Sirius on Earth - Presentation

Synopsis

Paul Frehner, Composer (Canadian);
Angela Murphy, Librettist (Canadian)
Conductor: Philip Walsh

Listen to music from this piece...

Sirius on Earth is a madcap comic opera set in an occidental metropolis, not so far into the future. Its inhabitants love, talk, and scheme against a backdrop of an oppressive and manic dictatorship; this is a world where singing the wrong song at the wrong time can deliver you to the Penultimate Punishment.

This is where the opera opens. Carlos Fernando Romero, political activist, singer-songwriter, virtuoso guitarist and playboy is receiving the injection of a personality altering serum into his bloodstream. Defiantly he raises his glorious voice in a final rendition of the political anthem that got him into trouble in the first place. Meanwhile, Squeegee Punk Sid, spiritual guru and windshield washer, leads a peaceful protest in the yard outside the prison. It is all to no avail and Mayor Arthur Major gleefully looks on as Romero is abruptly reduced to a babbling, obedient civil servant.

Sid, aided and abetted by a host of characters including Policeman Baljeet Singh and a grasping political wife called Hilary, attempts to lead a life of simplicity and communality; unfortunately the lunatic mayor, incensed by what he sees as grubby time-wasting, passes a host of laws that restrict Sid's movements further and further. Loyalties and relationships are stretched to the utmost and it appears as if everyone is in line for the Penultimate Punishment...

Needless to say in the tradition of comic opera, scrapes, misunderstandings, betrayals and prevarication all interweave to a bravura climax; an anarchic celebration of the human spirit. Paul Frehner and Angela Murphy are a Montreal based team tackling their first opera together. They have come up with an inspired comedy that, as all comedies ought, has its own strange internal logic. The piece, however, promises to speak to an audience about the human condition in the 21st century in a vivid and enduring way.

Statement by the Composer
Paul Frehner

In composing the extract for Sirius on Earth one of my goals was musically to portray the city of Sirius as a happening, eclectic modern urban centre. To this end, the scoring includes some urban instruments such as electric guitar, five-string electric bass andove: drum kit, traditional western orchestral instruments, and the accordion and oriental gongs, both of which have strong ethnic connotations.

Voice types were also chosen to reflect the multifaceted musical environment of our western cities; in the third musical number Meryl Martel, a coloratura soprano, has a stand off with Carlos Fernando Romero, a pop-star genre of baritone.

Another goal was ensuring that the dramatic scenario was advancing at all times, even in primarily instrumental sections. Thus, the opening number, "Sirius Music", has a dramatic element in addition to its function as the overture.

In considering the setting of the text for the Prologue and Act 1 it was immediately clear that musical numbers 1, 2 and 4 would be almost entirely sung. However, I decided that number 3, The Trial and Penultimate Punishment of Carlos Fernando Romero, with its dialogue and wide range of emotion, needed something more elaborate. Here, textual emphasis is established through using a palette of vocal techniques such as measured or unmeasured speaking, whispering, sprechstimme (speaking with pitch inflection), stuttering, and singing in both an ordinary voice and falsetto.

Statement by the Librettist
Angela Murphy

Sirius is a fast-paced multicultural city, a fine tuned, well-oiled machine, where everyone has their proper place and feels perfectly content, thanks to their new drug/god, Amberosia. It is Utopia, the perfect place on earth, just as we would have any of our large cosmopolitan cities aspire to be.

The biggest challenge in writing the libretto for Sirius on Earth was to create a detached yet familiar reality within a short time frame. Sirius breaks down the fourth wall including the audience within the story. So much happens in such a short period; an audience is hurried along past questioning the plausibility of the events.

Sirius is thus a comment and a question; are we moving so fast that we can stretch the definition of justice? Do we forfeit freedom for happiness? Although the city of Sirius isn't likely to come about in any real future, it is identifiable to us because of the elements of consumerism, religious biases, power-hungry politicians and bohemian outlook.

It is a play on what we take seriously now and a mockery of what we thought so important but a few years ago. Sirius is a melting pot of passions and a fun house mirror. Can we laugh at ourselves?