• Joy of Music – Over 250 years of quality, innovation, and tradition
Lieferzeit
2-3 Tage
Hire/performance material

Arjuna's Dilemma

Chamber opera in one act
Libretto by the composer after scenes from the Bhagavad Gita and poems by Kabir
Prince Arjuna must lead his army against an enemy that includes family, friends and teachers. Unable to justify such violence, he turns to his advisor Krishna, who reveals himself to be an avatar of Vishnu, the most powerful Hindu god. Through him, Arjuna understands that he must not fear death, nor shirk his duty, not only in the literal battle in front of him but, more importantly, in the fight for self-knowledge on the battlefield of the mind. Based on the ‘Bhagavad Gita’, Arjuna’s Dilemma blends North Indian and Western performance styles, melodic structures, rhythms, harmonies and forms.
Edition: Performance material

Product Details

Description

At the battlefield on the eve of the first conflict of a massive civil war, the noble Prince Arjuna finds himself in a state of almost paralyzing confusion. He must lead his army against an enemy that includes family, friends, and teachers. Unable to justify such violence against his own people, he turns for guidance to his advisor and charioteer Krishna. In the ensuing dialogue, Krishna reveals himself to be an avatar of Vishnu, the most powerful god in the Hindu pantheon. At Arjuna's urging he transforms himself into a vision of the true nature of the universe, in all its splendor and its horror. At first entranced and then horrified, Arjuna begs Krishna to stop the vision and return to his normal form. His horizons newly expanded, Arjuna understands that he must not fear death, nor shirk his duty, which is not only the literal battle in front of him but, more importantly, the fight for self‐knowledge on the battlefield of the mind. Composer Note: Based on the towering Hindu epic, the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna's Dilemma utilizes North Indian performance styles, melodic structures, odd time signatures and rhythmic patterns alongside western instrumentation, harmonies and forms. North Indian vocals co‐mingle with a Western tenor and four‐part choral writing, with references to both modern vocal styles and Byzantine and Gregorian chant. Improvisation is common to both musical worlds, with the Indian singer, tabla player and jazz saxophonist each using their respective improvisatory traditions to reach for the ecstatic, the sublime and the terror that make up the emotional world of this work.

Arjuna's Dilemma In the Press:

"...an opera with an appealing and unabashedly eclectic score... The score boldly blends Indian sources with diverse contemporary music idioms and hints of jazz… Arjuna’s vocal lines, a stylistic blend of Indian chant and Western lyricism, are enriched by a chorus of five women, singing in English. I liked the score best when Mr. Cuomo pushed the complexity to extremes, piling up Arjuna’s solos, choral counterpoint and instrumental textures to create haunting, astringent, multilayered music, with cluster chords in the electric keyboard and spiraling flights in the strings and winds…"
– Anthony Tommasini, The New York Times

"[In Arjuna's Dilemma, Cuomo] blends Indian classical singing, jazz improv, the busy minimalist-style patterns that appear to have entered the bloodstream of so many composers and the jewel-like tones of a four-part women's chorus, all worked into a seamless whole, like a golden Indian brocade..."
– Anne Midgette, The Washington Post

"Arjuna's Dilemma has been created by a composer who trusts sound, a few fine voices and a few fine virtuoso instrumentalists, to reveal his message in the same way that the great opera composers trust the sounds will bring to us."
– John Yohalem, Opera Today

Orchestral Cast

1(pic, afl).0.1(bcl).tsax.0-0.0.0.0-2perc(I: glsp, xyl, crot, tri, finger cym, sus cym, tam-t, s.d, tamb, chimes, metal percussion array, various small metal color instruments, dumbek; II: 2timp, crot, tri, finger cym, sus cym, sus China cym, s.d, tamb, tom-t, b.d, mark tree, clav, wdbl, marac, metal chain in metal mixing bowl, various small metal color instruments).tablas-pno-2vn.va.vc.db

Content

I Alap
II Prologue
Gathering Forces
III Dilemma
IV My limbs fail, my mouth becomes dry
V The Answer
VI Interlude: A Clear White Light
VII The Vision
VIII Epilog

Cast

Indian vocalist - tenor - four female voices

More Information

Title:
Arjuna's Dilemma
Chamber opera in one act
Libretto by the composer after scenes from the Bhagavad Gita and poems by Kabir
Translations by Ramananda Prasad
Language:
Sanskrit, English
Edition:
Performance material
Publisher/Label:
Schott Music
Year of composition:
2008
Duration:
70 ′
World Premiere:
August 22, 2008 · Purchase, NY (USA)
PepsiCo Theater
Conductor: Alan Johnson
Original staging: Robin Guarino · Costumes: Gabriel Berry · Set design: Donald Eastman
Organizer: Music-Theatre Group
(scenic)
Commissioned work :
Commissioned, developed, and produced by Music‐Theatre Group
Series:

Technical Details

Product number:
LSHM 50238
Delivery rights:
Worldwide

Preview/Media Contents

Audio:

Performances

Set Ascending Direction
  • Arjuna's Dilemma
    Conductor: Nicole Paiement
    May 4, 2017 | Dallas, TX (United States of America)
  • Arjuna's Dilemma
    Conductor: Jonathan Kuhner
    September 11, 2016 | Kathmandu (Nepal) , Patan Museum/Royal Palace, Bhitri Chowk courtyard
  • Arjuna's Dilemma
    Conductor: Jonathan Kuhner
    September 10, 2016 | Kathmandu (Nepal) , Patan Museum/Royal Palace, Bhitri Chowk courtyard
  • Arjuna's Dilemma
    Conductor: Jonathan Kuhner
    September 9, 2016 | Kathmandu (Nepal) , Patan Museum/Royal Palace, Bhitri Chowk courtyard
  • Arjuna's Dilemma
    Conductor: Jonathan Kuhner
    September 8, 2016 | Kathmandu (Nepal) , Patan Museum/Royal Palace, Bhitri Chowk courtyard
  • Set Ascending Direction

    More from this series

    Arjuna's Dilemma

    Reviews

    Be the first to review this product.