Europera 5 (1991)

This was Cage’s last opera, and the simplest to perform in the Europera series. It is at essence a collage for two singers, each of whom sings five arias of his or her choosing from the standard opera repertoire. Accompaniment is provided by a pianist who plays excerpts from six different opera transcriptions, as well as a single 78-rpm Victrola player, making use of six historical opera recordings; additionally, there is a performer who plays a prerecorded tape. Also present is a radio and a silent television. For more information on this work and others in the Europera series, see Stefan Beyst's August 2005 essay John Cage's Europeras: a light- and soundscape as musical manifesto (http://d-sites.net/english/cage.htm), or Laura Kuhn’s comprehensive doctoral dissertation, John Cage’s Europeras 1 & 2: The Musical Means of Revolution (UCLA, 1992).