OPERA SEARCH
Matricide, the musical
(1998)Libretto by Kathleen Mary Fallon (E)
6S
cl(=bcl,asax)-pft(=kbd)-perc:marimba/xyl/glsp/vib/t.bells/chimes/
metal chimes/log dr/SD/BD/kick dr/drumkit/tom-t/gong/knives/tpl.bl/
wdbl/sand bl/cyms/hi hat/shells/maracas/tamb/double bass bow/ratchet/
guiro/stones/bell tree/claves/crot/toy horns and bugle sounds/fife/
pots and pans/thundersheet-db
Abbreviations (PDF)
Bote & Bock
The Unallocated Space, Melbourne, VIC
Angela Chaplin, director
Conductor: Jane Hammond
Company: Chamber Made Music
| CHORA | soprano |
| IMPASSIONATA | soprano |
| chorus of mothers and daughters | 4 sopranos |
1950s, a prison in New Zealand
Matricide: the musical is based on the famous New Zealand murder case (which recently was made into a film called Heavenly Creatures) in which two teenage girls, who were lovers, murder one of their mothers because of her attempts to keep them apart. The opera/musical is set in the prison after their conviction, and contains a series of flashbacks which explore the difficult dynamics of mother/daughter relationships and satirizes the conservative nature of 1950s society. The opera/musical is written in a outrageously "high camp" style with explicit sexual content and language.
Dramatic