The Los Angeles Philharmonic and The Industry drew acclaim last year for their co-production of Young Caesar, Lou Harrison’s depiction of Caesar’s love for another man. The production was directed by Yuval Sharon, The Industry’s founder/director, and the LA Phil’s Artist-Collaborator. The digital album was recorded live with the LA Phil New Music Group at Walt Disney Concert Hall and will be digitally released February 2, 2018, on The Industry Records.

Mark Swed of the Los Angeles Times described the performance: “Sharon, in conjunction with his opera company, The Industry, mounted a fanciful, visually stunning, endearingly mercurial, marginally risqué, momentarily over-the-top and ultimately touching production. The LA Phil New Music Group, conducted by Marc Lowenstein in the final Green Umbrella program of the season, was sensational, revealing layer upon layer of sheer musical gorgeousness capable, from the first bars, of lifting the spirits.”

Harrison’s magnum opus explores the early life of Julius Caesar with a sublime and sinuous, percussion-rich depiction of his love for another man. The Industry’s new 90-minute performance edition fuses Harrison’s original gamelan-inspired orchestration with his later, lush orchestral writing.

Young Caesar has suffered a turbulent fate in large part due to its unabashed subject matter: the patrons of the 1971 Pasadena premiere withdrew their support in protest of the openly gay story, and an aborted production for the Lincoln Center Festival in Harrison’s lifetime has left the opera in crucial need of a high-profile presentation. Subsequent revisions up until Harrison’s death in 2003, including the addition of three rapturous arias from his late musical style, has made this opera a summation of Harrison’s musical ideas throughout his career. That the opera has struggled so long to receive a performance worthy of its place in Harrison’s output — and of his role in shaping 20th century American music — is one of the vital reasons for this recording.

Leading the LA Phil New Music Group in this new recording is conductor Marc Lowenstein. The cast includes Bruce Vilanch (narrator), Adam Fisher (Caesar), Hadleigh Adams (Nicomedes), Nancy Maultsby (Julia), Delaram Kamareh (Cornelia), and Timur Bekbosunov (Dionysus), and also features dancers, along with men of the Los Angeles Master Chorale.

Young Caesar

The recording was produced and mastered by Jesse Lewis, a Grammy award winning producer who has worked with artists such as the Silk Road Ensemble with Yo-Yo Ma, Los Angeles Philharmonic, A Far Cry, Brooklyn Rider, ETHEL, Roomful of Teeth, and The Knights.

Included with the digital download is a robust 25-page booklet illustrated with images from the live performance. It includes a synopsis, and essays by: Yuval Sharon (director), Robert Gordon (librettist), Marc Lowenstein (conductor), and critic John Rockwell.

Please note this recording contains mature content.

Experimental opera producer/director Yuval Sharon, the LA Phil’s new Artist-Collaborator, directs Lou Harrison’s sublime and sinuous, percussion-rich depiction of Caesar’s love for another man. After its scandalous 1971 premiere at Caltech, this new performance edition fuses Harrison’s original gamelan-inspired orchestration with his later, lush orchestral writing.

ARTISTS

LA Phil New Music Group

The Industry

Marc Lowenstein, conductor

Yuval Sharon, artistic and stage director

Robert Gordon, libretto

Danny Dolan, choreographer

Christopher Kuhl, lighting designer

Daniel Selon, costume and puppet designer

Kaitlyn Pietras, projection design and illustration

Jason H. Thompson, projection design and illustration

Delaram Kamareh, Cornelia

Shannon Knox, design associate and puppet fabricator

Eva Soltes, creative consultant

Christine Marie, shadow puppetry designer

Emily Franz, puppet fabricator

Heidi Tungsten, puppet fabricator

Adam Fisher, Caesar

Hadleigh Adams, Nicomedes

Bruce Vilanch, Narrator

Nancy Maultsby, Julia

Timur, Dionysus

Andrew Pearson, dancer

Austin Westbay, dancer

Raymond Ejiofor, dancer

Malachi Middleton, dancer

Drew Hinckley, dancer

Men of the Los Angeles Master Chorale

Grant Gershon, artistic director

Digital Release Only:

You can also hear it in full on You Tube: Click Here

The post Bruce Vilanch Narrates The Lush Opera, Harrison: Young Caesar (Live) -Just Released In Digital Form – Please Read About This Incredible Project first appeared on We Got Bruce!.