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Man and Boy: Dada

February 16, 2024

Man and Boy: Dada is a 2003 opera by Michael Nyman with a libretto by Michael Hastings. It tells the story of a friendship between aging dada artist Kurt Schwitters and a twelve-year-old boy. These two characters and the boy's mother make up the cast of the opera.

It was first performed at the Badisches Staatstheater in Karlsruhe, Germany, on 13 March 2004, directed by Robert Tannenbaum. It was then performed in the UK by the Almeida Opera in July 2004, in a production designed by Jeremy Herbert, directed by Lindsay Posner and conducted by Paul McGrath at the Almeida Theatre.[1][2]

The opera features an extensive use of oboe (rare in Nyman's work), mostly in the second act, to capture the feel of post-War popular music, somewhat reminiscent of Dmitri Shostakovich's Suite for Variety Orchestra.

Synopsis edit

Michael is a young boy on a bus who competes with an old man for bus tickets, which they both collect (as did Nyman as a child). The man turns out to be Kurt Schwitters, a dada artist who escaped Germany, although his wife has been killed and his son missing, and is facing deportation. They get to talking about their collections. Schwitters invites Michael to come to his apartment to see them. Michael refuses for obvious reasons, but asks what he does with them, and is told about merz collages.

Michael lives with his mother. His father was a night watchman whose body was never found when his building was struck by a German doodlebug bomb. Although Michael's mother hates all Germans, she makes an exception for the artist, who gradually earns her trust. Michael and Kurt go to the British Museum together and deface a lion statue in a dada manner.

Michael's mother won't allow Kurt to visit while he is sick, and he gets interviewed by a BBC newswoman who likes to hear herself talk and makes sure that her pontifications get more air time than Kurt's corrections. She ends the interview by referring to dada as "dadaISM," with heavy emphasis on the "ism", and goes on quite a pace about Schwitters's references to his "art" rather than "anti-art", as the proponents of dada would have it.

Kurt spends more time with Michael and his mother. He repeatedly suggests that the two get married so that he can become a naturalized citizen, but she is not interested in him that way. He makes numerous mistakes. He offends her with a song about doodlebug bomb, but she agrees to hear it again, as the song was not at all intended to make fun of her husband. He makes a very large mistake at Michael's birthday. Michael wants a bicycle, but Kurt gives him a dada bike that cannot be ridden. Michael's mother is horrified that he would do what she perceives as a practical joke to a boy. His motivation was completely different—he wanted to give Michael something special and unique. Kurt decides that he is too eccentric to get on with Michael and his mother. Michael tries to persuade him to stay, telling him that he appreciates the dada bike and can say to his friends that he crashed it.

Recording edit

Man and Boy: Dada
an opera in two acts
 
Studio album by
Michael Nyman
Released1 June, 2005 (UK)
July 29, 2008 (United States)
RecordedOctober and November 2004
Genreopera, contemporary classical
LengthDisc 1: 42:27
Disc 2: 62:23
LanguageEnglish
German
LabelMN Records
ProducerMichael Nyman
Michael Nyman chronology
The Actors
(2003) 		Man and Boy: Dada
an opera in two acts
(2005) 		The Piano Sings
(2005)

The album, based on the Almeida production, was recorded in 2004 and released in 2005. It was the first release on Nyman's own label, MN Records, and his 48th release overall.

Track listing edit

Disc 1 – ACT ONE

  1. SCENE 1 – You need a ticket to breathe the air
  2. SCENE 2 – A few things I collect beside bus tickets
  3. SCENE 3 – Any more fares please?
  4. SCENE 4 – It's kind of interesting rubbish
  5. SCENE 5 – Scarper!
  6. SCENE 6 – Forty sheep and twenty reindeer?
  7. SCENE 7 – Coughs and sneezes spread diseases
  8. SCENE 8 – Except take a piss
  9. SCENE 9 – Doodlebug

Disc 2 – ACT TWO

  1. SCENE 10 – A Famous cup of British tea
  2. SCENE 11 – This was a good one – Ponders End to Waterloo
  3. SCENE 12 – I'm highly adept at the tango
  4. SCENE 13 – Show me a bike!
  5. SCENE 14 – Chuk persh szing!
  6. SCENE 15 – Happy birthday, dear Michael!
  7. SCENE 16 – I am having a trouble with hanky panky
  8. SCENE 17 – Latin à la Hammersmith Palais
  9. SCENE 18 – A hundred stops but they have no name
  10. SCENE 19 – I was trying to explain something about Dada

Cast edit

Musicians edit

Michael Nyman Band

Crew edit

  • Composed and produced by Michael Nyman
  • Recorded, edited and mixed by Austin Ince at Abbey Road Studios, London, October and November 2004.
  • Assistant engineer: Roland Heap
  • Assistant to Michael Nyman: Andy Keenan
  • Mastered by Peter Mew at Abbey Road Studios, December 2004
  • Music published by Chester Music Ltd./Michael Nyman Ltd., 2004
  • Libretto © Michael Hastings, 2004
  • (The librettist gratefully acknowledges contributions and alterations to the text by Victoria Hardie)
  • Designed by Russell Mills (shed) [1]
  • Co-designed by Michael Webster (storm)
  • Portrait of Kurt Schwitters, '1924', photographer, Eli Lissitsky (courtesy of the Sprengel Museum, Hanover)
  • Kurt Schwitters, Gerd Strindberg and Edith Thomas (?) in the garden of the house in Barnes, London, 1941/1943 photographer: Kurt and Ernest Scwitters Stiftung, Hanover
  • Production photos by Michael Nyman
  • Design imagery by Jeremy Herbert and Steven Williams
  • Special thanks to Elizabeth Lloyd, Rachel Thomas, John Fosbrook, Gill Graham, James Rushton, Nicholas Hare, James Ware, Declan Colgan, Robert Tannenbaum, Achim Thorwald, Patrick Dickie, Phillippa Cole, Jeremy Herbert, Lindsay Posner, Sarah Wilson, Jeremy Bines, Alexander Balanescu, Annette Gentz, Colette Barber & Lucy Launder at Abbey Road, Karin Orchard at the Kurt Schwitters Archiv, Sprengel Museum, Hanover

References edit

  1. ^ Church, Michael (20 July 2004). "Man and Boy: Dada, Almeida Theatre, London". The Independent. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
  2. ^ Clements, Andrew (16 July 2004). "Man and Boy: Dada". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 February 2024.

External links edit

  • Man and Boy: Dada at Chester Novello Music
  • Man and Boy: Dada at MN Records
  • Anne Midgette, "Schwitters Agonistes: Opera Takes on a Radical", The New York Times, 18 December 2004.

February 16, 2024
dada, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, september, 2008, lear. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Man and Boy Dada news newspapers books scholar JSTOR September 2008 Learn how and when to remove this template message Man and Boy Dada is a 2003 opera by Michael Nyman with a libretto by Michael Hastings It tells the story of a friendship between aging dada artist Kurt Schwitters and a twelve year old boy These two characters and the boy s mother make up the cast of the opera It was first performed at the Badisches Staatstheater in Karlsruhe Germany on 13 March 2004 directed by Robert Tannenbaum It was then performed in the UK by the Almeida Opera in July 2004 in a production designed by Jeremy Herbert directed by Lindsay Posner and conducted by Paul McGrath at the Almeida Theatre 1 2 The opera features an extensive use of oboe rare in Nyman s work mostly in the second act to capture the feel of post War popular music somewhat reminiscent of Dmitri Shostakovich s Suite for Variety Orchestra Contents 1 Synopsis 2 Recording 2 1 Track listing 2 2 Cast 2 3 Musicians 2 4 Crew 3 References 4 External linksSynopsis editMichael is a young boy on a bus who competes with an old man for bus tickets which they both collect as did Nyman as a child The man turns out to be Kurt Schwitters a dada artist who escaped Germany although his wife has been killed and his son missing and is facing deportation They get to talking about their collections Schwitters invites Michael to come to his apartment to see them Michael refuses for obvious reasons but asks what he does with them and is told about merz collages Michael lives with his mother His father was a night watchman whose body was never found when his building was struck by a German doodlebug bomb Although Michael s mother hates all Germans she makes an exception for the artist who gradually earns her trust Michael and Kurt go to the British Museum together and deface a lion statue in a dada manner Michael s mother won t allow Kurt to visit while he is sick and he gets interviewed by a BBC newswoman who likes to hear herself talk and makes sure that her pontifications get more air time than Kurt s corrections She ends the interview by referring to dada as dadaISM with heavy emphasis on the ism and goes on quite a pace about Schwitters s references to his art rather than anti art as the proponents of dada would have it Kurt spends more time with Michael and his mother He repeatedly suggests that the two get married so that he can become a naturalized citizen but she is not interested in him that way He makes numerous mistakes He offends her with a song about doodlebug bomb but she agrees to hear it again as the song was not at all intended to make fun of her husband He makes a very large mistake at Michael s birthday Michael wants a bicycle but Kurt gives him a dada bike that cannot be ridden Michael s mother is horrified that he would do what she perceives as a practical joke to a boy His motivation was completely different he wanted to give Michael something special and unique Kurt decides that he is too eccentric to get on with Michael and his mother Michael tries to persuade him to stay telling him that he appreciates the dada bike and can say to his friends that he crashed it Recording editMan and Boy Dadaan opera in two acts nbsp Studio album by Michael NymanReleased1 June 2005 UK July 29 2008 United States RecordedOctober and November 2004Genreopera contemporary classicalLengthDisc 1 42 27 Disc 2 62 23LanguageEnglishGermanLabelMN RecordsProducerMichael NymanMichael Nyman chronologyThe Actors 2003 Man and Boy Dadaan opera in two acts 2005 The Piano Sings 2005 The album based on the Almeida production was recorded in 2004 and released in 2005 It was the first release on Nyman s own label MN Records and his 48th release overall Track listing edit Disc 1 ACT ONE SCENE 1 You need a ticket to breathe the air SCENE 2 A few things I collect beside bus tickets SCENE 3 Any more fares please SCENE 4 It s kind of interesting rubbish SCENE 5 Scarper SCENE 6 Forty sheep and twenty reindeer SCENE 7 Coughs and sneezes spread diseases SCENE 8 Except take a piss SCENE 9 DoodlebugDisc 2 ACT TWO SCENE 10 A Famous cup of British tea SCENE 11 This was a good one Ponders End to Waterloo SCENE 12 I m highly adept at the tango SCENE 13 Show me a bike SCENE 14 Chuk persh szing SCENE 15 Happy birthday dear Michael SCENE 16 I am having a trouble with hanky panky SCENE 17 Latin a la Hammersmith Palais SCENE 18 A hundred stops but they have no name SCENE 19 I was trying to explain something about DadaCast edit John Graham Hall tenor Kurt Schwitters William Sheldon boy soprano Michael Vivian Tierney soprano Michael s mother old woman bus conductress British Museum guard BBC interviewerMusicians edit Michael Nyman Band conducted by Paul McGrath Gabrielle Lester violin Rebecca Hirsch violin Tony Hinnigan cello Paul Morgan double bass Melinda Maxwell oboe Gareth Hulse oboe Andrew Sparling clarinet bass clarinet David Rix clarinet bass clarinet David Roach soprano alto saxophone Christopher Gunia bassoon Richard Benjafield percussion Dominic Saunders pianoCrew edit Composed and produced by Michael Nyman Recorded edited and mixed by Austin Ince at Abbey Road Studios London October and November 2004 Assistant engineer Roland Heap Assistant to Michael Nyman Andy Keenan Mastered by Peter Mew at Abbey Road Studios December 2004 Music published by Chester Music Ltd Michael Nyman Ltd 2004 Libretto c Michael Hastings 2004 The librettist gratefully acknowledges contributions and alterations to the text by Victoria Hardie Designed by Russell Mills shed 1 Co designed by Michael Webster storm Portrait of Kurt Schwitters 1924 photographer Eli Lissitsky courtesy of the Sprengel Museum Hanover Kurt Schwitters Gerd Strindberg and Edith Thomas in the garden of the house in Barnes London 1941 1943 photographer Kurt and Ernest Scwitters Stiftung Hanover Production photos by Michael Nyman Design imagery by Jeremy Herbert and Steven Williams Special thanks to Elizabeth Lloyd Rachel Thomas John Fosbrook Gill Graham James Rushton Nicholas Hare James Ware Declan Colgan Robert Tannenbaum Achim Thorwald Patrick Dickie Phillippa Cole Jeremy Herbert Lindsay Posner Sarah Wilson Jeremy Bines Alexander Balanescu Annette Gentz Colette Barber amp Lucy Launder at Abbey Road Karin Orchard at the Kurt Schwitters Archiv Sprengel Museum HanoverReferences edit Church Michael 20 July 2004 Man and Boy Dada Almeida Theatre London The Independent Retrieved 5 February 2024 Clements Andrew 16 July 2004 Man and Boy Dada The Guardian Retrieved 5 February 2024 External links editMan and Boy Dada at Chester Novello Music Man and Boy Dada at MN Records Anne Midgette Schwitters Agonistes Opera Takes on a Radical The New York Times 18 December 2004 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Man and Boy Dada amp oldid 1203820242, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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