Rosa: The Death of a Composer

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Based upon a 1993 book by the controversial filmmaker Peter Greenaway, Rosa: The Death of a Composer premiered at Amsterdam’s Muziektheater in 1994, with libretto and direction by Greenaway and a score by the leading Dutch composer Louis Andriessen. The Sunday Times (UK), in a review of the premiere, said: “[I]t is clear from the maturity of the Rosa score that [Andriessen] has developed an idiom in which minimalism, a distinct sort of rhythmic Stravinsky-anism and mainstream modernism are blended with masterful, totally personal ease; an idiom in which it is triumphantly impossible to distinguish between pop, jazz and classical styles.”

Description

Based upon a 1993 book by the controversial filmmaker Peter Greenaway (Prospero’s Books; The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover), Rosa: The Death of a Composer premiered at Amsterdam’s Muziektheater in 1994, with libretto and direction by Greenaway and a score by the leading Dutch composer Louis Andriessen. The Sunday Times (UK), in a review of the premiere, said, “[I]t is clear from the maturity of the Rosa score that [Andriessen] has developed an idiom in which minimalism, a distinct sort of rhythmic Stravinsky-anism and mainstream modernism are blended with masterful, totally personal ease; an idiom in which it is triumphantly impossible to distinguish between pop, jazz and classical styles.”

Although collaboration between Andriessen and Greenaway commenced with the 1991 television film M is for Man, Music, Mozart, Rosa: The Death of a Composer marks Greenaway’s first foray into opera. Rosa, as described in Greenaway’s original book, is concerned with the strange deaths of composers throughout history, beginning with Anton Webern in 1984 and ending with John Lennon in 1980.

Over the course of the 12 scenes in Rosa, Greenaway specifically identified ten cases of composers being murdered, and intends to build cases on them all. It is not clear whether the other eight composers are real or fictional, but it is known that the title character, Juan Manuel de Rosa, is alleged to have been born in Brazil and shot dead in 1957, near an abbatoir in Fray Bentos, Uruguay. His alleged killers are, oddly enough, named Jack Lully and Hank Alcan, after two composers who died very untimely deaths in the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries, respectively.

In the story Rosa shares his fictional life with his fiancée Esmerelda and a black mare, which he keeps imprisoned on a treadmill. Rosa, famous for his scores for Hollywood westerns, considered himself a real cowboy, and prized his horse over his woman. In a desperate effort to win Rosa’s affections, Esmerelda, the character at the heart of the opera, tries to become the object of his affection: a horse. Only after Rosa’s death, in true western fashion, and the subsequent investigation does Esmerelda finally achieve her ambition: she is burned to death in the body of Rosa’s stuffed horse.

And, in typical Andriessen fashion, the work is scored for a non-traditional ensemble: woodwinds, brass, four saxophones, amplified strings, two pianos, two electric guitars, bass guitar, synthesizer, and amplified voices. It is heard on this recording in a performance by the combined efforts of the Schönberg and Asko Ensembles, conducted by Reinbert de Leeuw.

ProductionCredits

PRODUCTION CREDITS
Produced by Willem Hering and Ron Ford
Recorded June 29-30, 1998 in the Beurs van Berlage, Amsterdam.
Recording and editing engineer: Adriaan Verstijnen

All music written by Louis Andriessen
Libretto/scenario written by Peter Greenaway

Design by David Cohen
Cover art: Untitled (1977) by Susan Rothenberg. © 2000 Susan Rothenberg / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

Executive Producer: Robert Hurwitz

 

Nonesuch Selection Number

79559

Number of Discs in Set
2discs
ns_album_artistid
6
ns_album_id
20
ns_album_releasedate
ns_genre_1
0
ns_genre_2
0
Album Status
Artist Name
Louis Andriessen
MusicianDetails

MUSICIANS
Lyndon Terracini, baritone
Miranda Van Kralingen, soprano
Marie Angel, soprano
Roger Smeets, baritone
Christopher Gillett, tenor
Phyllis Blanford, mezzo-soprano

Schönberg Ensemble and Asko Ensemble:
Reinbert De Leeuw, conductor
Flute: Govert Jurriaanse, Eleonore Pameijer, Miriam Teepe, Eline van Esch
Oboe: Marieke Schut, Evert Weidner, Hans Cartigny, Oliver Boekhoorn, Esther Probst
Saxophone: Peter van Bergen, Leo van Oostrom, Michiel van Dijk, David Kweksilber
French horn: Lenno de Ruijter, Wim Timmermans, René Pagen, Morris Powell
Trumpet: Willem van der Vliet, Hendrik Jan Lindhout, Reijer Dorresteijn, Bert Langenkamp, Bob Koershuis
Trombone: Toon van Ulsen, Edwin Kruunenberg
Bass Trombone: Peter van Klink
Tuba: Arjan Stroop
Percussion: Ger de Zeeuw, Wim Vos, Murk Jiskoot, Tom van der Loo
Mouth organ: Jan Verwey
Piano: Gerard Bouwhuis, René Eckhardt
Synthesizer: Niek de Vente
Bass guitar: Rob Zeelenberg
Electric guitar: Patricio Wang, Olaf Tarenskeen
Violin: Jan Erik van Regteren Altena, Marijke van Kooten, Alida Schat, Sebastiaan van Vucht, Erik Kromhout, Josje ter Haar, Suzanne Huynen, Karen Segal
Viola: Liesbeth Steffens, Bernadette Verhagen
Cello: Doris Hochscheid, Eduard van Regteren Altena
Double bass: Quirijn van Regteren Altena, Pieter Smithuysen
Vocal ensemble: Ineke Berends, Tineke Mulder, Inez Hafkamp, Els Zomerdijk, Harrie Buijs, Ruud Fiselier, Jan Majoor, Wojtek Okraska
Hammond organ: Louis Andriessen (7)
Bass guitar: David de Marez Oyens (7)
Drums: Arno van Nieuwenhuize (7)

Cover Art
UPC/Price
Label
CD+MP3
Price
0.00
UPC
075597955927BUN
Label
MP3
Price
19.00
UPC
075597987638
  • 79559

Track Listing

News & Reviews

  • Congratulations to all of the Nonesuch nominees for the 64th Grammy Awards: The Black Keys' Delta Kream for Best Contemporary Blues Album; Rhiannon Giddens' They're Calling Me Home with Francesco Turrisi for Best Folk Album and Best American Roots Song, for the track "Avalon"; Spike Lee's film of David Byrne's American Utopia on Broadway for Best Music Film; Louis Andriessen's The only one and Caroline Shaw's Narrow Sea for Best Contemporary Classical Composition; k.d. lang and Tracy Young's "Constant Craving (Fashionably Late Remix)" for Best Remixed Recording; and Mike Elizondo for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical, for work including Lake Street Dive's Obviously. You can hear all the nominated works here.

  • "They were both fearless, pushing back against the severe music that seemed to dominate the modern composition landscape during the 1960s and 1970s, the same music that was, by the way, a major part of Nonesuch’s identity during that period," writes Nonesuch Records Chairman Emeritus Bob Hurwitz, in a remembrance of composers Louis Andriessen and Frederic Rzewski. "Neither was afraid to reference vernacular music, and jazz, and popular and folk music, and most importantly, both embraced a tonal language that was out of favor at the moment they were coming of age as composers. Their music was deadly serious at times, and polemical and political, but it could be humorous, and always filled with humanity."

Buy Now

  • About This Album

    Based upon a 1993 book by the controversial filmmaker Peter Greenaway (Prospero’s Books; The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover), Rosa: The Death of a Composer premiered at Amsterdam’s Muziektheater in 1994, with libretto and direction by Greenaway and a score by the leading Dutch composer Louis Andriessen. The Sunday Times (UK), in a review of the premiere, said, “[I]t is clear from the maturity of the Rosa score that [Andriessen] has developed an idiom in which minimalism, a distinct sort of rhythmic Stravinsky-anism and mainstream modernism are blended with masterful, totally personal ease; an idiom in which it is triumphantly impossible to distinguish between pop, jazz and classical styles.”

    Although collaboration between Andriessen and Greenaway commenced with the 1991 television film M is for Man, Music, Mozart, Rosa: The Death of a Composer marks Greenaway’s first foray into opera. Rosa, as described in Greenaway’s original book, is concerned with the strange deaths of composers throughout history, beginning with Anton Webern in 1984 and ending with John Lennon in 1980.

    Over the course of the 12 scenes in Rosa, Greenaway specifically identified ten cases of composers being murdered, and intends to build cases on them all. It is not clear whether the other eight composers are real or fictional, but it is known that the title character, Juan Manuel de Rosa, is alleged to have been born in Brazil and shot dead in 1957, near an abbatoir in Fray Bentos, Uruguay. His alleged killers are, oddly enough, named Jack Lully and Hank Alcan, after two composers who died very untimely deaths in the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries, respectively.

    In the story Rosa shares his fictional life with his fiancée Esmerelda and a black mare, which he keeps imprisoned on a treadmill. Rosa, famous for his scores for Hollywood westerns, considered himself a real cowboy, and prized his horse over his woman. In a desperate effort to win Rosa’s affections, Esmerelda, the character at the heart of the opera, tries to become the object of his affection: a horse. Only after Rosa’s death, in true western fashion, and the subsequent investigation does Esmerelda finally achieve her ambition: she is burned to death in the body of Rosa’s stuffed horse.

    And, in typical Andriessen fashion, the work is scored for a non-traditional ensemble: woodwinds, brass, four saxophones, amplified strings, two pianos, two electric guitars, bass guitar, synthesizer, and amplified voices. It is heard on this recording in a performance by the combined efforts of the Schönberg and Asko Ensembles, conducted by Reinbert de Leeuw.

    Credits

    MUSICIANS
    Lyndon Terracini, baritone
    Miranda Van Kralingen, soprano
    Marie Angel, soprano
    Roger Smeets, baritone
    Christopher Gillett, tenor
    Phyllis Blanford, mezzo-soprano

    Schönberg Ensemble and Asko Ensemble:
    Reinbert De Leeuw, conductor
    Flute: Govert Jurriaanse, Eleonore Pameijer, Miriam Teepe, Eline van Esch
    Oboe: Marieke Schut, Evert Weidner, Hans Cartigny, Oliver Boekhoorn, Esther Probst
    Saxophone: Peter van Bergen, Leo van Oostrom, Michiel van Dijk, David Kweksilber
    French horn: Lenno de Ruijter, Wim Timmermans, René Pagen, Morris Powell
    Trumpet: Willem van der Vliet, Hendrik Jan Lindhout, Reijer Dorresteijn, Bert Langenkamp, Bob Koershuis
    Trombone: Toon van Ulsen, Edwin Kruunenberg
    Bass Trombone: Peter van Klink
    Tuba: Arjan Stroop
    Percussion: Ger de Zeeuw, Wim Vos, Murk Jiskoot, Tom van der Loo
    Mouth organ: Jan Verwey
    Piano: Gerard Bouwhuis, René Eckhardt
    Synthesizer: Niek de Vente
    Bass guitar: Rob Zeelenberg
    Electric guitar: Patricio Wang, Olaf Tarenskeen
    Violin: Jan Erik van Regteren Altena, Marijke van Kooten, Alida Schat, Sebastiaan van Vucht, Erik Kromhout, Josje ter Haar, Suzanne Huynen, Karen Segal
    Viola: Liesbeth Steffens, Bernadette Verhagen
    Cello: Doris Hochscheid, Eduard van Regteren Altena
    Double bass: Quirijn van Regteren Altena, Pieter Smithuysen
    Vocal ensemble: Ineke Berends, Tineke Mulder, Inez Hafkamp, Els Zomerdijk, Harrie Buijs, Ruud Fiselier, Jan Majoor, Wojtek Okraska
    Hammond organ: Louis Andriessen (7)
    Bass guitar: David de Marez Oyens (7)
    Drums: Arno van Nieuwenhuize (7)

    PRODUCTION CREDITS
    Produced by Willem Hering and Ron Ford
    Recorded June 29-30, 1998 in the Beurs van Berlage, Amsterdam.
    Recording and editing engineer: Adriaan Verstijnen

    All music written by Louis Andriessen
    Libretto/scenario written by Peter Greenaway

    Design by David Cohen
    Cover art: Untitled (1977) by Susan Rothenberg. © 2000 Susan Rothenberg / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

    Executive Producer: Robert Hurwitz