Mackey: Ravenshead (Complete Opera)

Rinde Eckert (Artist), Steven Mackey (Composer), The Paul Dresher Ensemble (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: The Paul Dresher Ensemble
• Composer: Steven Mackey
• Audio CD (April 25, 2000)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Minmax
• ASIN: B00004SR2Y
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #219,801 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. The Doldrums

2. Prime Number

3. Barroom

4. Boat Building/Inventory

5. Bare Raft

6. The Last Time I Saw My Wife

7. Out to Sea

8. Book of Days

Disc: 2

1. Noisy Sea

2. Options

3. ...but the mind

4. Dear Clare

5. ...we have with us today

6. Come in, come in!

7. Ironic, really

8. The Ballad of Ravenshead

9. The Storm

10. Epilogue

Editorial Reviews

USA Today

Eckert [delivers] a tour de force to Mackey’s insinuating, rock-influenced score.

Product Description

USA Today declared Ravenshead the “Best New Opera of the Year” when it debuted in 1998. “Equal parts MTV and Metropolitan Opera” (New York Press), Ravenshead combines a dazzling solo performance by vocalist Rinde Eckert with a multi-faceted score performed by the Paul Dresher Ensemble. The work is based on the real life story of Donald Crowhurst, a British entrepreneur who attempted to be the first person to sail solo around the world. A meditation on the meaning of heroism vs. hubris, of competence vs. charisma, the work had the “New York audience hanging on the edge of their seats” (American Theatre). Ravenshead is “an unforgettable opera that combines music and drama with stunning emotional effect,” and “Eckert is a marvel, singing Mackey’s challenging, beautiful score with consummate commitment” (Hartford Courant). The Los Angeles Times writes that the opera is “astonishing,” with a “brilliant” performance by Eckert that “entertains us, amazes us and shatters us.”

Mackey, whose idiom draws on western art music as well as popular music, has been commissioned by such sources as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Dawn Upshaw, and Fred Sherry. Champions of his music include Michael Tilson Thomas, Dennis Russell Davies, and the Kronos Quartet.

See all Editorial Reviews

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Shouting Modern Opera, July 19, 2004

By 

John D. Dooley "PhiloX" (Southern California United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Mackey: Ravenshead (Complete Opera) (Audio CD)

Paul Dresher has written & performed multi-media modern opera/performance art theater for over 20 years. Many of his works were either never recorded for consumers or are now out of print. As a composer with his ensemble, the music is rather unique classical minimalism mixed with progressive jazz/rock. At times tape loops, sound effects, or John Cage like random sounds are used with great effect.

In the mid 1980's Paul Dresher joined forces with the performance artist/singer Rinde Eckert, who's emotional inner core goes beyond mere singing. One theater piece that was recorded "Slow Fire" was about a father teaching his son to hunt with a gun. Rinde Eckert interplays both father & son, singing with great skill about the dangers of America's freedom with bare arms.

This time around with the composer Steven Mackey, the opera (dare I call it this?) "Ravenhead" gives an almost Benjamin Britten's Peter Grimes rendering about Richard Ravenhead, prime number 17, who's mathematical entrapments cause him to build a sailboat to solo circumnavigate the world. The CD is recorded live, which I believe limits Rinde Eckert to shout throughout the piece, losing his normally interesting singing voice.

If your a fan of either Steven Mackey, Paul Dresher, or Rinde Eckert, then add this CD to your collection because their recordings are so hard to find. If not, try to find "Slow Fire" or other works from these fine artists to discover what is happening in today's musical performances.