Gibson: Violet Fire: An Opera About Nikola Tesla

Violet Fire doesn’t have the same transformative effect of, say, Glass’s Akhnaten or the grabbed-by-the-collar quality of Nico Muhly’s opera, but there’s plenty to recommend it, nonetheless. — BBC Music Magazine, October 2019, 4 out of 5 stars (Performance) / 3 out of 5 stars (Recording) More…

Release Date: 28th Jun 2019
Catalogue No: OMM7018
Label: Orange Mountain

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Gibson, J: Violet Fire

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Orange Mountain Music proudly presents the premiere recording of VIOLET FIRE: An Opera About Nikola Tesla by composer Jon Gibson and librettist Miriam Seidel. Jon Gibson is a known as a distinguished composer who has been a member of the Philip Glass Ensemble for almost half a century and has been a vital part of the evolution of music in the 20th century including performing in the first ever performance of Terry Riley’s 'In C'. Violet Fire is Gibson’s largest scale work as a composer and premiered in Tesla’s native Serbia in 2004 before its American premiere in 2006 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. The piece is set as a continuous 85 minute piece presented here on 2CDs with full libretto with color photographs from the production. At the first American performance the New York Times stated 'Mr. Gibson’s simple, colorful melodies….was unfailingly secure and attractive'.

Reviews

October 2019

Violet Fire doesn’t have the same transformative effect of, say, Glass’s Akhnaten or the grabbed-by-the-collar quality of Nico Muhly’s opera, but there’s plenty to recommend it, nonetheless.

October 2019

Full of gently pulsing pedal points, Morse code-like patterns, catchy folk melodies, incantatory percussion and habanera-style rhythms, Gibson’s understated score forms an appropriate musical backdrop…Perhaps the work occasionally misses the edgier, visceral sound and energy of early minimalism.

February 2020

Taken on its own terms, the music’s simplicity is compelling, always appealing, and frequently moving. Scott Murphree is a convincing Tesla… His tenor still strong, robust and well supported, he brings notable expressive gifts to the role…Under Mick Rossi, the instrumental ensemble plays with conviction. In sum, an uncommon but engaging musical experience.

Gibson: Violet Fire

2 CDs

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