GREEK

Mark-Anthony Turnage
GREEK
Liverpool Warehouse, 1990

Soloists: Quentin Hayes, Fiona Kimm, Richard Stuart
Orchestra, Chorus: Almeida Ensemble
Conductor: Richard Bernas
Director: Peter Maniura, Jonathan Moore
Choreographer: Peter Brennan

Turnage’s operatic retelling of Oedipus the King, moved to present-day London Greek, first performed in 1988, was composed in on behalf of the Munich Biennale and is based on Steven Berkoff’s adaptation of Oedipus the King to a modern setting. It received its premiere in Munich and won the prizes for best opera and best libretto. It is a typical example of Turnage’s determinedly urban type of music. His compositional style is not consistently tonal, but remains accessible, colourful, often with aggressive effects, but always retaining an underlying lyricism, at times with a powerful dramatic impact and emotional power.

"[...] auf hohem Niveau." Thomas Weiss, Pforzheimer Zeitung, 13.05.2008

"[...] was die Machart angeht, werden die Freunde des realistischen Musiktheaters gewiss ihr Vergnügen an ihm [dem Film] haben." Max Nyffeler, Neue Zeitschrift für Musik, 01.02.2008