New Releasings
Labor Records in collaboration with Naxos is releasing a series of recordings of my work covering more than half a century! The most recent release is "Jukebox in the Tavern of Love" paired with a new work by Meredith Monk. "The Nude Paper Sermon" and "Wiretap" is a double album containing no fewer than five works; see below for details. "Civilization & its Discontents" is a words-and-music collaboration with Michael Sahl. More information, reviews and ordering (physical or digital editions) is available below or by going to Labor Records.
press release for Monk/Salzman recording
MEREDITH MONK, ERIC SALZMAN AND VALERIA VASILEVSKI JOIN FORCES WITH THE WESTERN WIND TO PRODUCE TWO CONTEMPORARY MASTERPIECES ON LABOR RECORDS
45th Anniversary Commissions for The Western Wind
Album-of-the-week on WQXR; release party at Rough Trade in Williamsburg on May 10
Basket Rondo by Meredith Monk and Jukebox in the Tavern of Love by Valeria Vasilevski and Eric Salzman are paired on the Labor/Naxos CD scheduled for release on April 29. The album has already been selected as a forthcoming album-of-the-week by WQXR, New York’s leading classical music station. Labor and Naxos will sponsor a release party at Rough Trade, 64 N. 9th Street, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, on Saturday, May 10, from 1 to 3 pm with all the creators of this unique recording expected to be present. The public is invited.
Both works were created especially for the six singers that make up The Western Wind; both explore new areas of vocal technique and expression while retaining the deep expressive appeal of the human voice in its most basic forms. The Western Wind, celebrating its 45th anniversary, is noted for its performances of early music but has also been a leader in the performance of new work, much of it written especially for the group.
Meredith Monk is perhaps the most original and innovative vocal talent to have been working on the scene over the last fifty years. Although many of her works were created for her own and her Vocal Ensemble’s unique talents, she has recently been working with other performers to offer her work to a wider audience. Basket Rondo, like much of her work, uses phonemes to communicate a non-verbal language, and combines resonant, spiritual overtones with hocketing techniques, allowing the performers to pass, lean, toss and throw the music material between them. The title has very specific meanings for the composer who wanted to evoke “a pre-industrial community of people working together” as a kind of work song with a woven form. Other sections were based on what she calls “a natural kind of resonance” meant to evoke “a sense of nature or space”.
The madrigal comedy was an early genre of Renaissance music theater in which a band of vocalists got together to tell stories. One of the most popular of these, “The Boat From Venice to Padua” by Adriano Banchieri was a staple of The Western Wind repertory for many years but it needed a contemporary counterpart. Eric Salzman, a pioneer of the new music theater, was a logical choice to update a sixteenth-century art form. Valeria Vasilevski provided the text for Jukebox in the Tavern of Love which takes place in a New York bar during a severe storm and blackout. A group of strangers – a poet, a dancer, a rabbi, a nun and a Con Ed worker – has sought shelter and to pass the time each tells a personal story – humorous, tragic, touching — about life and love. Only after an evocation of the poet Rumi do the lights come on again; as they leave the bar they are again strangers but, in some special way, transformed. Jukebox was premiered at New York’s Tenri Center followed by a run at The Flea Theater in Tribeca; it was also performed at Bargemusic in the East River under the Brooklyn Bridge.
Members of The Western Wind in this recording are Kristina Boerger, soprano; Laura Christian, soprano; William Zukof, counter-tenor; Todd Frizzell, tenor; Richard Slade, tenor; Elliot Levine, baritone
“…the different voices [of Basket Rondo] weave together so that you can hear the individuality of each voice…a musical texture evocative of a pre-industrial community of people working together…a natural kind of resonance…a sense of nature or space”—Meredith Monk
“The score effectively blends elements of barbershop-quartet harmonizing, cabaret, Renaissance sacred music, polyphony, Tin Pan Alley and avant-garde effects….powerful …evocative…”–Vivian Schweitzer, New York Times
Salzman’s music is full of wit and high spirits. At times its contemporary dissonances seem a sendup… In the song for the Broadway gypsy its melodies and rhythms seem very much Tin Pan Alley. At times, as one would expect of as formidable a figure as Salzman, the music was more learned…the tone is fresh and entertaining…challenging and refreshing–Howard Kissel, New York Daily News
LABOR RECORDS 
www.laborrecords.com www.westernwind.org www.naxos.com
Date Posted // April 26, 2014
In Categories // Jukebox in the Tavern of Love, Music Theater, News, Recordings, Works and Productions
Salzman/Monk album to be WQXR ‘album of the week’
The Labor/Naxos album of the Western Wind’s newly commissioned works by Eric Salzman and Meredith Monk will be an upcoming ‘album of the week’ on WQXR, New York’s classical music station (and, with its sister station, WNYC, one of the leading public radio stations in the country).
The album features Salzman’s “Jukebox in the Tavern of Love”, a madrigal comedy with a text by Valeria Vasilevski. Written in the spirit of a 16th century Italian vocal work, it features six strangers — a bartender, a nun, a Broadway dancer, a rabbi, a Con Ed worker and poet — who are unexpectedly thrown together in a NY bar during a heavy storm and blackout; to pass the time, each one tells a personal story of love, earthly to spiritual. The work has been performed at the Tenri Center in NYC, the Flea Theater in Tribeca and Bargemusic under the Brooklyn Bridge; this is its first recording.
“Jukebox” is paired with Monk’s “Basket Rondo”, a work in her typically original vocal style but created for and with the Western Wind. Although the official release date is April 29th, the album is already available as a download from Labor’s web site <http://www.laborrecords.com/catalogue.html>
Date Posted // April 11, 2014
In Categories // Jukebox in the Tavern of Love, Music Theater, News, Radio, Recordings, Works and Productions
“Big Jim” at Faison Firehouse Theater
The staged workshop or ‘atelier’ of “Big Jim & the Small-time Investors” took place on March 11 at the George Faison Firehouse Theater in Harlem under the auspices of the Center for Contemporary Opera. The first-rate cast included Vale Rideout at Jim, Aaron Theno as his assistant Stan, Colette Boudreaux as his wife Kim and Darynn Zimmer as his Mom, a chorus of eight, an instrumental ensemble featuring Bill Schimmel (accordion), Paula Kimper (sound design and electronics) and Peter Fancovic (piano), all directed by the excellent Steve Crawford. Although everyone was on book, there was a surprisingly effective amount of staging by Andrew Eggert. “Big Jim” is based on a libretto by Ned Jackson with a score by Eric Salzman. It’s a story about an L.A. con man who purports to have invented a virtual-reality machine that makes its users believe that their wildest fantasies are coming true. The character of Jim appears on screen or as a live hologram for most of the piece and the musical form is somewhere between music-theater and what we might call theater opera. The March 11th performance was a big step forward for this large-scale work which is edging its way towards a full production.
Date Posted // March 17, 2014
In Categories // Big Jim and the Small-Time Investors, Events, Music Theater, News, Works and Productions
“Big Jim & the Small-time Investors” in staged reading
“Big Jim & the Small-time Investors”, Eric Salzman’s new music theater (or ‘theater opera’) work — libretto by Salzman and Ned Jackson — will have a staged reading on Tuesday, March 11, at 8 pm, at the George Faison Firehouse Theater, 6 Hancock Place in Manhattan. The following is the press release sent out by the producers: Scott Joiner and the Center for Contemporary Opera:
Trailblazing company brings cutting-edge opera to Harlem theater: CCO presents Big Jim & the Small-Time Investors at the Faison Firehouse Theater.
On Tuesday night at 8pm, the Center for Contemporary Opera (CCO) will present a semistaged performance of Eric Salzman’s cutting-edge opera, Big Jim & the Small-Time Investors, as part of their Development Series at Harlem’s Faison Firehouse Theater. The story of an L.A. Con-man who lures investors into his alternative reality technology scheme, this performance marks CCO’s first appearance in Harlem.
On Tuesday night (March 11) at 8pm, the Center for Contemporary Opera (CCO) will present a semi-staged performance of Eric Salzman’s cutting-edge opera, Big Jim & the Small-Time Investors, as part of their
Development Series at Harlem’s Faison Firehouse Theater.
“I’m really excited and happy to be pioneering the use of a theater in Harlem,” says Salzman, CCO’s Composer-in-Residence. Many of CCO’s recent performances have been at distinguished venues in Lower
Manhattan, Grammercy and the Upper West Side, making Tuesday’s performance at the Faison Firehouse new ground for the 32-year-old arts organization. As a founder of the New Music Theater movement, Salzman’s
works have been performed nationally and internationally by organizations like the New York Philharmonic, the American Music Theater Festival, La MaMa Experimental Theater, Theater for a New City, and have been
broadcast on NPR, BBC, WNYC and Channel 13.
“We’re absolutely thrilled to be bringing this kind of work to the Firehouse,” says the theater’s founder, Tony and Emmy Award-winning choreographer, dancer and director, George Faison. “This is emblematic of our
commitment to bringing contemporary performing arts to Harlem audiences.” Faison and Salzman met in Philadelphia on a production for the American Music Theater Festival (which Salzman co-founded) in the late
80’s. According to an article in the Daily News, Faison bought the abandoned firehouse in 1999 on Hancock Place off 125th St., renovated it over time and inaugurated the theater in 2007.
‘Big Jim’ King, the title character in Tuesday night’s performance, claims to have invented a virtual reality machine which allows users to experience their own wildest fantasies. The character, who appears to his
followers via digital projection, walks the line between con-man and cult leader, luring investors into his operation. His plan spirals out of control threatening to ruin the Investors and promising disaster for Jim’s wife,
Kim, and his assistant, Stan. In this digital world, Big Jim’s story resonates now more than ever.
Composer Eric Salzman has brought this dramatic character to life with the help of librettist, Edgar Jackson. Andrew Eggert directs and Metropolitan Opera veteran Steven Crawford conducts an all-star cast featuring
Vale Rideout, Aaron Theno, Colette Boudreaux, and Darynn Zimmer in addition to an ensemble featuring world-renowned accordionist Bill Schimmel.
Looking for the Faison Firehouse Theater? Take the A,B,C or D train to 125th St., walk south one block on Manhattan Avenue and turn right on W. 124th Street. 6 Hancock Place is on the left just after the junction of W.
124th and Hancock.
WHAT: Big Jim & the Small-Time Investors
WHEN: Tuesday, March 11th at 8pm.
WHERE: Faison Firehouse Theater – 6 Hancock Place, New York, NY 10027
For more information call the Faison Firehouse at (212) 665-7716.
Tickets are $20, and will be available at the door or at: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/584614
Contact Information
Center for Contemporary Opera
Center for Contemporary Opera
http://www.conopera.org
917-297-9975
Date Posted // March 10, 2014
In Categories // Big Jim and the Small-Time Investors, Events, Music Theater, News, Works and Productions
AGENDA Magazine with articles by Eric and Eva Salzman
The latest issue of the distinguished British poetry magazine, AGENDA, is a double issue devoted to the theme of “Poetry & Opera” and it features essays on the subject by Eric Salzman and his daughter, poet and librettist Eva Salzman.
Eric’s contribution is entitled “Opera, The Writer & The Composer” and it is a brief for a new, small-scale form of opera/music theater that sheds the baggage of grand opera for more direct forms of communication. Eva’s “Opera More or Less Seriously; or an Ensemble of Perplexity” is partly a memoir (growing up at 29 Middagh Street in Brooklyn, still a family home) and partly a rumination on the topic (including her own experiences with the English National Opera Studio). There is a musical except from “Cassandra” (also known as “Cassandra, Ground Zero”), a father-&-daughter collaboration based on a modernized version of the ancient myth.
These essays are in good company with a long list of distinguished contributors including Derek Wolcott, Thomas Ades, Michael McCarthy (co-founder of Music Theatre Wales), Wasfi Kani (founder of Pimlico Opera) and many others. The magazine is edited by Patricia McCarthy, herself a noted poet, and the double issue is Volume 47, Nos 3-4. More information is available at the web site <www.agendapoetry.co.uk/>.
Date Posted // January 09, 2014
In Categories // AGENDA articles, Music Theater, News, Writings