- Juliana Hodkinson
Turbulence (2013)
- Edition Wilhelm Hansen Copenhagen (World)
Programme Note
Turbulence, or, ’the underlying forces usually hidden’.
Libretto by Cynthia Troup
An opera in three scenes:
I. From a state of quietness
II. Sudden transitions
III. A critical point
Scored for soprano and actress, with vintage microphones and objects, electronic pocket piano, amplified vintage electric fans, samples and live mix.
An immersive chamber opera set on an early commercial passenger flight, boarded by a mother (soprano) and her 19-year-old daughter (actress). A sustained dream-/sky-scape very precisely composed of vocal, electronic, melodic and other often ambiguous fragments, referencing the history of imprecise radio technology and in-flight broadcasts under turbulent stress.
The libretto and score for Turbulence were commissioned by Chamber Made Opera in 2012. Turbulence was first performed by Deborah Kayser (soprano) and Anneli Bjorasen (actor), and directed by David Young, with sound design in performance by Jethro Woodward – the premiere season opened in Melbourne on 3 October 2013, as part of Chamber Made Opera’s Living Room Opera series.
The parts of Pilot, Announcer, and Baby were pre-recorded. Margaret Cameron performed the voice of the Pilot, Sana Mukarker Schwippert the voice of the Announcer, and Emilia D. Hodkinson the voice of the Baby. The audio samples mentioned in the score were recorded, mixed, and mastered by picaroMedia in Berlin.
Click 'More Info' to watch the film by Peter Humble.
Libretto by Cynthia Troup
An opera in three scenes:
I. From a state of quietness
II. Sudden transitions
III. A critical point
Scored for soprano and actress, with vintage microphones and objects, electronic pocket piano, amplified vintage electric fans, samples and live mix.
An immersive chamber opera set on an early commercial passenger flight, boarded by a mother (soprano) and her 19-year-old daughter (actress). A sustained dream-/sky-scape very precisely composed of vocal, electronic, melodic and other often ambiguous fragments, referencing the history of imprecise radio technology and in-flight broadcasts under turbulent stress.
The libretto and score for Turbulence were commissioned by Chamber Made Opera in 2012. Turbulence was first performed by Deborah Kayser (soprano) and Anneli Bjorasen (actor), and directed by David Young, with sound design in performance by Jethro Woodward – the premiere season opened in Melbourne on 3 October 2013, as part of Chamber Made Opera’s Living Room Opera series.
The parts of Pilot, Announcer, and Baby were pre-recorded. Margaret Cameron performed the voice of the Pilot, Sana Mukarker Schwippert the voice of the Announcer, and Emilia D. Hodkinson the voice of the Baby. The audio samples mentioned in the score were recorded, mixed, and mastered by picaroMedia in Berlin.
Click 'More Info' to watch the film by Peter Humble.
Scores
Score preview
Reviews
"The space is perfectly suited to the opera, and the opera to the space, revealing the incredible power of chamber opera to unite disparate environments through artistic aims."
Click to read the whole review
Click to read the whole review
1st December 2013
"The piece starts with discombobulating minimalism. ... Juliana Hodkinson's composition is unusual, full of tremulous glissando and non-standard vocal technique against a synthesised score and a libretto (Cynthia Troup) using the metaphor of aeroplane flight to explore the subliminal eddies that underlie the mother/daughter relationship. ... Turbulence distils private poetry and sonic fascination from that insight."
20th October 2013
"...the consistently innovative Chamber Made Opera pushes ever more boundaries with Turbulence. This time the boundary is vertical as we fasten our seatbelts and take for the skies."
Click to read the review
Click to read the review
7th October 2013