A second Oliver Sacks opera is born
OperaThe New Yorker has been attending Boston rehearsals for a new opera on Oliver Sacks’s case-history ‘Awakenings’.
It is by the US composer Tobias Picker who once consulted Sacks about his Tourette’s Syndrome but was dismissed as ‘a negligible case’. Opera Theater of St. Louis commissioned and premiered the work last summer.
This will be the second Sacks opera, by my count. The first, ‘The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat’ by Michael Nyman, had a brilliant London debut in 1986 but has not been seen much since, more’s the pity. It is a perfect festival opera.
This opera isn’t new. Credit to Opera Theater of St. Louis for premiering it: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/25/arts/music/awakenings-opera-oliver-sacks.html
Premiered at Opera Theatre St. Louis this past season with Susanna Phillips, Adrienne Danrich, and Marc Molomot. It was incredible… beautifully done by the entire cast and the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra
Agree with you regarding Man/Hat – Small orch, small cast, interesting subject matter … perhaps a tough sell for ticket revenue, but it would be great for small orgs, festivals, and schools.
A lovely Man/Hat recording from Nashville Opera is out on Naxos from 2016.