Julian Livingston conducting the Sinfonia Pro Musica at the 1977 premier of A Twist of Treason. Below, we have first, the latest information about work on a different opera. It is intended for review by those interested in producing such a work. The new opera was first called Happily Ever After at the Blue Front Tavern, Scrapetown, Land of Mars, a trifle cumbersome but it attracted a lot of comment, definitely a help in these days of value placed on attention, but for convenience it is now titled:

    Napa DeMonk, Sainted Queen of Mars

    An opera, Copyright - 2007, All Rights Reserved
    by Julian Livingston

    CHARACTERS PRESENTED IN LOGICAL ORDER:

    First Act - Scrapetown, the church,
    then outside the bar, and inside.
    Scenes One, Two, and Three
    Bar-top Dancer (Ichi Ban - Sprag's usual sidekick)
    Bar-top Undulating Dancers (Nicki, Sanya, Shimmy,
    Gogo, Romona at least five with character names)
    Ominou, the Bartender - Baritone
    Chorus of Male Scrapers - at least five with
    character names. (Niko, Sanyo, Shimo, Nogo, Moro)
    Scraper Sprag - Tenor (Napa DeMonk's common-law
    husband, standard for Mars)
    Napa DeMonk - Lyric/Mezzo - (Saint Napa DeMonk)
    Older Daughter ‘Ever' Everness DeMonk - Soprano
    Ever's Boyfriend - Baritone- Paul Moore (ever-more)
    Younger Daughter - ‘After' Aphrodite DeMonk -
    Slightly Lower Soprano
    After's Boyfriend - Baritone - Herman Ward
    (after-ward)

    Second Act - Olympus Colony, in a Japanese
    Restaurant
    Scene One
    Geisha Blossom - same as Ichi Ban - Sprag's usual
    sidekick
    Undulating Geishas - (Ni, Si, San, Shi, Go, Ro) 6 bar
    Pole Dancers recostumed as Undulating Geishas.
    Scene Two - Beau of Bath - Mini-opera
    the Beau of Bath, a faded hero of yesteryear - Baritone
    Jepson, lifelong household servant - Tenor
    Rosamond, long dead burning of Beau's heart, only preserved
    in an oil painting - Lyric Soprano

    Third Act - Scrapetown, Outside the bar, and inside, then the
    MotorCycle on the hairpin curves, climbing
    the meandering deadly hazards of the Scrapetown
    Oxygen Farm, and then the hearing and
    Return to Earth for trial, sentence of Ominou.
    Scenes One, Two, and Three
    Bar-top Dancer (Ichi Ban - Sprag's usual sidekick)
    Bar-top Undulating Dancers (Nicki, Sanya, Shimmy,
    Gogo, Romona at least five with character names)
    Ominou, the Bartender - Baritone
    Chorus of Male Scrapers - at least six with
    character names. (Niko, Siko, Sanyo, Shimo, Nogo, Moro)
    Scraper Sprag - Tenor (Napa DeMonk's common-law
    husband, standard for Mars)
    Napa DeMonk - Lyric/Mezzo - (Saint Napa DeMonk)
    Older Daughter ‘Ever' Everness DeMonk - Soprano
    Ever's Boyfriend - Baritone- Paul Moore (ever-more)
    Younger Daughter - ‘After' Aphrodite DeMonk -
    Slightly Lower Soprano
    After's Boyfriend - Baritone - Herman Ward
    (after-ward)

    ACT ONE:

    Note that this text is more of a production description at the present and not a plot synopsis. The set of the first scene of the opera is the haunted LEAVE MARS DEAD (LMD) church service, basically a seance (also used at the beginning of Act 3) ideally with members seated in a partial circle (at a semicircular-table), where Napa DeMonk (central charcter of the opera and already one week dead) becomes materialized in an open chair in the middle, her ghost brought back from the realm of the dead to become the Sainted Queen of Mars, Patron Saint of the LMD church. The main point of this scene is to introduce the ecological constraints of Mars, namely very little water, and secondly, the pseudo-supernatural/technological effects of the opera. The dividing line between an "actual" supernatural and a technological supernatural is intentionally little addressed and de-emphasized to stay away from explaining these matters all the time. This is awkward in science fiction and even more difficult when science-fiction is singing such explanations.

    Note that there are three levels of the supernatural, first our director's technological level (not very complicated - just some rotating light spots), second the head of LMD's fake technical supernatural, namely his bag of technical tricks that cause the seeming appearance of a very complex supernatural, and lastly, a true supernatural where actual magic overtakes all other forms of supernatural. The first one is the one of concern in the preparation of the opera, namely how does one achieve the appearance of supernatural? In our case we simply use a "live" Napa DeMonk to make her appear as returned from the dead, and the rotating pattern of spots to make her move on up into the world of the "real" supernatural. It struck me as a possible means of using equipment "ala Frankenstein sets" to use old WW2, or that era, radio equipment for the head of the LMD church's technical equipment. The last one, emergence into the real supernatural, appears when a couple of events allow Napa DeMonk to defy the head of LMD and exercise her own free will, although her programing tries to force otherwise.

    A sidekick to Sprag, our hero, is Ichi Ban, or "number one" in World War 2 GI Japanese style pidgin English. She is the head pole dancer at the Blue Front Tavern (in the sense of the sidekick found in the opera, Tales of Hoffman), and she is seen at the LMD seance service. Ichi Ban recognizes the preacher of the LMDs as the second scene's bartender, Ominou, of the Blue Front Tavern. The music also depicts ballet like, the flapping of disoriented spirits flitting in and out of the seance, some live people - church members, singing in sonorous hymnlike phrases, others twanging on dissonant chords, then resolving to consonance as the full materialization of the Spirit Napa DeMonk finally occurs at the climax. These disoriented spirits can be achieved in any manner that seems to work, projections of flying sheets on the walls. Listen to the first scene music from the opera here?

    Press Right Pointing Arrow button to"PLAY" Act 1, Scene 1, the opening seance, a church service of the Leave Mars Dead Church. Press Square button to "Stop":

    All of the music selections given here in this synopsis-like presentation are of the full score including the music of the voice parts as realized in midi voice instruments. In order to hear this music you may have to upgrade your Internet music player, which should only take a brief time. The complete orchestra is presented here plus the vocal parts, but necessarily presented without sung text as I do not yet have the technology to present the sung text with the music. If I personally had a tolerable voice I might be able to use that (with a lot of doctoring) but I no longer have a voice that can even sing anything close. Regretfully, all my singing is in my head from this point on. The only sylable available in my technology is sort of an "ah" that most of the vocal parts are realized with. I do expect this deficiency of midi to be remedied, at least superficially, in the near future as I see a lot of effort on this problem going forward in the publications and in backup voice parts. To me the ideal tool for an opera composer would be all of the tools found in Sibelius, plus a simple midi style vocoder, and for the advanced composer, a tool for creating the fully costumed characters, positioning them and moving them according to the plot as the production goes forward; even a cartoon puppet like presentation would be of considerable help in visualizing the opera.

    The first scene opens on a dimly lit, silent stage with the LEAVE MARS DEAD(LMD) church goers of Scrapetown, the locale of the Blue Front Tavern assembled for a church service. The preacher enters in silence and makes some preparations with arranging some of the sacred items, etc. Then he moves to the head spot of the table semi-circle, each person taking their neighbor's hands, and begins to pray, eyes closed, head back, soft spotlight on his face. The music begins softly with erie flitting of spirits noticable on the walls as well as in the music. The music eventually awakens and materializes the spirit of recently dead Napa DeMonk who is unseen at first but sings; She was owner of the Blue Front Tavern and a "first settler from earth," who died unexpectedly; we may learn that she was murdered. The head of the LMD church, Ominou, also the bartender at the Blue Front, sees this as a sudden opportunity to materialize Napa's spirit and crown her as the first saint of Mars. He has technology/magic that can readily accomplish her apparent return from the hereafter, but such effects are not without drawbacks, which I will vist below. Control of Napa's ghost will give him the opportunity to use Napa to manipulate the co-owner of the Blue Front and boy-friend, Sprag. He know more about Sprag's affairs than most people because of his postion at the Blue Front.

    The climax of this first scene is also the musical high-point in which Napa suddenly "upgrades" into the full regalia of the skin-tight biker black leather jump suit edged with golden tassel rims and full epaulets with a black biker helmet crown, and electronic voice enhanced breather fixed in the "dangling unused oxygen position," symbolically proclaiming no oxygen needed by this woman born of spirit royalty. The music proceeds along with the action and the text with the inclusion of a solo-istic piano reinforced, 19th century like a concerto climax. Also, she brings along her annointed side-kick for Sprag, Ichi Ban. However, Ichi Ban has her own opinion and doesn't like the use of the Blue Front Tavern owner, Napa's, untimely death in this way. She believes the LMD church under Ominou's control is exploiting Napa's death. The point of the side-kick has been to keep a close watch on Sprag so he does not wander too far astray when Napa is occupied with other paying customers. Ichi Ban has a much larger vocal role in this opera than that other famous sidekick, Nicklas, in Offenbach's Tales of Hoffman. When Sprag enters the bar, Ichi Ban knowing there is no Napa, and Sprag is a big spender on Napa, might devote an expensive weekend to her for once. She knows there has been a long and enduring friendship between Sprag and Napa as well as the cash relationship. What she is not fully aware of is the depth of that relationship extends to the two highest paid performers on Mars, the DeMonk sisters. Sprag is their father and, of course, Napa is their mother. Also, Sprag is half owner of the Blue Front Tavern, the Scrapetown Oxygen Farm, and all the associated businesses.

    The second scene and third scenes of the first act are the full introduction of everything, the main plot: the dead Napa DeMonk's materialized ghost from the first scene, and now Napa seems to arrive on her motorbike as though she is going to make her appointment with Sprag for the current weekend. Instead, she tells him she needs at least another hour or so to take care of an appointment with a "short-time" client. This is over-the-top frustrating for Sprag who becomes angry, thinking that Napa is "nickel and diming" him beyond all reason. One thing that should be noticed about Martian women is that they have very little of earth-like needing men for approval, needing men for income, for sustenance, etc. They are very capable and know just how to convert their brains and assets to what they want. The only problem is these means for living are in short supply everywhere on Mars and there are still satisfactions in minimal relationships resembling marriages, but closer to earth-like common-law marriages. This is especially true in guiding any resulting children. Probably, Sprag is the more needy of this couple, but Napa has needs that are held over from her earth origins and are emerging from their long time secret hiding places as the opera progresses.

    Napa's ghost has been (electronically) commanded to lure Sprag to his death, either by asphyxiation on the high cliffs of the Moss Gardens of Mars above the Scrapetown Oxygen Farm, or by running the pair of them off the hairpin-road while double-riding on the way up to the Moss Garden spot atop the high cliffs. In the old first settlement days, the Moss Gardens were kind of a lover's lane where the pair could enjoy the view while saying sweet-nothings in each other's ears. Sprag's death there could allow Ominou and the LMD church to buy or cheat the tavern and huge property away from the grieving DeMonk daughters. Napa also introduces her situation in part of her main aria in the opera. The full aria, with an impassioned alto saxophone obligato, occurs during the second act.

    Then there is the subplot of the developing romance of the "two guys" Paul Moore and Herman Ward, who arrived on the midnight train to visit the DeMonk sisters, Ever & After, those daughters of Sprag and Napa. These two men have been sent by their earth masters to buy the the thousands of acres of property in the Scrapetown Oxygen Farm, but end up becoming the boy friends of the DeMonk Sisters and an ally of Sprag by the end of the opera. Also introduced are the pole dancers and their "customers," the water scraper males which together form the opera's chorus.

    Scene 2 has a ghostly sounding opening, thin cello music, bar dancers faintly in the distance in a minor key behind the airlock. Then when Sprag goes inside, the music comes up loud like their taunting song "Hey Men of Mars." Sprag is now at the Blue Front Tavern looking for his girl-friend, Napa DeMonk, with whom he has pre-paid a date for the entire weekend. There are a couple of altercations between Sprag and Ichi Ban (she eventually becoming Sprag's sidekick which is a task delivered by Napa to Ichi Ban as a standing instruction for dealing with Sprag when Napa was alive but "not around," i.e., entertaining some other wealthy male). This is entirely like Napa who schedules her time in ten minute blocks, although she is getting a little old for such a level of "working."

    Suddenly Sprag spots Napa outside the bar and runs out to talk to her. She says she has other business but will see him about 1800 hrs (that kind of hour-long date called a "short time" or in the pidgin of the Second World War through the Vietnam era, "catchee short time GI?" Mars runs on military time, "1800" = 6:00 pm - god of war, etc.) Sprag is angered by Napa putting some "short time" appointment ahead of his grand contract for the whole weekend. Sprag does not see the bartender, Ominou, making urgent spell binding motions as Napa's ghost "put-puts" off down the street on her single cyclinder motor bike (Uses oxygen and hydrogen from sun generated electricity and electrolysis of water. No doubt about it at all; water is the fundamental economy material of Mars), nor does Sprag know that Napa died last Monday and he is dealing with her ghost. Ichi Ban tries to step into the empty time slot, and entice Sprag into purchasing her services for the weekend, but Sprag says Ichi Ban should know by now he is always waiting for Napa DeMonk. Ichi Ban taunts him with "that will be one hell-of-a long wait," not realizing he does not know Napa is dead. The bartender is actually the arch-fiend of the piece, but remains in the background here as innocently polishing glasses, or what looks like magical spell binding motions until it surfaces that he is head of the planet wide LMD (Leave Mars Dead) faction.

    All of this "not knowing obvious stuff" is very typical of the opera style of stage performances. Usually the audience is way ahead of the characters in understanding what is going on, in the opera. The Leave Mars Dead faction want all efforts at terraforming of Mars to cease, no greening of Mars to ever happen. The LMDs believe the water should remain as is, mostly locked up in the polar ice caps; also, they believe that a dead person's water should be recovered and sealed in a glass vase as the remembrance of that person. The dry ashes of that person should be distributed in the wind as their final sacrament; the daughters totally forgot that Napa's will wanted her body buried under a cairn of rocks, one engraved with her name and "A first settler from earth" so that she will be one of the historic first citizens of the new home for mankind, "Born on earth, died on Mars." At least the water amount on the planet would remain stable and would not evaporate to outer space with the LMD philosophy as the guiding light. The big drawback of their plan is that no progress toward a second human home is made following that philosophy. The LMDs think that if an effort is made to green Mars by terraforming, the disturbance may allow what little water remaining to escape the atmosphere, especially if too many mistakes are made. Try the music from the second and third scenes of Act One.

    To"PLAY" Act 1 Scene 2 plus scene 3, in which Sprag arrives at the Blue Front Tavern expecting to meet his steady girlfriend, Napa DeMonk, for their weekend contract date, press Right Pointing Arrow button. Napa eventually shows, but immediately runs off claiming to have an appointment for a drink with another customer, but she expects to be back by 1800 hours, the usual starting time for a weekend contract. Sprag goes into a rage! Then the daughters begin to discuss what they did when they couldn't get hold of Sprag - more rage ensues over them using Ominou, the bartender's, help. Press Square Button to "Stop"

    But back to Sprag and Napa, who own the Blue Front Tavern together. No one knows that Sprag financed Napa's original buying of The Blue Front Tavern and the Scrapetown Oxygen Farm. The reason for this secrecy is to reinforce the notion of success surrounding the DeMonk tavern, "The Blue Front Tavern" and to keep the idea of Sprag's envolvement to the level of zero. He has enough on his plate supposedly running the Scrapetown Oxygen Farm for Napa. Now that Napa is dead the daughters will inherit The Blue Front Tavern. But true to form even the bar dancers have no idea Sprag is also a fifty percent owner. The audience realizes that there are two large factions, those pro-terraforming people, normal types for most part, which Sprag supports as a water miner, and the fiendish terrorist LMD (Leave Mars Dead) types that believe the ghosts of old Mars are still around and do not want to make Mars over into a Garden of Eden style earth. Even though a couple of the terraformers come to town on the midnight train and pop in the bar looking for the daughters, Ever and After. The bartender tries to turn the girls against these two guys, but little by little, Sprag figures them out as the good guys. The LMDs love things like séances, glorifications of death, scattering the ashes from cremation, and activations of ghostly figures like making the ghost of Napa magically appear to Sprag. Ultimately, Sprag will get the picture in the last act when he realizes the ghost of Napa has saved him from death on the hairpin curves of the road up to the Moss Farms, but it remains for the sidekick, Ichi Ban, to activate his rescue from loss of oxygen. The guys who came to town to terraform end up helping to rescue Sprag, the man they expected to give them trouble.

    ACT TWO:

    First scene of this act is the LMD influenced ghost of Napa diverting Sprag to a potentially deadly encounter later in the opera. To start off, by matching Ominou's evil plan, Napa meets Sprag at his "fancy" Japanese restaurant in . Such a restaurant would be Sprag's limited idea of a really expensive and exotic evening. The Japanese were very big in settlement of Mars as they had the highest pressure for population relief plus the technology and wealth to match their needs, hence lots of Japanese restaurants and passed down memories of the Far East Wars (1941-1975). Sprag's big plan for this fabulous weekend was to go to Olympus Colony, main city on Mars and bar hop after a great dinner, but Napa arrives, dressed in full regalia as the Sainted Queen (pretty much a mood killer) to convince Sprag, in exchange for signing over the proceeds of his retirement/illness/death benefit plans to the daughters, that she instead will meet him for one final fling on the high edge of the Moss Garden Cliffs, a repeat of their first encounter twenty years ago, the era when the daughters were conceived. She promises to deliver on the purchased woman's eternal brag of "Take him to heaven!" This is the Napa ghost talking as constructed by the bartender, Ominou; but also the scene where the fatal flaw in Ominou's construction of Napa's Ghost, the necessary inclusion of Napa's good points in her ghost when he uses the original Napa as his source template. This is Ominou's ultimate undoing.

    Press Right Pointing Arrow button to"PLAY"
    Act 2 Scene 1: Napa arrives at the Japanese Restuarant and admits for first time her true love for Sprag began twenty years ago when they first met. The big misfortune about true love on Mars is that survival becomes the main item and the women have no means to survive except by running as many hustles as they can. There is little room for "true love." Press Square button to "Stop":

    This first scene music is followed by the mini-opera, music written by Napa, which the daughters, Ever & After, find and play for Sprag demonstrating to their satisfaction Napa's actual historic love for Sprag above all the other males she has encountered in the last twenty years. Recall that Beau loves the girl in the picture, but the girl from the picture reveals she had always loved the Beau of Bath, but illness struck her and she died young; she must to return to the picture frame within one hour, forever out of reach. In other words the big main opera is the same raw plot of the tiny Beau of Bath "opera-ett."

    [[ The mini-opera, The Beau of Bath, brings the ghost of the lost love of Beau out of the picture frame. This mini-opera, music by Napa, allows the ghost from the picture to tell the Beau of Bath that she is surprised that the Beau loved her, but know there is some explanation for his owning the giant portrait of her. She surprises him with the information that she loved him above all others but must now return to the picture frame. The mini-opera midi file can be played here. ]]

    Press Right Pointing Arrow button to"PLAY"
    Act 2 Scene 2 Napa's youthful creative work, a tiny opera written as a composition exercise for an unknown teacher before she left earth. Her grade was "A-" since she did not give her audience and performers adequate consideration, but the daughters believe otherwise, that it showed her heart was capable of true enduring love that never abandoned Sprag, whom she first met on Mars. Press Square button to "Stop":

    Sprag is probably one of the most difficult characters to portray. He must simultaneously be heroic but emotionally dependent on Napa's returned love; wealthy but a cheap skate who secretly owns half of everything in Scrapetown; intelligent in Martian technology, business and management but easily duped by Napa.

    ACT THREE:
    (music in preparation; a sample below)

    Scene one opens the third act with a recurrence of the church service. In this scene Ominou runs a seance that contacts Napa but he gets evasive replies and "static" when giving final instructions to her ghost. Sprag must vanish in the midst of the usual weekend revelry at the Blue Front. As we know he did make plans to sneak away to the high edge of the Moss Garden Cliffs above Scrapetown per Napa's promises made in the second act. His newly aquired side-kick, Ichi Ban has begun to wonder about all the latest machinations by Ominou as crossed by the machinations of the two visitors that arrived on the midnight train last Friday night. Ichi Ban watches the developing romance between the sisters and their two pursuing men. The sisters are still very suspicious of the the two men's professed romantic intentions as the men have much to gain, even buying the Oxygen Farm at a fair price for their masters back on Earth. Ominou completes his presumed evil plan by sending the ghost of Napa infused her dramatic escape idea to ride straight to the top of the Moss Garden cliffs and their nostagic weekend. She does convince Sprag to come away with her immediately on the motorbike to that tent she has set up at the top of the original Moss Garden cliffs. This is an exact reproduction of their first penniless wonderful weekend twenty years ago. Sprag goes with her very willingly, convinced that her private terraforming has been working and building a breathable atmosphere around them, even on the High Cliffs of the Moss Garden. Indeed, her financing of the local terraforming has been working well enough at the bottom of the canyon to permit mostly no breathers being used for everyone. Workers and buyers of houses in Scrapetown are booming in the new oxygenated environment.

    Ominou doesn't figure on Napa recovering her real brains and personality when he uses her original body as the magical/scientific template for the ghost. Napa, at first confused by her recent materializing with only Ominou's programming to guide her, gets Sprag behind her on the motor bike on the dark stage, and takes off on the zig-zag switch back road up the five mile high cliffs in the inky blackness. Then she is supposed to work her wiles while driving insanely up the switchback with only the headlamp bouncing around in front of them for light, and the bike, with only simulated forward motion on the nearly darkened stage but her true consciousness returns to Napa. Their romantic singing and behavior, grows dangerously erratic. The scenery flying by is, of course, a projection. They have to push the breathers away to sing and kiss, with the unexpected result (for slightly drunken Sprag) that their breathers both fly off in the speeding winds of the increasingly carbo atmosphere. This is no trouble for the programmed Ominou version of Napa but the trouble with his plan is it all too easily murges with the real Napa's feelings. They fall in love all over again while riding the bike. The music builds to the climax of the opera! A sample of the bike music is provided here.

    Press Right Pointing Arrow button to"PLAY" Press Square button to "Stop":


    Or with a little patience - you can see a full score with the sung text shown here! (For best results use your highest quality midi interpreter if you have more than one when asked for player.)

    Act 3 Scene 3? With elements of Napa's youthful opera she does show her heart capable of true enduring love that never abandons Sprag, whom she first met on Mars. During the bike ride while making love she saves his life sending the bike plunging to the bottom of the canyon five miles down. Sprag is left standing by the side of the road, but hey, he still lives!

    Loss of the breathers does nothing to Napa's ghostly projection, but Sprag gets drunker with the loss of his breather; he is headed downhill to death or an unfortunate permanent loss of brain power. Napa, the ghost, was supposed to drive her bike straight off the cliff per instructions at a particularly notorious switch-back, then vanish leaving no trace of herself as ghosts tend to do. That way she lets Sprag fall five miles to the valley floor. It would look like careless drunk, Sprag, had a nasty accident leaving all the property to the daughters. Good plan, it is one of those lights out, goodbye Sprag. Instead it becomes slowing motors to silence, whistling wind, conversation between Sprag and Napa, and then an explosion down in the valley. Halfway there! Things would definitely be off track by Ominou's view by then, but Sprag's survival still has the little suffocation problem. After a short silence the conversation (singing) between Sprag and Napa, is replaced with a sudden excited conversation between Sprag and Ichi Ban, she arriving on scene with her surprise rescue team of the daughters and their new guys.

    Ichi Ban has convinced the two young men, now romantically involved with the two daughters, that they should help rescue Sprag, surprising them with the information that Sprag is now the main owner. The rescue of Sprag from running out of air is accomplished by Ichi Ban, assisted by the young men, and the daughters. Audience sees the ghost of Napa observing from a distance as she slowly ascends (disappears) into the permanent hereafter with approval of the course matters are taking. Why do we care about all of this? After all it is only a science-fiction opera, a story about a time maybe to come or maybe not. The mini-opera, The Beau of Bath, brought the ghost of the woman from the picture frame to life for one hour only to save the Beau of Bath from never knowing she loved Beau as well. This mini-opera, music by Napa, tells that tale of lost love similar to the lost of love of Sprag and Napa, now dangled as the bait briefly in this opera, symbolic of Napa's love affair for Sprag of twenty years ago that fathered the two daughters, Ever and After, with the final knowledge that she always loved Sprag most and best of all despite the harsh realities of the Martian social system of women ruling mate selection and making the choices based on obtaining enough money to survive.

    Last Scene takes place in the Blue Front Tavern, bar service curtailed. Martian Justice is activated, since there is nothing but the old earth justice system in place; everyone guilty of a major crime is returned to earth to face a trial at the port of launch. In the Martian mind the return to earth is punishment to beat all punishment since the chances of coming back to Mars are minimal even if not guilty. Ominou's attempt to murder Sprag and take over his properties from the daughters causes Ominou to be sent back to earth, but, already suitable punishment inflicted, BANISHMENT TO EARTH, followed by a party in the bar - service un-curtailed, all sing Glory to the most popular Mars gods, Mars and Jupiter!! Not many friends for Cerebus, Pluto and the River Styx, but enough to keep the story coming long after the opera is over.

    I think we do care about this story for many reasons, but most of all the Mars view of either keeping or changing the environment allows us to step back and see an issue that soon may come our way in a very disasterous manner. Then there is that huge meteorite that is postulated as headed our way, slated to exterminate civilzation as we know it. Mars may be our refuge from that fate if the meteor comes to earth. Once we open the door to all the possibilities in the universe we now have many openings for solutions that we never had before. [[ Perhaps the creator (Jupiter/Jahve') was pleased enough with this version of his creation that he decided to give them Mars as way out of certain dilemas if they stayed smart enough to use them. It seems an odd coincidence that Mars was given a day and night cycle that matched earth almost exactly. We can have new energy, new wealth, continuing human development that was never envisioned in the narrow confines of earth. Strange that the religion books of old earth could only mention worlds that were seen by the eyes of men at that time. How odd that the creator did not know of the worlds that were out there in his domain visible only through a telescope or by going there. ]]

    Take note - the above material and the linked midi-files are Copyrighted as of 2007
    except where an exception of date is noted for the mini-opera, Beau of Bath (C)2005.

    ALL RIGHTS RESERVED by myself, Julian Livingston, and my heirs - no exceptions, permissions, negotiations, or links of any kind are permitted, save those originated by myself.

    But I should .....

    Discuss another opera .....

    A Twist of Treason

    An opera, Copyright - 2005, All Rights Reserved
    by Julian Livingston

    The featured cast of the joint production of the Bloomington Area Art's Council and the Monroe County Civic Theater's July 2005 Waldron Arts Center production of A Twist of Treason was Peggy Shippen, sung by soprano, Diana Friedley (heard at IU in John Eaton's The Cry of Clytemnestra as Electra), John Andre', as sung by tenor, Geoffrey Friedley (recently heard as Andrew in A Death in the Family, by William Mayer at the National Opera Association Convention), Benedict Arnold as sung by baritone, Raymond Feener (recently heard at the Opera Columbus as Strephon in Gilbert and Sullivan's Iolanthe), and Peggy Shippen's Maid, Rebecca sung by mezzo-soprano, Rachael Himsel (recently seen as the wife in "Sorry, Wrong Number in the Monroe County Civic Theater's Director's Symposium X) and on staff of Bloomington Playwrights Project in Bloomington. Diana and Geoffrey Friedley are husband and wife on staff at Idaho State University Music School in Pocatello, Idaho with web pages at http://www.isu.edu/~lividian & http://www.isu.edu/~friegeof/ while Raymond Feener is at this email.

    We were also pleased to announce the conductor was Shuichi Umeyama of the faculty of IU School of Music.

    Janice Clevenger was the stage director, Julian Livingston (812-334-8142, or email julian@bluemarble.net) was the Musical Producer of the opera, and Mary Pat Livingston was the dance coach reachable at the same telephone number and email.

    Link [_H_E_R_E_] for the synopsis of the
    Bloomington production (MCCT version) of the opera.
    Here is the MCCT page with photos and all production lists for A Twist of Treason

    Play scene #1 of A TWIST OF TREASON, (in a midi realization optimized for Creative's Sound Blaster). Link [_H_E_R_E_] for the synopsis of the opera starting with scene 1. The voices without text are again simulated. This version written for the MCCT performance coming July 2005. © Julian Livingston 2004

    Arrow button to"PLAY" or
    Square button to "Stop":

    Play part of scene #3 of A TWIST OF TREASON, (in a midi realization optimized for Creative's Sound Blaster. The voice of Ben is necessarily without text in a midi-simulation; however, a core statement in the text is:

    "This love is like bright blazing sunlight
    o'er demon armies marching in my head,
    Her love is the only victory to which those
    flaming soldiers of my mind can be lead,
    In the night the sight of her
    burns like a fire in my mind,
    To awake her for my love
    would be so very unkind."

    As this scene opens the Arnolds have just married and settled near Philadephia. We see and hear Benedict Arnold's conflict - his blazing passion for his new wife, Peggy Shippen, and his honor as a soldier of the American Revolution. Ben is embittered with Washington's seeming lack of respect for his military successes which were in part financed by himself, so Peggy's immature intrigues and entertainments do not have far to go to win the day over any remaining desire of Ben to serve the cause of the colonists. The opera was originally composed under a commission from the Battleground Arts Center of New Jersey © Julian Livingston 1976. This is a new version written for the Monroe County Civic Theater using a chamber group for the accompaniment, © Julian Livingston 2004.

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    Here is the entire final scene (#8) of A TWIST OF TREASON, in a midi realization optimized for Creative's Sound Blaster; Windows Media Player certainly works quite well. This final scene of the opera takes place following the dedication of a cenotaph monument at the Arnold's expense to the British spy, John Andre'. This ceremony took place in Westminster Abbey with Peggy Shippen-Arnold (John Andre's former lover according to some, yet wife of Benedict Arnold), Benedict Arnold, Peggy's maid, and the Abbey Chorus. In this scene the Arnolds have lived in exile in Britain for twenty years after the Revolution, and life has not been easy for the stormy pair. Peggy bounces out of the Abbey thinking that Ben is just play acting after he seemingly has a heart attack. In fact, she leaves Ben unconscious and dying at the foot of Andre's monument and the Abbey Chorus to sing a reprise of Arnold's love aria for Peggy. The voices without text are simulated here (technology hopes to remedy this difficulty soon). The opera, based on the life of Benedict Arnold was composed under a commission from the Battleground Arts Center of New Jersey © Julian Livingston 1976; the new version has been written for the Monroe County Civic Theater and is © Julian Livingston 2004.

    Arrow button to"PLAY" or Square button to "Stop": Play the entire final scene (#8) of A TWIST OF TREASON, (in a midi realization optimized for Creative's Sound Blaster)but with a difference. This version uses harpsichord in place of piano and it changes the excitement level. But, in any case as above, his scene takes place 20 years after the Revolution. The Arnold's have just dedicated a monument to the British spy, John Andre' in Westminster Abbey. Peggy Shippen-Arnold, the former lover of John Andre' but wife of Benedict Arnold has spent the last of Ben's failing funds on the monument. Ben objects but Peggy storms out leaving Arnold unconscious at the foot of Andre's monument and the Abbey Chorus to sing a reprise of Arnold's love aria for Peggy. The maid thinks Ben is dead and begins singing with the Abbey Chorus. The voices without text are again simulated. © Julian Livingston 2004

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    In 1976 Livingston was commissioned by the Battleground Arts Center of Freehold, New Jersey to write an opera to celebrate the Bicentennial of the Revolutionary War. He chose as his subject the story of Benedict Arnold's descent into treason. A Twist of Treason was first produced in early spring of 1977 by the Battleground Art Center. Ralph Brown starred in the title role of Arnold, Ruth Brown as his wife, Peggy Shippen, and Robert Spencer as the unfortunate spy, John Andre'. Curiously, Charles Hill, then the main arts reviewer for Central Jersey's most significant newspaper, the Asbury Park Press responded to an invitation to review the piece which is made available [_H_E_R_E_] .


    Benedict Arnold looks on as Peggy Shippen (by then Peggy Arnold, Benedict's wife) offers John Andre' a cup of tea in the Morning Room at West Point. The opera received outstanding reviews and later received more performances at Brookdale Community College in Monmouth County, New Jersey.

    In the fall of 1977, Livingston's colleague and friend from Bell Laboratories, Richard F. Grantges, also the Technical Director of the Battleground Art Center, personally made the audio recordings of the performances of A Twist of Treason. While Grantges' tapes were professional level, the conversion to MP3 format is typical PC-user production using Creative's software and the Sound Blaster card.

    OTHER MUSIC

    Here is a premier - the first movement from Livingston's "Second String Quartet." A little odd as quartets go since the position normally given over to the viola is occupied by a similarly tuned banjo. It is copyrighted, but it can be copied for playing as the listener likes.

    © Julian Livingston 2004

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    Play the "Shark River Bay" movement of the Concerto for Small Orchestra in a midi realization optimized for the Roland CM64 with the orchestral strings plugin. Other sound modules may require reselection of instruments. It will take about 30 seconds to download and a little over seven minutes to play. It is copyrighted and may not be used commercially.

    © Julian Livingston 2000

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    Cued up and ready to play - 19th century legendary pianist Alkan joins the equally famous Franz Liszt in a performance of the dual piano work, Armageddon by Arrangement (hopefully a millenial fantasy). At your pleasure just press the arrow to start the music.

    Julian Livingston is a long time member of The Composer's Guild of New Jersey.
    That organization's home page can be reached [ H E R E ].

    Links to other opera interests:

      Dr. Diana Friedley , daughter, the upcoming Peggy Shippen in A Twist of Treason.
      Geoffrey Friedley , son-in-law and the upcoming British Spy, John Andre', also in A Twist of Treason.

    Email for Julian Livingston can be left at julian@bluemarble.net.