Context of Love Lives is a chamber opera explores the personal struggles of Oscar Wilde and Elizabeth Bishop—powerful voices in a society that tortured and berated them for their sexualities. Although Wilde and Bishop lived in two separate eras of history, they faced the same societal pressures to keep their loves silent and invisible. Using projection, digital sound design, and the live voice of an operatic soprano, Context of Love Lives addresses the conflicts of the homosexual in society, and what happens when sexuality is taken out of the larger context of a human being.
Performing forces: soprano and piano
Duration: 35 minutes
Pre-recorded sound design cues are available or a new sound design may substituted. Please note, the texts by Elizabeth Bishop in this work require special clearance from her publisher. If you wish to program this work, please allow extra lead time.
Listen to "Song 1: Wasted Days" performed by Rachel Carter, soprano, and Jill Waycie, piano.
Photo: Alayne Faraone in Context of Love Lives, photo by Melissa Ulto