La Didone, 2007
The Wooster Group invited Bruce to music direct and create a sound design for a mashup of Cavali’s 1641 Baroque Opera, La Didone, and Mario Brava’s 1965 sci-fi cult classic, Terrore nello spazio. He paired the baroque lute, with its modern brother, the electric guitar, and sampled rare baroque instruments.
The opera singers and the continuo ensemble were heard within artificial circle of “ideal” baroque acoustics. At the same time the actors voices came from a flat filmic space accentuating the clash of centuries.
The world of outer space was created by abstracting and transforming the sound effects from Brava’s film.
La Didone played in Brussels, Roitterdam, the Edinburgh Festival, Luxemburg, Los Angeles, and New York. Wooster Group website.
Articles & Reviews
Ben Brantley review in the New York Times
Heidi Waleson review in The Wall Street Journal
David Cote review in Time Out New York
Charles McNulty review in the Los Angeles Times
John Yohalem review in Opera Today