The Classical Style (opera)

The Classical Style: An Opera (of Sorts) is an American comic opera in seven scenes, with music by Steven Stucky and libretto by Jeremy Denk.[1] The opera was a joint commission from the Aspen Music Festival, Carnegie Hall, the Ojai Music Festival, and Ojai North!, and was premiered under the conductor Robert Spano on June 13, 2014 at the Ojai Music Festival in Ojai, California. The opera is inspired by the musicologist and pianist Charles Rosen's 1971 book The Classical Style and thus follows composers Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Joseph Haydn, and Ludwig van Beethoven as they descend from heaven into a modern-day classical music climate.[2] The Classical Style was Stucky's last large-scale composition before his death in 2016.[3][4]

  1. ^ Timothy Mangan (June 16, 2014). "There's 'Classical Style' and substance in opera premiere in Ojai". Orange County Register. Retrieved May 15, 2016.
  2. ^ Boehm, Mike (December 4, 2013). "Ojai Music Festival to premiere a comic opera by Denk and Stucky". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 19, 2015.
  3. ^ Swed, Mark (February 16, 2016). "How unlikely Steven Stucky proved indispensable to the L.A. Philharmonic's rise". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 16, 2016.
  4. ^ Smith, Harrison (February 15, 2016). "Steven Stucky, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer of intricate musical wit, dies at 66". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 16, 2016.