BMOP/sound Releases Schuller's The Fisherman and His Wife

Gunther Schuller: The Fisherman and His Wife

Composer: Gunter Schuller (1925-2015)
Release Date: April 7, 2020
TRT: 64:48
Works: The Fisherman and His Wife (1970)
Performers: Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP), Odyssey Opera, Sondra Kelly (mezzo-soprano), Steven Goldstein (tenor), David Kravitz (baritone), Katrina Galka (soprano), Ethan Depuy (tenor), led by Gil Rose (conductor)

Boston, MA (For Release 04.07.20) — Known as the nation’s foremost label launched by an orchestra and devoted exclusively to new music, Grammy Award-winning BMOP/sound today announced the release of Gunther Schuller: The Fisherman and His Wife led by conductor Gil Rose and performed by two of Boston’s leading musical ensembles—the Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP) and Odyssey Opera. Combining his sense of humor, 20 years of orchestral work (including 14 years as principal horn at the Met), and gift for developing pieces aimed at younger audiences, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Gunther Schuller (1925-2015) gives us his deft and comical take on the Brothers Grimm fairy tale adapted in a clever libretto by John Updike. Capturing the piece’s gentle playfulness with astute singing and acting are tenor Steven Goldstein as the titular Fisherman, mezzo-soprano Sondra Kelly (Met Opera regular) as his Wife, baritone David Kravitz as the magical Fish, and soprano Katrina Galka as the Fisherman’s cat companion.

Schuller’s opera dates from 1970 and has only had two Boston performances: one by the Opera Company of Boston under the composer’s baton, and a second by BMOP and Odyssey Opera as part of a 2015 memorial concert following Schuller’s death. The latter was described as “powerful…Schuller’s score has shimmering textures and brooding, Britten-like chromaticism that points to psychological depths that just aren’t present in the drama.” (Boston Classical Review) According to Gil Rose, Artistic Director, Founder, and Conductor of BMOP and Odyssey Opera, this one-act opera is a challenge. “It’s a fascinating 20^th century composition, full of what they called ‘now sounds’ in the 1970s. But this is why BMOP and Odyssey Opera are around. It’s definitely Gunther at the top of his compositional game.”

This marks the second Schuller recording released on the BMOP/sound label. Gunther Schuller: Journey Into Jazz (#1004) was the first compilation album of Schuller’s works for the legendary Modern Jazz Quartet. Described as a “vibrant and wholly sympathetic performance (Jazz Times),” it was recognized as one of the Best CDs of 2008 by both DownBeat and National Public Radio.

Ranking among the most eclectic of his generation or any other, Schuller was an American composer, conductor, jazz and classical performer, author/historian, music publisher, record producer, and creator of a revolutionary, hybrid style known as “Third Stream.” Schuller served as President of the New England Conservatory, where he established a successful degree-granting jazz program, from 1967-1977.

He was the winner of several major honors including the MacArthur Genius Award, DownBeat Lifetime Achievement Award, a Pulitzer Prize, two Grammy Awards, and inaugural membership in the American Classical Music Hall of Fame. “There was no more prodigious and passionate master of the musical 20th century in America than Gunther Schuller. He was American music-making at its best.” (Rose)         

About BMOP/sound          

BMOP/sound, BMOP’s independent record label, was created in 2008 to provide a platform for BMOP’s extensive archive of music, as well as to provide widespread, top-quality, permanent access to both classics of the 20th century and the music of today’s most innovative composers. 

BMOP/sound has garnered praise from the national and international press. It is the recipient of a 2020 Grammy Award for Tobias Picker: Fantastic Mr. Fox as well as eight Grammy Award nominations, and its releases have appeared on the year-end “Best of” lists of The New York Times, The Boston Globe, National Public Radio, Time Out New York, American Record Guide, DownBeat, WBUR, NewMusicBox, and others. Admired, praised, and sought after by artists, presenters, critics, and audiophiles, BMOP and BMOP/sound are uniquely positioned to redefine the new music concert and recording experience. Launched in 2019, BMOP's digital radio station, BMOP/radio, streams BMOP/sound's entire catalog and airs special programming. BMOPsound.org

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