Death and the Powers Program: Program Notes: Composer Note
MAR 9, 2011
A note from Death and the Powers composer Tod Machover.
All big projects start in unusual ways; opera projects more than most. Death and the Powers began with a visit to my MIT Media Lab office over 10 years ago by Kawther Al-Abood, who asked whether I’d be interested in working on an innovative opera to be premiered in Monaco. Her bold vision of opera-as-laboratory for new ideas and galvanizing force for new audiences resonated with mine; and her suggestion that we might imagine a Finale in which the Mediterranean itself – viewed from the spectacular perch of the Garnier Opera House in Monte-Carlo – could rise in animated sculptural form convinced me that I’d found an ideal partner for what has been an unusual project.
Although I decided not to choreograph the Mediterranean (even I have my limits of practicality!), the idea of a story told through the melding of morphing objects and sculptural sounds did stick. And combined with my deep and growing interest in the process of aging, of leaving a legacy, and of what can be passed on to loved ones – across generation – and what perhaps cannot, the basis for Powers was born.
It took an amazing group of collaborators to develop and create this opera, and one could not have hoped for a more remarkable “dream team”: from the mythically playful story crafted by Robert Pinsky and Randy Weiner; to Robert’s incisive, lyrical, potently indelible poetry; to Diane Paulus’ brilliance at bringing human actors and smart machines to vivid life on stage with deepest resonance; to Alex McDowell bringing his film design expertise to the stage for the first time, imagining robots and set as dynamic characters and integrated system; to Karole Armitage making the whole ensemble dance and flow, like – but richer than – drops of water in a vast sea. And on and on through all levels of the production.
It is unlikely that Death and the Powers could have been realized anywhere else but at the MIT Media Lab, where big dreams – often involving radical, as-yet-unimagined technologies – are taken seriously, and where open, creative exchange bracingly flourishes. And although I have assembled some remarkable Media Lab teams in the past for unusual projects like VALIS (created for the 10th anniversary of the Centre Pompidou), the Brain Opera, and Toy Symphony, none can surpass the Powers team in talent, devotion, technical genius, persistence, creativity and generous collaborative spirit. More than 75 MIT students have worked on Powers, of whom I would like to single out Peter Torpey, Ben Bloomberg, Elly Jessop, Mike Miller and Mike Fabio for their truly extraordinary contributions. Together, and under the technical coordination of Bob Hsiung, these students made possible the design and construction of our chorus of Operabots, the scintillating Musical Chandelier, animatedly mysterious walls of The System, Disembodied Performance technologies for translating Simon Powers’ off-stage expression into magical presence onstage, ambisonic and wave front audio systems for projecting and pinpointing multiple sound layers, and the unprecedented computational infrastructure for making this all “hum” as one unified system.
And just as complex software provides the connecting tissue for all the technical aspects of the show, I imagined the music as establishing the underlying continuity and dramatic flow for Death and the Powers. The musical language is as varied as in anything I have done, covering a range of expression from quizzical, comical robots, to heartfelt human conflict, to spiritual speculation, to technological transcendence. I have attempted to define these contrasting worlds through a mixture of acoustic and electronic sounds (musical, natural, and sometimes un-natural), of jagged rhythms and soaring lyricism, and of spicy harmonies and enveloping textures, all flowing together and moving forward through eight uninterrupted Scenes, bookended by contrasting Prologue and Epilogue.
The opera does evolve rather quickly – we imagined the pacing of a movie, without intermission – and has few traditional “numbers,” although it is packed with melodies short and long, many of which twist and turn and re-turn as each character explores his or her possibilities and makes his or her choices.
And although the many artistic and technical layers of Death and the Powers can perhaps best be experienced over time and through multiple encounters, we hope that much of the beauty and – well – power of the opera will speak to audiences the very first time as well.
In conclusion, I would like to most sincerely thank our many colleagues and friends in Monaco, without whose support this opera would never have been born. We are extremely grateful for the long-term interest and Haut Patronage of H.S.H. Prince Albert II; for the remarkably generous support and collaboration of the Association Futurum, and in particular of Lars Ericsson, Luigi Girola, Jane and Neil Pappalardo, Mahmoud Al-Abood and Paul-Marie Jacques; and last – but not least – of Kawther Al-Abood, whose belief in the project, intense involvement in the development process, unwavering friendship, and support in every conceivable way have guided us from initial vision to living, breathing opera. I would also like to deeply thank Dolly Lemelson, Ray and Maria Stata, and the Powers Circle (Frank and Kim Moss, Joe and Lucy Chung, Idit Harel Caperton, Bernard Chiu and two anonymous donors), for supporting development and production at the MIT Media Lab for these U.S. premiere performances.
