Recent Works & Productions | Major Recordings
Recent Works & Productions
Jukebox in the Tavern of Love
Madrigal comedy for 6 voices
Text by Valeria Vasilevski
Commissioned by the Western Wind Vocal Ensemble
Duration: c. 45"
A staged reading of the completed and revised work took place at the Tenri Center in NYC on June 20, 2007. The full production took place in May to June 2008 at The Flea Theater in New York's Tribeca. The work was performed on a double bill with the Adriano Banchieri "Barca di Venetia per Padova" and both works were directed by Valeria Vasilevski. Audio (CD) and video (DVD) recordings are in production.
Excerpts from the work have been performed regularly by the Western Wind in concert during the 2006 and 2007 seasons.
The True Last Words of Dutch Schultz
Libretto by Valeria Vasilevski after the original text of Dutch Schultz
Duration: 45"
World Premiere
The Netherlands, 1997/1998
Michiel van Westering Productions and Opera Centrum Nederlands, Amsterdam
With Theo Bleckmann as Dutch
Directed by Valeria Vasilevski
On a double bill with Civilization and Its Discontents (Eric Salzman and Michael Sahl), directed by Valeria Vasilevski
Toured to Breda, Haarlem, Eindoven, Groningen
CD and press quotes available
Concert Premiere
April 2001
Cutting Edge Concerts, Greenwich House, NYC
c. 25" Concert Version
Directed by Victoria Bond
Theo Bleckmann as Dutch
VOX (Opera/Music-Theater Consortium)
2006
Speak Easy scene performed by Kendra Shank with Curtis Macomber (violin)
"On the Edge" (Opera/Music-Theater Consortium)
May 17 & 19, 2005
Thalia Theater, Symphony Space, NYC
20" of excerpts
Dirk Weiler as Dutch; Napua Davoy as the Cabaret Singer; Members of Western Wind with Branch Fields as The Mob; Renee Jolles (violin); Randall Eng (keyboard and musical direction)
Wall-to-Wall Opera
May 19, 2007
Symphony Space (Sharp Theater)
Music direction by Victoria Bond
Stage direction by Grethe Holby
Staged reading with Dirk Weiler, Marshall Coid, Jorge Garza, Ross Beneliel, Ethan Hirshenfeld and Robyn Payne; Curtis Macomber (violin); Joshua Pierce (piano), Arthur Miller (Foley Artist)
Synopsis
The True Last Words of Dutch Schultz is based on the actual 1200 dying words of Dutch Schultz, Public Enemy No. 1. Dutch, born Arthur Flegenheimer, was an infamous New York gangster in the 1920s and '30s who controlled the sale of illegal alcohol during the Prohibition Era. Prohibition precipitated a lively and violent underground that laid a net of organized crime still active today. Dutch was its king.
With the end of Prohibition, the underworld took control of an illegal lottery known as the Numbers Racket. It was the Great Depression and families had a hard time putting bread on the table and yet Dutch was earning as much as $30,000 a day on the Numbers alone!
In October, 1935, Dutch was mysteriously gunned down in the toilet of a Newark chophouse. He was taken to the hospital and, during the hours before his death, every delirious word he uttered was recorded by a police stenographer. His interrogation was relentless as the police desperately tried to find the key that would open up the underground world of organized crime.
Dutch's final words speak to his own tumultuous history, to his time (not so unlike our own) as well as to the universal moment of death when bravado shatters, time compresses and accelerates and each breath becomes a stay of execution.
The work is written for the voice and extended technique of Theo Bleckmann. A male barbershop quartet portrays Dutch's mob as well as some of the ghost-like figures of his life who reappear at the moment of his death. The voice of the mother completes the ensemble. The instrumentation includes a mistuned violin, tuba, keyboards, percussion and a Foley table of acoustic sound effects of the type used in early radio and film. We also hear the voice of the late William Burroughs, a self-described literary outlaw, himself obsessed with death, darkness and Dutch.
- Prologue: Requiem for a Gangster (violin scordatura)
- Interrogation (Dutch & ensemble)
- Dutch Meets His Mother (Dutch, Mother, Mob a capella)
- The Racket (Dutch, mob, ensemble)
- Speak Easy (film with Girl Friend, ensemble with violin solo)
- The Nightmare (Dutch solo)
- My Friends Think I Do a Better Job (Dutch, Mob, Mother, ensemble)
Cast and Instrumentation
The Gangster Dutch Schultz
baritone, extended voice
Dutch's Mob
male vocal quartet TTBB (low bass)
Dutch's Mother/Girlfriend
mezzo-soprano
Keyboard/Conductor (synthesizer/sampler)
Violin (2 instruments, 1 scordatura)
Tuba
Drums and percussion
Foley table (acoustic sound effects)
Cassandra
Text by Eva Salzman
All performances by Kristin Norderval (soprano, piano, digital sound)
Duration: c. 20"
Premiere
October 5, 2001
Ultima Festival and NewOp10
Oslo, Norway
A video tape of this performance was shown at Harvestworks in New York on April 16, 2002
November 2002
Wien Modern Festival, NewOp11
WUK Theater, Vienna, Austria
Staged by Valeria Vasilevski
6 Tage Oper (6-Day Opera)
February 13-14, 2004
Duesseldorf, Germany
La Prière du Loup (Wolfman Prayer)
Text by Michel Rostain & Eric Salzman
Music-theater for voice, keyboards, 2 percussionists (mallets)
Commissioned by Un Théâtre pour la musique and the Scène nationale de Quimper, Brittany, France
Original text in French; English translation by Eric Salzman
Duration: c. 20"
Premiere
Théâtre Max Jacob, 1997
Quimper, Brittany, France
With Jacques Auffray
Directed by Michel Rostain
American Premiere
First performance in English translation
July 23, 2003
Festival of the Hamptons
Rinde Eckert (voice); Joseph Kubera (piano); Dylan Benson and Mike Aberback (percussion)
Staged by Noel Salzman
La bonne âme de Setchouan
Songs, ensembles and scene music for a new French translation of Bertold Brecht's Der gute Mensch von Szechuan
Duration: full evening (c. 35" of music)
January 13 to February 7, 2004
Théâtre du Trident, Québec
Quebec City, Canada
Salle Octave-Crémazie, Grand Théâtre de Québec
Staged by Antoine Laprise
N.B.: This version of the play was written by Brecht in Santa Monica, California, for a projected Broadway production with music by Kurt Weill. Nothing came of this project and this production is believed to be the first staging of this version of the piece.
A William Meredith Bestiary
Cycle of song settings of poetry by William Meredith for soprano (mezzo) and piano
Commissioned for Meredith's 80th birthday
Duration: 10"
Premiere
July 17, 2004
Varna Festival
Varna, Bulgaria
Janna Baty (soprano)
November 2004
Hofstra College
Hofstra, NY
Janna Baty (soprano); Christopher Lyndon-Gee (piano)
Music direction by Christopher Lyndon-Gee
The Odyssey of Homer
Music for the National Radio Theater Production
Written, produced and directed by Yuri Rasovsky with Ed Asner, Irene Worth, Barry Morse, Shepperd Strudwick, John Glover and many others. The extensive musical score was composed, directed, recorded and produced by Eric Salzman. This production won Peabody, Armstrong, Ohio State, San Francisco State and Earphones Awards. Recently released on cassette, CD and MP3 CD by Blackstone Audiobooks
Abel Gance à New York
Opera by François Godin (French)
Commissioned by Chants Libres
For keyboards, violin, clarinet and percussion
Duration: c. 20"
Work-in-progress presentation by Chants Libres at NewOp8
Fall 1999
Montréal, Canada
Directed by Antoine Laprise
Strike Up the Band
Arranged from the George and Ira Gershwin Musical
For voice, violin, cello, two saxophones, trumpet, keyboard, bass and drums
Commissioned by Un Théâtre pour la Musique and the Scene Nationale de Quimper, Brittany, France
Dialogue scenes in French; Songs in English
Duration: full evening
This "pocket" version of the George Kaufman/Ira Gershwin/George Gershwin Strike Up the Band (adapted by Martine-Josephine Thomas; adapted, arranged and music-directed by Eric Salzman) for concert and workshop performances in Paris and Quimper, France, over various periods of time, 2000-2002; details on request
Suite from Strike Up the Band
For chamber orchestra
Based on Salzman's Strike Up the Band
Commissioned by L'Orchestre de Sciences Po, Paris, and performed there under the direction of Elizabeth Askren-Brie on June 10, 12, 13 and 15, 2006. The American premiere (solo version for 13 players took place at Washington Square Festival, New York, on July 17, 2007, under the direction of David Oei.
Dances
Arranged for string quartet or string orchestra from early prepared piano pieces by John Cage; published by C.F. Peters; various performances and recordings by the Kronos Quartet and others
cummings set
Set of songs based on poems by e. e. cummings
For voice and piano
Duration: c. 20"
Three of the songs—lady, will you come with me, cruelly love, and if I have made my lady—performed by Lars Woodhul (baritone) and Shinah Riley (piano) at Greenwich House Music School, December 13, 2001
Complete set performed by Lars Woodhul (baritone) and Shinah Riley (piano) at the Stallar Fine Arts Recital Hall, SUNY, in Stony Brook, February 29, 2003
Excerpts from several works by Eric Salzman—The True Last Words of Dutch Schultz, Partita for solo violin, and A William Meredith Bestiary—were performed at a fundraising dinner and concert for the Center for Contemporary Opera at Penniman's Cove, Quogue, NY on October 2, 2004. Performers included Janna Baty (soprano), Maggi-Meg Reed (mezzo-soprano), Ana Milosavljevic (violin) and Michael Pilafian (piano)
Major Recordings
* = contains work by Eric Salzman
Nonesuch Records
* The Nude Paper Sermon
Nonesuch Records commission
Music by Eric Salzman
Texts by John Ashbery and Stephen Wade
With Stacy Keach, Diane Tramontini, William Zukof, Alan Titus and the Nonesuch Consort
Directed by Joshua Rifkin
Produced at the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Studio and Elektra Studios
Silverlake (Grammy nomination)
Produced by Eric Salzman
Music by Kurt Weill
Text by Georg Kaiser
Hal Prince production at the New York City Opera
With Joel Grey, New York City Opera soloists, chorus and orchestra
Conducted by Julius Rudel
The Unknown Kurt Weill (Grammy nomination)
Produced by Eric Salzman
Theresa Stratas (soprano) with piano
Music by Kurt Weill
Texts by various authors including Bert Brecht, Jacques Prevert, and others
The Tango Project
Produced by Eric Salzman
Classical tangos performed by Michael Sahl (piano), William Schimmel (accordion), and Stan Kurtis (violin)
Music by The Tango Project
* Two to Tango
Produced by Eric Salzman
Contemporary tangos by Piazzolla, Sahl/Salzman, Schimmel, and others
Performed by the The Tango Project with Michael Sahl (piano), William Schimmel (accordion), and Mary Rowell (violin)
The Palm Court
Traditional tango and palm court music performed by The Tango Project
Produced by Eric Salzman
* Civilization and Its Discontents (Prix Italia winner)
A music-theater comedy performed by Quog Music Theater
Words and music by Michael Sahl and Eric Salzman
Finnadar Records
* Wiretap
Music by Eric Salzman, Helix (Quog Music Theater), Larynx Music (Elie Ross [voice], Stanley Silverman [guitar]), Wiretap (voice of Daniel Nagrin), and Queens Collage (environmental tape piece)
Koch International
Casino Paradise
Music by William Bolcom
Text by Arnold Weinstein
Produced by Eric Salzman
American Music Theater Festival Production
Public Radio
* Civilization and Its Discontents
Music-theater by Michael Sahl and Eric Salzman
Quog Music Theater
National Public Radio production (Prix Italia)
* The Passion of Simple Simon
Music theater by Michael Sahl and Eric Salzman
National Public Radio Production
* Boxes (Seagram Award)
Text by Eric Salzman
Music by Michael Sahl
American Public Radio Production
Other
Revelation in the Courthouse Park
Words and music by Harry Partch
American Music Theater Festival production
Produced by Eric Salzman for Tomato Records
* Accord
By Eric Salzman
Commissioned and performed by William Schimmel (accordion) on a Finnadar recording