''Facing Goya'' (

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

) is an

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

in four acts by Michael Nyman on a libretto by Victoria Hardie. It is an expansion of their one-act opera called ''Vital Statistics'' from 1987, dealing with such subjects as

physiognomy Physiognomy (from the Greek , , meaning "nature", and , meaning "judge" or "interpreter") is the practice of assessing a person's character or personality from their outer appearance—especially the face. The term can also refer to the genera ...

eugenics Eugenics ( ; ) is a fringe set of beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter human gene pools by excluding people and groups judged to be inferior o ...

, and its practitioners, and also incorporates a musical motif from Nyman's art song, " The Kiss", inspired by a Paul Richards

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

. Nyman also considers the work thematically tied to his other works, '' The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat'', '' The Ogre'', and ''

Gattaca ''Gattaca'' is a 1997 American dystopian science fiction thriller film written and directed by Andrew Niccol in his filmmaking debut. It stars Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman with Jude Law, Loren Dean, Ernest Borgnine, Gore Vidal, and Alan Arkin ap ...

'', though he does not quote any of these musically, save a very brief passage of the latter. It was premièred at the Auditorio de Galicia, Santiago de Compostela, Spain on 3 August 2000. The revision with the cast heard on the album premiered at the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, on October 19, 2002. ''Vital Statistics'' has been withdrawn. The Santiago version included more material from ''Vital Statistics''.Pwyll ap Siôn. ''The Music of Michael Nyman: Text, Context and Intertext''.

Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alder ...

, Hants: Ashgate Publishing, 2007. p. 197 The opera was most recently performed at the 2014 Spoleto Festival USA, located in Charleston, South Carolina. The expanded opera deals with the elitism and

prejudice Prejudice can be an affective feeling towards a person based on their perceived group membership. The word is often used to refer to a preconceived (usually unfavourable) evaluation or classification of another person based on that person's per ...

of various movements in pseudosciences and

art criticism Art criticism is the discussion or evaluation of visual art. Art critics usually criticize art in the context of aesthetics or the theory of beauty. A goal of art criticism is the pursuit of a rational basis for art appreciation but it is que ...

, wrapped around a thread of a desire to make a clone of

Francisco Goya Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; ; 30 March 174616 April 1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His paintings, drawings, and e ...

through use of his long-lost

skull The skull is a bone protective cavity for the brain. The skull is composed of four types of bone i.e., cranial bones, facial bones, ear ossicles and hyoid bone. However two parts are more prominent: the cranium and the mandible. In humans, th ...

, which he hid from the likes of

Paul Broca Pierre Paul Broca (, also , , ; 28 June 1824 – 9 July 1880) was a French physician, anatomist and anthropologist. He is best known for his research on Broca's area, a region of the frontal lobe that is named after him. Broca's area is involve ...

, and which the Art Banker finds under a floorboard in a "

degenerate art Degenerate art (german: Entartete Kunst was a term adopted in the 1920s by the Nazi Party in Germany to describe modern art. During the dictatorship of Adolf Hitler, German modernist art, including many works of internationally renowned artists, ...

" gallery in Act II. This skull is the object of numerous fights in the second and third acts, often with one character snatching it from another. The opera is non-realistic in its presentation, with only one through-character, the Art Banker. Indeed, when Goya does appear, it is not the result of cloning, but a purely fantastical device. Four other performers play different roles in each section who are thematically connected. In addition, two

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

s are called for in non-speaking roles. The Art Banker also speaks narration into a

dictaphone Dictaphone was an American company founded by Alexander Graham Bell that produced dictation machines. It is now a division of Nuance Communications, based in Burlington, Massachusetts. Although the name "Dictaphone" is a trademark, it has ...

, but this was omitted from the studio recording, though the lines are reprinted in the booklet.

Roles

* Art Banker, a

widow A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has died. Terminology The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed ''widowhood''. An archaic term for a widow is "relict," literally "someone left over". This word can so ...

(

contralto A contralto () is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range is the lowest female voice type. The contralto's vocal range is fairly rare; similar to the mezzo-soprano, and almost identical to that of a countertenor, typica ...

), loves Goya, but is corrupted by money. She foolishly wants to patent Goya's talent gene. Despite this, she is the most charismatic and sympathetic figure of the

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming ...

. She is a time tripper. An art banker is a person who deals in exchange of famous artworks among museums. This character is currently a specialist in the work of Goya. * Soprano 1 ( coloratura), obsessed with science, she lives in her head, and is the one who ultimately cracks the human genome. ( Craniometrist 1,

Eugenicist Eugenics ( ; ) is a fringe set of beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter human gene pools by excluding people and groups judged to be inferior or ...

/Art Critic 1, Microbiologist). At one point she nearly chokes herself with a tape measure, but continues to sing. *Soprano 2 ( lyric), unhappy individualist who sees the dangers of

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonis ...

in gene control. She is opposed to cloning and State ownership of genetic readouts. She does not believe that recreating a person recreates that person's talent. (Craniometery Assistant 2, Art Critic 2, Genetic

Research Research is " creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness ...

Doctor Doctor or The Doctor may refer to: Personal titles * Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree * A medical practitioner, including: ** Physician ** Surgeon ** Dentist ** Veterinary physician ** Optometrist *Other roles ** ...

) *

Tenor A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors is wide ...

, a shallow opportunist who believes eugenic theories are reflected in art. His greed leads him to want to make the first laboratory cloned human. A product of genetic engineering himself, he expresses his arrogance in the arietta, "I am an oil painting". (Craniometry Assistant 1, Eugenicist/Art Critic 3,

Chief Executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of a Bio-Tech Company) * Baritone, he doesn't agree with anyone, and they don't like him. He is humorous and self-deprecating, fatalistic, and thinks little of the uniqueness in humankind. (Craniometrist 2, Art Critic 4, Genetic

Academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

, Francisco Goya) Soldiers, apparition of

Goya Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; ; 30 March 174616 April 1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His paintings, drawings, and e ...

, craniometry interns, porters, lab technicians.

Setting

The play moves through three times and places (act 3 and 4 are the same location weeks apart, and all but the baritone remain the same character). The libretto calls for "a

esque landscape of bare

branches A branch, sometimes called a ramus in botany, is a woody structural member connected to the central trunk of a tree (or sometimes a shrub). Large branches are known as boughs and small branches are known as twigs. The term ''twig'' usually r ...

with

bloody ''Bloody'', as an adjective or adverb, is a commonly used expletive attributive in British English, Australian English, Irish English, Indian English and a number of other Commonwealth nations. It has been used as an intensive since at lea ...

clothes hanging off them, and stones jutting out of the

earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

gravestones A headstone, tombstone, or gravestone is a stele or marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. It is traditional for burials in the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim religions, among others. In most cases, it has the deceased's name, da ...

, in the manner of a charcoal drawing." Projections of art and

diagrams A diagram is a symbolic representation of information using visualization techniques. Diagrams have been used since prehistoric times on walls of caves, but became more prevalent during the Enlightenment. Sometimes, the technique uses a three- ...

are used throughout the production.

Costumes

The Genetic Research Doctor (Soprano 2) "wears jeans and a sparkly

T-shirt A T-shirt (also spelled tee shirt), or tee, is a style of fabric shirt named after the T shape of its body and sleeves. Traditionally, it has short sleeves and a round neckline, known as a ''crew neck'', which lacks a collar. T-shirts are general ...

". The Genetic Academic (Baritone) "wears bicycle clips and a

helmet A helmet is a form of protective gear worn to protect the head. More specifically, a helmet complements the skull in protecting the human brain. Ceremonial or symbolic helmets (e.g., a policeman's helmet in the United Kingdom) without protect ...

". The Microbiologist (Soprano 1) "wears a thigh length zip top,

leather Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffalo, pigs and hog ...

miniskirt A miniskirt (sometimes hyphenated as mini-skirt, separated as mini skirt, or sometimes shortened to simply mini) is a skirt with its hemline well above the knees, generally at mid-thigh level, normally no longer than below the buttocks; and a ...

, and stud earrings."

Orchestration

This is the first opera Nyman has scored with his

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary *Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania *Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, I ...

in mind. The studio recording includes five

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

s, two

viola ; german: Bratsche , alt=Viola shown from the front and the side , image=Bratsche.jpg , caption= , background=string , hornbostel_sachs=321.322-71 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded by a bow , range= , related= *Violin family ...

s, one

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G ...

, two

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox additions such as the octobass). Similar i ...

es, two each soprano and

alto sax The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B ten ...

es (doubled),

baritone sax The baritone saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of instruments, larger (and lower-pitched) than the tenor saxophone, but smaller (and higher-pitched) than the bass. It is the lowest-pitched saxophone in common use - the bass, contra ...

, flute, alto flute, piccolo,

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

and flugelhorn (doubled),

French horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most ...

, bass trombone (doubled),

tuba The tuba (; ) is the lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece. It first appeared in the mid-19th century, making it one of the ne ...

(doubled),

euphonium The euphonium is a medium-sized, 3 or 4-valve, often compensating, conical-bore, tenor-voiced brass instrument that derives its name from the Ancient Greek word ''euphōnos'', meaning "well-sounding" or "sweet-voiced" ( ''eu'' means "well" o ...

(doubled), and

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gu ...

Recording

A recording was released in 2002. It is Michael Nyman's 44th album. Alexander Balanescu left the band during the recording of this album, and his

concertmaster The concertmaster (from the German ''Konzertmeister''), first chair (U.S.) or leader (U.K.) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (or clarinet in a concert band). After the conductor, the concertmaster is the second-most signifi ...

seat awarded to Gabrielle Lester, who previously recorded with the band on ''

La Sept La Sept was a French free-to-air television network and production company created on 23 February 1986 to develop cultural and educational programming for transmission via the TDF 1 satellite. In French, the word "sept" means the number seven; ...

'' (1989). Nyman's own label, MN Music, reissued the opera with a cover featuring his own photograph of a mass of dolls wrapped in plastic, in 2011. That edition contains a third disc with excerpts of '' Man and Boy: Dada'' and '' Love Counts''.

Personnel

Cast

* Hilary Summers as the Art Banker *

Winnie Böwe Winnie or Winny may refer to: People * Winnie (name), various persons with the given name * David Winnie (born 1966), Scottish former association football player and manager Entertainment *Winnie-the-Pooh, a fictional teddy bear created by A. A. ...

as Soprano 1 * Marie Angel as Soprano 2 * Harry Niccoll as Tenor *

Omar Ebrahim Omar Ebrahim (born 6 September 1956 in Greasbrough, Rotherham, South Yorkshire) is an English baritone vocalist and actor. He specializes in the performance of contemporary classical music. He studied voice at the Guildhall School of Music an ...

as Baritone

The Michael Nyman Band

* Alexander Balanescu, violin (leader, Acts 1-3) * Gabrielle Lester, violin (leader, act 4) * Catherine Thompson, violin *

Gillian Findlay Gillian Findlay is a Canadian television journalist who has worked for the CBC and ABC. She studied history and literature at Simon Fraser University and she holds a diploma in broadcast journalism from the British Columbia Institute of Technolog ...

, violin * Katherine Shave, violin * Catherine Musker, viola * Bruce White, viola * Tony Hinnigan, cello * Roger Linley, double bass * Steven Williams, double bass * Martin Elliott, bass guitar *

David Roach David Roach may refer to: *David Roach (American football) (born 1985), American football safety *David Roach (saxophonist) (born 1955), British classical saxophonist *David Roach (comics), British comics artist * David Roach (athletic director) (b ...

, soprano, alto sax *

Simon Haram Simon may refer to: People * Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon * Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon * Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genu ...

, soprano, alto sax *

Andrew Findon Andrew (Andy) Findon is an English woodwind player. He was educated at Harrow County School and The Royal College of Music. He has been baritone saxophone and flute player in the Michael Nyman Band since 1980, and is also a member of Home Serv ...

, baritone sax, flute, alto flute, piccolo * Steve Sidwell, trumpet, flugelhorn * Nigel Gomm, trumpet, flugelhorn * David Lee, French horn *

Nigel Barr Nigel Barr grew up as a member of the High Wycombe Salvation Army band. In 1980 he went to the Guildhall School of Music and studied trombone with Peter Gane and Denis Wick during that time he was also a member of International Staff Band (1980� ...

, bass trombone, tuba, euphonium *

Andrew Fawbert Andrew is the English form of a given name common in many countries. In the 1990s, it was among the top ten most popular names given to boys in List of countries where English is an official language, English-speaking countries. "Andrew" is freq ...

, bass trombone, tuba, euphonium * James Woodrow, electric guitar *Conducted by Michael Nyman

Crew

*Produced by Michael Nyman and Austin Ince *Engineer: Austin Ince *Assistant Engineers: Andrew Dudman, Roland Heap, Ryu Kawashima,

Andrew Nicholls Andrew John Nicholls (born 14 July 1957) and Darrell Vickers (born 17 July 1957) are an English-born Canadian writing team. They were head writers of ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' from 1988 to 1992. Both their families moved inde ...

, Paul Richardson, Alex Scannell *Recorded at Abbey Road Studios, London, June 2001, March 2002 and May 2002
Snake Ranch, May 2002 *Mixed at Sony Music Studios London, London, June and July 2002 *Mastered by Bob Whitney at Sony Studios, London, August 2002 * A&R: Dirk Lange *Executive Producer: Elizabeth Lloyd *Production coordinator: Sarah Morley *Assistant Coordinator: Miranda Westcott *Composer's Assistant: Robert Worby *Special thanks: Vivienne Guiness, Nicholas Hare, Michael Hastings,

Jude Kelly Judith "Jude" Pamela Kelly, (born March 1954), is a British theatre director and producer. She is a director of the WOW Foundation, which organises the annual Women of the World Festival, founded in 2010 by Kelly. From 2006 to 2018, she was Ar ...

, Graham Sheffield, Harry Lyth, James Mackay, Julio Marti, Jonathan Moore, Michael Neve, Karen Price, James Rushton,

Neil Wallace Neil Wallace (born 1939) is an American economist and professor of economics at Penn State University. He is considered one of the main proponents of new classical macroeconomics in the field of economics. Education Wallace earned his BA in e ...

*Published by Chester Music Limited/Michael Nyman Limited 2002 *Project Manager: Lee Woollard *Editorial Assistant: Christian Müller *Translations: French, Olivier Laruaz-Gaillard - German, Almut Lenz-Konrad -

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

, Ángel Seoane *Art direction and cover illustrations: Thierry Cohen,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

*Cover illustrations contain a detail of

Petrus Camper Petrus Camper FRS (11 May 1722 – 7 April 1789), was a Dutch physician, anatomist, physiologist, midwife, zoologist, anthropologist, palaeontologist and a naturalist in the Age of Enlightenment. He was one of the first to take an interest in ...

, drawing, and portrait of

*Special thanks to Max for the x-ray of his skull.

References

Libretto by Victoria Hardie. Essays by Michael Nyman, Robert Worby, and Dr. Michael Neve in the booklet of the album,

Warner Classics Warner Classics is the classical music arm of Warner Music Group. The label began issuing new recordings under the Warner Classics banner in 1991. The company also includes the Erato Records, Teldec Records and NVC Arts labels. Based in France, ...

0927-45342-2

External links

Official Site
{{Authority control Operas by Michael Nyman English-language operas Minimalist operas 2000 operas 2002 classical albums Operas Cultural depictions of Francisco Goya