Kats-Chernin, Elena

Matricide, the musical (1998)

Duration: 75 minutes
Opera in one act

Libretto by Kathleen Mary Fallon (E)

Scoring
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).

Territory
This work is available from Boosey & Hawkes for the world.

World Premiere
11/27/1998
The Unallocated Space, Melbourne, VIC
Angela Chaplin, director
Conductor: Jane Hammond
Company: Chamber Made Music

Roles

CHORA	soprano
IMPASSIONATA	soprano
chorus of mothers and daughters	4 sopranos

Time and Place
1950s, a prison in New Zealand

Synopsis

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.

 

Moods
Dramatic

Subjects
Contemporary, History, Relationships, Society