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Project
Before Night Falls
Music by Jorge Martín
Libretto by Jorge Martín and Dr. Dolores M. Koch
Based on the memoir by Reinaldo Arenas
About Before Night Falls
Based on the famous memoir of Cuban poet Reinaldo Arenas, Before Night Falls follows Arenas’s life from childhood poverty in the Cuban countryside to his emigration to the United States in the 1980 Mariel boatlift and his last decade suffering from AIDS. Disillusioned by the Cuban Revolution and persecuted by the Castro regime as a dissident writer and homosexual, the opera follows his trials and tribulations as a political prisoner forced to smuggle his manuscripts abroad for publication. In 2000, Before Night Falls was made into an award-winning feature film directed by Julian Schnabel and starring Javier Bardem and Johnny Depp.
Upon completion, Before Night Falls will be a full-length opera in two acts scored for a full orchestra. The music is by Cuban-born composer Jorge Martín with a libretto by Mr. Martín and Dolores M. Koch. The musical style is melodic and richly textured, full of contrasts with some Cuban inflections along with a chorus of almost Verdian grandeur.
About the Creators
 Jorge Martín, composer & co-librettist, has received an American Academy of Arts and Letters Award and a Cintas Fellowship (for creative artists of Cuban descent); his works have been performed across the US and in Europe; he has received numerous commissions, most recently from Concert Artists Guild, Close Encounters With Music, and the Vermont Contemporary Music Ensemble. New York City Opera has presented his work on "VOX: Showcasing American Composers." His opera Tobermory received the top National Opera Association Prize for chamber opera, and his full-length opera Beast and Superbeast was received with press and audience raves. The recording of The Glass Hammer with Sanford Sylvan is available on Koch; this fall Albany Records released "Steps," a CD of Jeanne Golan playing his piano music. Mr. Martín was born in Santiago de Cuba in 1959 and came to the US in 1965. For more on Jorge Martín, visit www.jorgemartin.com.
Dolores M. Koch, co-librettist, first met Reinaldo Arenas professionally, and became a close friend. She has translated into English three books by Arenas: Before Night Falls, The Doorman, and Mona and Other Tales.
AOP Presentations
May 2-3, 2005:
American Opera Projects presented a concert reading of scenes 3 and 4 from the first act of Before Night Falls at the Clark Studio Theatre on the Lincoln Center campus in Manhattan. A panel discussion with composer Jorge Martín, co-librettist Dr. Dolores M. Koch, director Beth Greenberg, and moderated by conductor and AOP Artistic Director Steven Osgood was held during the evening. The event was presented in association with El Instituto Cervantes and the Cuban Artists Fund’s Third Annual Cuban Arts Festival with the following cast and crew:
Cast: Robert Gardner (Reinaldo), Javier Abreu (Pepe), Marc Heller (Ovidio), Jeffrey Tucker (Victor), Jeniece Golbourne, Amy Van Roekel (Muses); Chorus: Bendix Anderson, Scott Carlton, Dan Cucura, James Gregory, David Mintz, Jonathan R. Tuzo
Pianists: Josephine Lee, Grant Loehnig
June 10-11, 2004:
American Opera Projects presented a concert reading of excerpts from the first act of Before Night Falls as part of AOP at DTW 2004, at Dance Theater Workshop.
Other Recent Presentations
April 28, 2007:
Opera America Opera Conference 2007
A New Works Sampler featuring scenes from Act II of Before Night Falls.
Studio Theater
The Carnival Center for the Performing Arts
Miami, FL
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