nine decades.
Each season, Rose brings BMOP’s award-winning orchestra, renowned soloists, and influential composers to the stage of New England Conservatory’s historic Jordan Hall in a series that offers orchestral programming of unrivaled eclecticism. Musical America’s 2016 Ensemble of the Year, BMOP was awarded the 2021 Special Achievement Award from Gramophone Magazine as “an organization that has championed American music of the 20th and 21st century with passion and panache.” The musicians of BMOP are consistently lauded for the energy, imagination, and passion with which they infuse the music of the present era. BMOP.org.
Ticketing Program Information:
Saturday, October 12, 2024, at 7:30 p.m. ET
New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall, 30 Gainsborough Street, Boston, MA
Tickets: General $35-$70. Students $10. Reservations strongly encouraged. To reserve, visit BMOP.org or call 718.324.0396.
Performers:
Heather Buck (soprano), Mary Turner
Aaron Engebreth (baritone), President John P. Wintergreen
Abigail Paschke (soprano), Diana Devereaux/Trixie Flynn
Neal Ferreira (tenor), French Ambassador/Kruger
Steven Goldstein (tenor), Vice President Alexander Throttlebottom
Odyssey Opera chorus
Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP)
Gil Rose, conductor
Program (concert versions):
Of Thee I Sing (1931)
Let ‘Em Eat Cake (1933)
Music by George Gershwin
Libretti by Ira Gershwin
Based on books by George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind
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