Program note
Soap Opera: the diary of one who vanishes is a 36 minute monodrama for countertenor and chamber ensemble consisting of flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano and percussion.
In sixteen miniatures, the piece tells, in the first person narrative, the story of a bar of soap who is ignorant of his condition: he likes to swim and hide in the bath, is in love with his mistress, resentful of the washcloth and doesn’t understand why he’s exiled on the uncomfortable soapdish or constantly losing weight. Of course, it ends badly...
Funny but also strangely affecting, the piece is a sort of metaphysics of toiletries which stands as a metaphor for man’s relationship with human condition, and death. Written for the same instrumentation as Peter Maxwell Davies’ 8 Songs for a Mad King, Soap Opera shares with this piece a certain fantasy, maybe less brutal on the surface but more incorrect politically.
R. Expert, countertenor — TM+, L. Cuniot, cond.
Details
Instrumentation
Countertenor, flute (also picc and alto flute), clarinet (also bass), violin, cello, piano & percussion
Duration
36'
Date
2010
First performance
Robert Expert: le savon — Ensemble TM+, Laurent Cuniot, conductor — Cité de la Musique de Nanterre, May 20 2010