The Skating Rink - Opera in three acts and a coda
- Submitting institution
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The Royal Academy of Music
- Unit of assessment
- 33 - Music, Drama, Dance, Performing Arts, Film and Screen Studies
- Output identifier
- RAM008
- Type
- J - Composition
- Month
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- Year
- 2018
- URL
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- Supplementary information
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- Request cross-referral to
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- Output has been delayed by COVID-19
- No
- COVID-19 affected output statement
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- Forensic science
- No
- Criminology
- No
- Interdisciplinary
- No
- Number of additional authors
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- Research group(s)
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- Proposed double-weighted
- No
- Reserve for an output with double weighting
- No
- Additional information
- The choice of subject matter for this opera and its realisation were inspired by the unique qualities of the performance space. The more traditional operatic conventions and the reliance on artifice felt inappropriate in the context of the Garsington stage, and an experiment in realism felt viable. The opera is based on a novella by the Chilean author Roberto Bolaño. As in the book, the opera tells the story from three different perspectives, thus affording the composer moments of repetition and variation within the larger frame.
The mise en scène was carefully devised from the outset in collaboration with the librettist, stage director and designer, and aimed for a narrative momentum. First performance: 5 July 2018; Garsington Opera & Orchestra conducted by Garry Walker. BBC Radio 3 broadcast 6 Oct 2018; Opera on 3: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0000n7m. A film of the production was streamed on OperaVision from 9 June 2019.
- Author contribution statement
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- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
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