Anna Nicole

Libretto by Richard Thomas (E)

Major roles: S,M,T,Bar; Minor roles: 3M,5T,3Bar,B; SATB chorus

3(III=picc,afl).3(II,III=corA).2(II=bcl).2ssax.2.dbn-4.3.3.1-timp.perc(3):vib/marimba/t.bells/wdbl(sm)/tamb/metal bar/wooden cube/guiro/tpl.bl/tgl/claves/h.bells/brake dr(lg)/SD/quica/bongo/TD/BD(lg)/susp.cym(lg)/2gongs/tam-t(lg)-harp-pft(=cel)-strings(8.8.6.6.4)

Jazz ensemble: elec.gtr(=banjo,mand)-elec.bass(=mand)-drums

Modern USA

"I’ll eat my six-gallon hat if it’s not a stonking great hit... It’s often very funny, but it’s not just a crude farce with a downbeat ending: I think it is underpinned by genuine compassion for Anna Nicole and genuine scorn for the forces that mould, and then destroy her. What makes this opera so exciting, however, is that Turnage seems to have found precisely the right musical idiom for such a drama - an Americana, brashly orchestrated and violently propulsive which embraces jazz, blues, musical comedy, and lounge smooch so ingeniously and responsively as to transcend mere pastiche. It doesn’t set out to be a complex or a subtle score, but it packs an irresistibly visceral punch."
Daily Telegraph

Comic, Tragic