US Premiere of Xenakis’ Oresteia at Miller Theatre

Miller Theatre at Columbia University opens its 20th Anniversary Season with the U.S. premiere of Iannis Xenakis’s only opera, Oresteia - libretto adapted from Aeschylus. It is an original multi-media production directed and choreographed by Luca Veggetti, with Wilbur Pauley, bass, the Young People’s Chorus of New York City, the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) and a sextet of dancers including the entrancing Frances Chiaverini.

Under the leadership of Otto Luening in the 1940s, Columbia began presenting many important new opera works and rediscoveries, most notably the world premieres of Britten and Auden’s Paul Bunyan and Virgil Thomson and Gertrude Stein’s The Mother of Us All. To celebrate this pioneering legacy, Miller Theatre has presented eight chamber operas under the helm of George Steel, from Viktor Ullmann’s Der Kaiser von Atlantis to Stephen Mackey and Rinde Eckert’s Ravenshead. In 2007 Miller presented a sold-out run of the U.S. premiere production of Lost Highway by the young Austrian modernist Olga Neuwirth. And last year’s production made headlines with the N.Y. stage premiere of Elliott Carter’s opera What Next?

This season Miller continues the legacy with the U.S. premiere of the final version of Iannis Xenakis’s Oresteia—the composer’s only opera—in an ambitious production directed by Luca Veggetti. The renowned choreographer directs this monumental work incorporating theater, dance, music, and projections. Both an architect and composer, Xenakis reimagines Aeschylus’s epic tragedy through the lens of Japanese Noh theater. The immense cast comprises bass Wilbur Pauley, a chorus of 36 singers, six dancers, a children’s chorus, and orchestra, all surrounded by French photographer Pascal Delcey’s exquisite color projections created just for this production.

Luca Veggetti’s vision for this production embraces Xenakis’s idea of “total theater.” Dance and movement will be a constant part of the work. And in the spirit of Greek drama, everyone is a chorus member, including the dancers. All the text, in ancient Greek, will be sung from memory.

Participating artists are Luca Veggetti, director and choreographer, Stephen Osgood, conductor, Roderick Murray, lighting design, Luca Veggetti and Roderick Murray, stage design, Deanna Lynn Berg and Luca Veggetti, costume design, Sage Marie Carter, projections design, Pascal Delcey, original artwork, Wilbur Pauley, bass and dancers Olivia Ancona, Kristi Capps, Frances Chiaverini, Matthew Branham, R. Colby Damon and Stephan Laks.

All performances begin at 8:00PM, Saturday, September 13, Tuesday, September 16 and Wednesday,
September 17.

Columbia University’s Miller Theatre is located north of the Main Campus Gate at 116th St. & Broadway on the ground floor of Dodge Hall. For tickets, the public should call the Miller Theatre Box Office at 212/854-7799, M–F, 12–6 pm.

Tickets can also be purchased online at www.millertheatre.com