CHOPIN IN PARIS: EPIGRAPH FOR A CONDEMNED BOOK (2002)
A unique tapestry of sight and sound, Sarah Rothenberg’s Epigraph for a Condemned Book reveals the daring genius of Chopin’s piano works. In this original performance collage, fragments of Delacroix’s intense paintings, early photography and the provocative writings of Baudelaire interweave with Chopin’s music to magically evoke 19th-century Paris and its romantic spirit.
Venues: Yale Repertory Theatre, New Haven, Connecticut; University Musical Society, Ann Arbor; Krannert Center Champaign-Urbana; Wortham Theater Center, Houston, TX; Hancher Auditorium, Iowa; La Jolla Music Society, San Diego; Omaha Festival; Kravis Center, West Palm Beach, Florida; Gilmore International Piano Festival/Fontana Chamber Arts, Kalamazoo.
A Da Camera of Houston production, co-commissioned with Yale Repertory Theatre, New Haven; University Musical Society, Ann Arbor; Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, Champaign-Urbana.
TITLE
Chopin in Paris: Epigraph for a Condemned Book
CONCEPT
Music by Chopin, fragments of works by Delacroix, and photography and writings by Baudelaire.
PREMIERE
Workshop performance: January 13, 2002, Yale Repertory Theater. Houston premiere: April 12, 2002, Cullen Theater, Wortham Theater Center. A Da Camera of Houston production, co-commissioned with Yale Repertory Theatre, New Haven; University Musical Society, Ann Arbor; Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, Champaign-Urbana.
PRODUCTION DETAILS
Workshop performance: January 13, 2002
Yale Repertory Theater
Houston premiere: April 12, 2002
Cullen Theater, Wortham Theater Center
Revived in collaboration with University of Houston’s Cynthia B. Mitchell Center for the Collaborative Arts/Blaffer Gallery’s Damaged Romanticism exhibition: October 18, 2008
Conceived, directed and performed by Sarah Rothenberg, pianist
Texts: Charles Baudelaire
Music: Frederic Chopin
Lighting designed by Jennifer Tipton
Video designed by Christopher Kondek