Satan's Fall Oratorio - Pittsburgh, PA Feb 7-8, 2010.

[conroy]

For those who don't use the Book of Faces, Stewart has been teasing some pics from the Sacred Grove alluding to his upcoming oratorio titled Satan's Fall. Though, I haven't seen any official announcements of the premiere, Matthew Mehaffey who is the Music director at Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh advised in the comments of one of the posts that the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh will perform it there on February 7 and 8, 2020.

[ltwoman]

Thanks, (cough) Conroy!

[giovanni]

Stewart is working on a couple of commitments that will keep him very busy in the coming Autumn and Winter.
It will take some time to see him live again, but be patient. He's planning a new tour as well.

[conroy]

Well, the announcement is official and they are doing a workshop for Satan's Fall along with a Q&A with Stewart on Oct 23rd with tickets available. https://www.themendelssohn.org/news/the ... BQCzSYbGE4.

[samburusunset]

I got my ticket for the Q&A in October.

[mairinpgh]

Sigh. Of course he’s coming to Pgh in Oct when I am out of town. Grr.

[mairinpgh]

Posted already on FB by Himself, but for those who may have missed it, nice article here about his upcoming gig next week:

https://www.pittsburghmagazine.com/sing ... tqUWTNoQH0

[rhoeckel]

Please correct the thread title to the right year (2020) - thank you.

[mairinpgh]

Good article about this weekend's performances: https://triblive.com/aande/music/stewar ... n-theatre/ :

"No one in high school ever said John Milton rocks. Leave it to Stewart Copeland, still best known as the founder and drummer of The Police, to bring that kind of energy to “Paradise Lost.”

Copeland defied F. Scott Fitzgerald’s comment about no second acts in American life by adding a different layer to his music and becoming a successful composer for film and concert halls.

His new piece, “Satan’s Fall,” was commissioned by the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh, which has been preparing for its premiere since the fall.

“It’s like no other choral piece I’ve ever done,” says Mendelssohn Choir artistic director Matthew Mehaffey. “It’s rhythm-driven with explosions of sound that are very rock-oriented.”

Mehaffey will conduct the Mendelssohn Choir and an instrumental ensemble in the world premiere of Copeland’s “Satan’s Fall” on Feb. 7 and 8 at the Roxian Theatre in McKees Rocks.

Thinking about Satan

Copeland met Mehaffey in 2016 when the composer came to town to play the world premiere of his Concerto for Trap-Set and Orchestra, “The Tyrant’s Crush,” with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.

But he had been thinking about the subject of “Satan’s Fall” for a long time.

Copeland created his libretto from books five and six of Milton’s “Paradise Lost,” in which the archangel Gabriel warns Adam and Eve and about Satan.

“It’s often said Satan gets all the best lines,” notes Copeland. “In any tale, the bad guy is usually more interesting than the good guy. That’s just a fundamental of drama.”

He says he’s always been interested in religion and the concept of Satan.

“How can an almighty creator have an adversary?” he asks. “How can there by a yang when the yin is so almighty?”

Copeland quotes Milton about the reactions of the assembled angels to God’s announcement of the messiah to whom all are to bow: “All seem well pleased, but not so well pleased was Satan.”

“My piece,” Copeland says, “is about the three days of battle that result, which waxes and wanes very colorfully and violently and aggressively. To tell the story of this battle, you need 80 men and women on stage singing heavy metal.”

Two different brains

Being a composer engages Copeland with music in a different way than did his life as a rock performer.

“They’re two very different brains at work,” he says. “Playing rock is power and energy, not a lot of thinking, very instinctive. The other guy is a sensitive guy, a contemplative character who loves children.”

Mehaffey selected the repertoire for the show’s opening to be thematically linked with the premiere. He will begin with an arrangement combining The Rolling Stones’ “Sympathy for the Devil” with The Grateful Dead’s “Friend of the Devil.”

After two pieces of medieval music and medieval-sounding music, Copeland will come on stage to talk about “Satan’s Fall,” and how the music of composer Carl Orff influenced him. Copeland will then conclude the first half by conducting the Mendelssohn Choir in “O Fortuna,” the famous opening chorus of Orff’s cantata, “Carmina Burana.”

“Satan’s Fall” will be presented after the intermission."

[conroy]

The Kung Flu is spreading like wildfire in Pittsburgh <koff>

https://1drv.ms/u/s!AulDIKa-gLUplTr-YEe ... _?e=lifV7j

[rhoeckel]

Wow, thanks a lot.
Is that the first or second night?

[conroy]

Second.

[mairinpgh]

Review of first night (Friday 7 Feb) from local critic in the Post-Gazette (I was there, can't say that I disagree with most of this. Sound quality/mix plagued things tremendously, and the vocalists were indeed overpowered by the instrumentalists. His conducting bit of "O Fortuna" was fab & fun, though):

"The stylish Roxian Theater in McKees Rocks reopened with much fanfare in 2019 and has hosted a variety of rock, indie, bluegrass, folk, dubstep and more. Friday night saw a new sort of act for the remodeled venue — the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh. What’s a bunch of strait-laced choir folk doing in such a hip venue, you might ask?

Well, where would you book “Satan’s Fall,” a rock opera by Stewart Copeland, The Police drummer?

Copeland, who has a growing list of composing credits to his name, wrote his take on Milton’s “Paradise Lost” for choir, soloists and orchestra. Choirs and rock halls go together like gargoyles on old cathedrals. There’s something inherently Gothic about a full adult choir illuminated by whirling red spotlights, especially when the choir opens with “Media Vita,” a Gregorian-flavored, chant-like work for low male voices punctuated by tribal drumming.

Copeland himself took to the stage Friday night to demonstrate the unamplified power of the Mendelssohn Choir, enthusiastically conducting singers in the famous “O Fortuna” from “Carmina Burana (think “Lord of the Rings” soundtrack on steroids).

He kicked over a couple of music stands to cement his standing as the most inspired emcee of a Pittsburgh classical ensemble. Then he ceded the stage to the choir’s music director, Matthew Mehaffey, who launched the ensemble into the world premiere of “Satan’s Fall,” a choral work with text adapted from “Paradise Lost.”

The performance was high-energy but low-yield. Though the instruments and vocal soloists were miked up, the sound was so loud and muddled it was almost impossible to understand what the singers were saying. In another venue, supertitles might have helped listeners stay connected with the plot, but here it was impossible to keep track.

Brass instruments consistently overpowered the ensemble. Soloists sounded tinny and loud yet indistinct. God (bass Hayden Keefer) and the Messiah (soprano Stephanie Sue Curtice) fared best, while Satan (bass Scott O’Neal) and narrators Raphael (tenor Nathan Granner) and Raphaella (a new character voiced by soprano Jamie Chamberlin) lost their battles with overly thick orchestrations.

Technical issues aside, the music itself relied on soloists heavily and didn’t utilize the choir well in terms of balance. Often the chorus simply provided harmony and emphasized whatever the soloists were singing. Still, they did this well. There were driving rhythmic grooves throughout and few pauses or breaks. Individual lines for the instruments didn’t seem idiomatic (again, block chords in the brass consistently blared), and there was little variation in volume or texture throughout the composition. It was difficult to tell whether blame lies with the piece or the amplification on Friday.

Singers and musicians delivered the piece with spirit and skill but couldn’t overcome the problems inherent in the sound system and score. Still, full credit to the Mendelssohn Choir for its continued creativity in programming. This concert may have been a whiff, but what a swing! A second performance on Saturday (ticket information is here) offers a chance at redemption."

https://www.post-gazette.com/ae/music/2 ... 2002070134