Insights into Thomas Adès' The Exterminating Angel (The Royal Opera)

Get a unique glimpse into The Royal Opera's new production with composer Thomas Adès, director Tom Cairns and singers including John Tomlinson and Anne Sofie von Otter. Find out more at www.roh.org.uk/...
Host Guy Dammann gives a unique glimpse of the opera before its UK premiere at Covent Garden next month, including insights into his score, aided by extracts sung by the cast including Sophie Bevan and Ed Lyon.
Also included are interviews with fellow singers John Tomlinson, David Adam Moore and Anne Sofie von Otter as well as insights from production director Tom Cairns.
The opera is inspired by Luis Buñuel’s iconic film of the same name and follows the composer's earlier operas Powder Her Face (1995) and The Tempest (2004), both acclaimed as contemporary classics. It tells the story of a group of dinner party guests who find at the end of the evening that they are unable to leave - the door is open but no one can get out, and no one can get in.

[@RBIKO5]

interviewer is as charming and gracious as a piece of wood

[@Jean.Philippe.]

I would be wonderful if you invite Silvia Pinal to one of the presentations of this opera. She starred Viridiana and It was her along her husband, the late producer Gustavo Alatriste, whom convinced Buñuel to at least record the film in Mexico City as there were no funds at all to make it.

[@paulescobar8494]

Excellent Mexican film!!

[@libelle176]

Anne Sophie is still so beautiful.

[@paulescobar8494]

Based on the superb Mexican Film!!

[@victorgrauer5834]

A gate can be either open or closed. If open, one can pass through. If closed, it becomes a barrier. Nevertheless, there is always a way to overcome such a barrier, by climbing over it or tunneling under it or breaking the lock, etc. But when the gate is a gateless gate, no barrier presents itself, in which case there is nothing to climb over, tunnel under or break. Consequently, the gateless gate is impenetrable. The Exterminating Angel is about such a gate, what in Japanese is called "mumon" -- literally "no-gate gate" or "gateless gate." The masters of Zen Buddhism composed little stories or prose poems, called koans, that function as gateless gates. If the student can penetrate the koan, the gate will open. But the koans are impenetrable, so the gate will always remain closed.

[@Baribrotzer]

Interesting. When the "Sonata by Paradisi" is heard by itself (@42:00), it is (in my opinion) rather dull; I hear a collection of neoclassical pianistic gestures with a vague, meandering melody and equally vague and meandering harmonic development. But when it appears as one of several threads in a whole complex scene, with various vocal parts over it and the orchestra beneath - often in not quite the same key - it works very well.

[@janetsorokin9961]

I would like to hear the musical score of The Exterminating Angel by Thomas Ades.

[@pedrodias66]

Michael, any chance that you could share this recording? I am a big fan of Adès' music (to the point of having written a thesis about it! :)

[@leonardobautista1619]

Curious, I was thinking about composing an opera based on The exterminating angel around the same time Thomas Ades was composing the piece. It seems to me there are films screaming to be turned into operas. After all, how many operas throughout history are based on similar subjects which were also originally theatre plays? The answer is MANY.

[@edwardsphilip]

Interviewer after short excerpt: "Well, I hope that didn't put anyone to sleep" WTF!!??

[@Baribrotzer]

The characters are going to sleep, and this is reflected in the music.

[@magdalenaalonso8181]

Traducir a español

[@samuellim7610]

Let the music do the talking! Why all this oral exposition?

[@Baribrotzer]

Because the story is not easily grasped.