Space Opera, Furthermore
In an earlier
post I commented with pleasant surprise on a Swedish composer's
attempt to create an opera on a science fiction theme. Commenters
assured me this was hardly the first composer to attempt such a feat.
Daniel Wolf cited as ancient an example as Haydn, which impressed me to
no end. Those of you familiar with my Haydn animus won't be surprised
my mental picture of Haydn as a space opera-tor is that of the salt
vampire of Planet M-113.Anyhoo, I'm pleased to add another work to this growing list: Jacques Offenbach's adaptation of Jules Verne's Le Voyage dans la Lune. Wikipedia has the details, including a wonderful photo showing costumes and a set from the original lush (but to the modern eye, goofy) production. Kudos is due (hey! I conjugates that verb real good!) to io9 for dredging up this information (especially considering that deep historical perspective is not what you expect from a Gawker-related site) in a terribly interesting roundup of info on Georges Méliès' groundbreaking 1902 SF film A Trip to the Moon, which itself was recycled in a trippy music video by The Smashing Pumpkins called Tonight, Tonight:
And I suppose I'll have to comment on The Man that Fell to Earth if I ever get up the courage to watch it.
Space. And opera. What else have I overlooked?
Labels: Composition, Culture, Futurism, movie, Opera, sci-fi, VideoClip
Umie the Umlaut says, "ask your doctor about the Fredösphere!"
3 Comments:
Thats a great way of appreciating your readers. I think you owe the blogging world one more post.
Daniel Wolf who inspire me too to no end.He is a great man.I like him.
Ernst Krenek: Der Diktator (1926)
Karl Birger Blomdahl: Aniara (1959)
Anthony Davis: Under the Double Moon (1989)
Peter Maxwell Davies: The Doctor of Myddfai (1996)
Olga Neuwirth: The Long Rain (2000)
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