Composer Michael Roth has worked with Randy Newman as an orchestrator/arranger.  He has provided scores for adaptations of Shakespeare’s The Tempest (2010), Twelfth Night (2012), and more recently Henry IV (with Tom Hanks).  He has collaborated with a host of singers as well and written a variety of chamber music, theater music, and addition theater design.  His current project is something called The Web Opera whose libretto is by Kate Gale.  Gale is known for her novel Lake of Fire and provided the libretto for Don Davis’ opera Rio de Sangre.

The concept piece is being presented on the web serially.  The first of these appeared in January.  Three ten-minute episodes were completed and are airing on www.thewebopera.com.  The music is a blend of popular rhythmic styles with a touch of musical theater.  The opening of Episode One has a minimalist-like approach in its repeated motives.  The vocal writing though is certainly more Broadway-like.  A man appears and is reading through the video upload instructions.  He looks at us as we are the computer screen.  He then also begins responding to emails and starts searching for more information about one of the senders.  Chat interaction also occurs.  In the second episode, we are introduced to the violin “sender” of the email.  It opens with him practicing and then enters into his interaction in forums in his own lonely hope for finding a connection.  Episode three introduces us to a female character working on homework.  The music moves into some rock tropes as our character from episode one shows up to interact with her.  Others show up to take a look at the webcam that was set up to spy on his roommate.

The libretto has a sort of stream of consciousness style with little or no overall structure.  This requires Roth to spin out his musical ideas like recitative rather than in song forms that provide greater structure.  In some respects, the result is like a television episode that features sung dialogue.  The conceit is all focused around how we interact with the internet as a means of information, education, or even “spying” on others either through web searches or webcam broadcasts.  The music has good forward energy and keeps things moving along and it has this sense that it is bubbling about under the sung dialogue as the steady stream.  Melodic lines don’t really pull out as standalone songs here with the sort of ongoing style that appears here.  Underlying this is how the installation of the webcam will eventually set off a chain of events that will have consequences.  Themes of cyberbullying and abuse that is connected to real events, a music student who took his own life due to online bullying.

The Web Opera is an interesting experiment of creating an on-line musical work that is essentially about online environments and behavior.  The final two episodes are yet to appear but intend to move us through the resulting consequences of the opening setup.  The reality of this is that the piece is intended to make us think about our own times and our use of the internet.  As one ponders even these first episodes, it becomes clearer that the words of the libretto point out how we move from something quite simple (instructions), to more complicated interactions whether these be in our emails, chats, online forums, or even educational platforms.  This is where the importance of what Roth and Gale are doing comes to the forefront of this rather unusual work.

The series has also begun to appear at some film festivals.  Earlier this year it won the Award of Merit at the LA-based Web Series Festival Global.  The Lift-Off Global Network in New York featured it on a special online presentation.  Others are also on the horizon.Consider exploring what they have accomplished so far.  To support the project, go to www.thewebopera.com.

In Tandem: Solos & Duos
Vit Musik, violin. Petr Nouzovsky, cello;
Ondrej Jurceka, trumpet. Karel Martinek, organ;
Lucie Kaucka, piano; Sauro Berti, bass clarinet;
Christopher Morrison, flute. Stephanie Watt, piano.
Navona Records 6227
Total Time:  49:48
Recording:   ****/****
Performance: ****/****

Regular readers of Cinemusical are likely aware that this particular release has a personal connection.  In Tandem features music by five composers, and I am among that list.  I have debated not reviewing the album, but this seemed quite unfair to my colleague’s music which deserves your attention.  So, with that caveat in place, here is an overview of this collection of unique chamber pieces.

There are three single-movement works on the album.  Lee Actor’s Duo for Violin and Cello (1978) opens the release.  The piece received the Eva Thompson Phillips Award for composition.  The music has a more dissonant quality that opens with angular rhythmic ideas and tense harmonic writing.  The three-part structure features a decidedly more lyrical section which is a canon between the two instruments.  The piece concludes with a great flurry of energy.  Aria by Peter Greve is a fascinating exploration of timbre created by melding a slow-moving trumpet line against changing harmonies in the organ.  The result is a rather meditative work that serves as a perfect contrast to the opening work.  Sidney Bailin’s Blue Plea explores the range of the bass clarinet.  Using motivic connections in the piece, Bailin explores the instrument’s many expressive capabilities with some subtle references to Brahms; Clarinet Quintet and hints of jazz in the several riffs that appear in the music.  These ideas are taken through a number of variations that are revealed with repeated exploration.

The two multi-movement works are a violin sonata and a work for flute and piano.  The latter is Allen Brings’ Duo for Flute and Piano which is cast in three movements.  The opening has the quality of a Bach invention as the flute and piano lines seem to be moving in parallel musical universes until they begin to come together more at the end.  The central movement wavers between peace and more intense sections with the former attitude seeming to win out as the piano dissolves at the end.  The final movement continues to explore this back-and-forth interaction as it comes to an exciting conclusion.  At the center of the album is the four-movement Marian Sonata by Steven A. Kennedy (this reviewer!).  Each of the movements explores seasons of the Church year and merges specific Marian antiphons (for Advent, Lent, Easter, and Pentecost) with a French carol and specific hymns for the same seasons.  The opening movement features the most recognizable carol Il est ne le divin enfant.  It creates a more tonal focus with modern harmonic touches.  The second movement moves toward more dissonances with subtle references to Bach in the piano and a growing piled clusters that are created from the hymn melody, “O Sacred Head Now Wounded”.  A sense of growing excitement serves as the “scherzo” movement of the sonata before strange piano sounds hint at the breath of the spirit and celebratory nature of the finale.

The performances throughout the album are really excellent.