Labor Records
Jukebox in the Tavern of Love
Jukebox in the Tavern of Love is a modern take on the Italian Renaissance form of the madrigal comedy, commissioned and performed by the Western Wind Vocal Ensemble. The text, by Valeria Vasilevski, portrays six strangers stranded in a bar during a huge storm when the lights go out; to pass the time, each one tells a personal story of love, earthy and spiritual. This unusual work is paired with another Western Wind commission, Basket Rondo by Meredith Monk.
- Listen to All that is left of me (MP3)
- Listen to Brush, Chug, Shuffle (MP3)
- Buy at Amazon
- Buy at iTunes
Nude Paper Sermon & Wiretap
The Nude Paper Sermon with texts by Stephen Wade and John Ashbery, is a ground-breaking music-theater piece for actor, Renaissance consort, chorus and electronics; the actor is Stacy Keach, the music director is Joshua Rifkin. This work is paired in a double album with the four shorter works that constitute Wiretap: Helix performed by Quog Music Theater; the title piece with the voice of Daniel Nagrin; Larynx Music for voice, guitar and electronics, performed by Elise Ross and Stanley Silverman; and Queens Collage, an ‘academic festival overture’ made out of the found sounds of Queens College in New York.
- Listen to The Nude Paper Sermon Part II (MP3)
- Listen to Wiretap Helix (MP3)
- Buy at Amazon
- Buy at iTunes
Civilization & Its Discontents
Civilization and Its Discontents is the title of a famous essay of Sigmund Freud about the ills of society. Civilization & Its Discontents is also the title of a ground-breaking new music theater piece, a lively and biting musical satire written and composed jointly by Michael Sahl and Eric Salzman. It was originally a prize-winning off-off-Broadway music theater comedy, a music-theater recording for National Public Radio that had one of the largest air plays of any work of its kind, and a Prix Italia winner that was aired on radio stations around the world.
The recorded form of the work, especially produced for radio and disc by the authors, originally issued by Nonesuch and now re-issued by Labor, uses the form of a musical radio drama to capture the dark side of the so-called ‘me’ generation in a whirlwind of ‘break-a-leg’ dance music, pick-ups, one-night stands, frantic phone calls, egocentric confrontations and mad man hijinks.
Carlos Arachnid invites us to join him and his friends in Club Bide-a-wee whose motto is “If it feels good, do it!” Dancing alternates with ‘freeze-frame’ moments of high anxiety, angry words and sexual come-ons.
Scene II is in Jill Goodheart’s bedroom where a seduction scene is interrupted by a constant string of phone calls, the arrival of Jill’s boyfriend and the deus ex machina appearance of Arachnid who brings us back to Club Bide-a-wee for a deconstructed dance orgy and an ironic morality.
Moments of ’80s retro alternate with stunning sound images, a relentless musical flow, seduction music of extreme beauty and a social commentary that is as amusing as it is scary and remarkably up-to-date.
- Press Release (PDF)
- Listen to Club BideAWee (MP3)
- Buy at Amazon
- Buy at iTunes
Nonesuch Records
The Nude Paper Sermon
- Nonesuch Records commission
- Music by Eric Salzman
- Texts by John Ashbery and Stephen Wade
- With Stacy Keach, Diane Tramontini, William Zukof, Alan Titus and the Nonesuch Consort
- Directed by Joshua Rifkin
- Produced at the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Studio and Elektra Studios
Silverlake
- Produced by Eric Salzman
- Music by Kurt Weill
- Text by Georg Kaiser
- Hal Prince production at the New York City Opera
- With Joel Grey, New York City Opera soloists, chorus and orchestra
- Conducted by Julius Rudel
- Nominated for a Grammy
The Unknown Kurt Weill
- Produced by Eric Salzman
- Theresa Stratas (soprano) with piano
- Music by Kurt Weill
- Texts by various authors including Bert Brecht, Jacques Prevert, and others
- Nominated for a Grammy
The Tango Project
- Produced by Eric Salzman
- Classical tangos performed by Michael Sahl (piano), William Schimmel (accordion), and Stan Kurtis (violin)
- Music by The Tango Project
Two to Tango
- Produced by Eric Salzman
- Contemporary tangos by Piazzolla, Sahl/Salzman, Schimmel, and others
- Performed by the The Tango Project with Michael Sahl (piano), William Schimmel (accordion), and Mary Rowell (violin)
The Palm Court
- Produced by Eric Salzman
- Traditional tango and palm court music performed by The Tango Project
Civilization and Its Discontents
- A music-theater comedy performed by Quog Music Theater
- Words and music by Michael Sahl and Eric Salzman
- Won a Prix Italia
Finnadar Records
Wiretap
Music by Eric Salzman, Helix (Quog Music Theater), Larynx Music (Elie Ross [voice], Stanley Silverman [guitar]), Wiretap (voice of Daniel Nagrin), and Queens Collage (environmental tape piece)
Koch International
Casino Paradise
- Music by William Bolcom
- Text by Arnold Weinstein
- Produced by Eric Salzman
- American Music Theater Festival Production
Public Radio
Civilization and Its Discontents
- Music Theater by Michael Sahl and Eric Salzman
- Quog Music Theater
- National Public Radio Production (Prix Italia)
The Passion of Simple Simon
- Music theater by Michael Sahl and Eric Salzman
- National Public Radio Production
Boxes
- Text by Eric Salzman
- Music by Michael Sahl
- American Public Radio Production
- Won a Seagram Award
Other
Revelation in the Courthouse Park
- Produced by Eric Salzman for Tomato Records
- Words and music by Harry Partch
- American Music Theater Festival production
Accord
- By Eric Salzman
- Commissioned and performed by William Schimmel (accordion) on a Finnadar recording