Wednesday, January 18, 2017

THE CURTAIN GOING UP IN NEW YORK
ON 'ANTINOUS AND HADRIAN' THE OPERA



IT has often been said that the love story of Hadrian and his beloved Antinous has all the drama, romance, mystery and intrigue of opera — and now you can hear selections from the world's first queer opera about Antinous this weekend in New York City.

Duets from
ANTINOUS AND HADRIAN are being performed as part of the SOUND DEPARTURES 2017 arts weekend at 10 p.m. Friday 20 January 2017 at The Club 74A East 4th Street in New York.

This ground-breaking opera, which premiered in 2013, was written by composer CLINT BORZONI with a libretto by EDWARD FICKLIN.

Borzoni's award-winning music reflects his passion for lyricism and functional harmony. He has written over sixty pieces, including a full length opera, two one act operas, a piano concerto, percussion quartet, piece for orchestra, two string quartets, several works for chamber orchestra, and many art songs. 

Ficklin has composed and written librettos for various forms of music-theater. He has realized his works in a number of unusual venues, like a store window near Grand Central Station and a vacant bank lobby near the World Trade Center (with the support of the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and the September 11th Fund). His work has also been presented by numerous opera companies across the United States and Europe.

He describes "Antinous and Hadrian" as truly "grand opera," a hugely ambitious project.

"Rome wasn't built in a day," says Ficklin. "When embarking on something large, we're often given that sage, if cliche, advice. Having recently laid down on paper, finally, the first few lines a new libretto destined to be a grand opera, I find that I need to remind myself of this. Indeed, large endeavors always require a large perspective.


Click here for an exclusive excerpt from the opera:


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