German avant-garde composer Irmin Schmidt has turned Mervyn Peake’s gothic fantasy masterpiece Gormenghast into an opera. The result is a score of sumptuous, exotic beauty, yet purists would be hard-pressed to label it a traditional opera. Rather, Schmidt, who was a student of Ligeti and Stockhausen, and who later founded the krautrock band, Can, has created something far more daring: a melding of electronic orchestration, traditional operatic vocals, dreamy ballads, chaotic harmonies, and sythesized breakbeats. Driven by an epic plot of romance, comedy, and futurism, it provides a memorable listening experience.

PROGRAM #1851, excerpts from Gormenghast (First aired on Thursday, 11/16/00)

ARTIST(S)	RECORDING	CUT(S)	SOURCE
Irmin Schmidt	Gormenghast	Overture [1:00] Gertrude's Aria: Touch [9:30] Steerpike's Song: Oxygen [7:00] Fuchsia's Song: Rainbow Party [7:00] Sepulchrave's Aria: Behold the Night! [9:30]	Spoon #44. www.spoonrecords.com ; distributed in the US by Mute Records, 140 W. 22 St #10A, NY NY 10011. Fax 212-255-6056, www.mutelibtech.com/mute
Jim Fox	Last Things	Last Things [18:00]	Cold Blue #001. www.coldbluemusic.com

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