A Chamber Opera in Concert Version

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by Douglas J. Cuomo

“Incredibly compelling... a bold experiment with poetry and sound”
- The Houstonian

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“A compelling new musical score [with] variety and searing qualities."
- Broadway World

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“An abundance of genuinely poignant moments and brilliantly creative artistic elements.”
- Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

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In this fiercely contemporary reimagining of Wilhelm Müller’s poetry cycle Winterreise, composer Douglas J. Cuomo has created a thought-provoking work that mirrors the complexity of modern life and relationships.  

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The “radiant, communicative tenor” (Opera News) Tony Boutté assumes the existential mantle, giving a searing, intense performance as a man desperate for atonement, while electric guitar and electronics (Douglas Cuomo), trumpet (Frank London) and keyboards (Alan Johnson)—infused with acid jazz and a punk energy—narrate his delirious fever dream.

 

The semi-staged concert version of Savage Winter was premiered in 2018 in Houston by Aperio Music of the Americas. This seventy-five minute performance without intermission requires minimal staging and features projected images from the original opera that bring depth to this dynamic work. 

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The fully staged version, directed by Jonathan Moore, and with images by Joseph Seaman, was premiered at Pittsburgh Opera and Brooklyn Academy of Music in 2018, and is a co-production of American Opera Projects

 

Banner image above by Lynn Lane.