Artist

Admin

Adelaide Festival

Singer

Mezzo-soprano

Judith Dodsworth

Elisabeth Costello

Instrumentalist

Elizabeth Layton

Violin

Helen Ayres

Violin 2

Stephen King

Viola

Thomas Marlin

cello

Matthew Kneale

bassoon

Michael Ierace

Piano

Dramaturge

Rachel M. Cholz

English

Cristina Pardo Ramírez

Is this the gate? - Nicholas Lens & J.M. Coetzee || Daylight Express

Adelaide

Australia

The University of Adelaide

Elder Hall

Is this the gate?: Is this the gate? Lens

Public

Is this the gate?

Nicholas Lens

Approved

Is this the gate? - Nicholas Lens & J.M. Coetzee || Daylight Express: Is this the gate? Lens

The famous author Elizabeth Costello has died. In the afterworld she arrives at a massive gate.
(‘If this is the threshold to the afterlife,’ Elizabeth thinks truculently, ’couldn’t they have come up with something more original?’)
Costello is curious to see what is behind and wants to pass.
She is being stopped. As before she has to justify her life as a writer.”
________________________________
Is this the gate? is a preview of the full fledged 2,5 hour opera ‘Costello in Limbo (Elizabeth
Costello at the gate)’ based on the novel Elizabeth Costello by John M. Coetzee.

This special concert performance previews a major excerpt from a new opera by Nicholas Lens, a Flemish composer from Belgium, with a libretto by J.M. Coetzee, based on his extraordinary novel Elizabeth Costello.  

Nicholas Lens’ secular oratorio Flamma Flamma was memorably performed at the opening night of the 1998 Adelaide Festival to 20,000 people. Known worldwide for his musical partnerships with Nick Cave, he has also collaborated previously with J.M. Coetzee on the opera Slow Man, based on the novel of the same name. South African-Australian novelist J.M. Coetzee has won the Booker Prize (twice), the CNA Literary Award (thrice) and numerous other awards, including the 2003 Nobel Prize in Literature.  

Is this the gate? will be performed by Judith Dodsworth (voice), Elizabeth Layton (violin), Helen Ayres (violin), Stephen King (viola), Thomas Marlin (cello), Michael Ierace (piano), and Matthew Kneale (bassoon).

This concert is part of the Daylight Express series.
Event additional information

Nicholas Lens, composer
J.M. Coetzee, libretto
Rachel M. Cholz, dramaturg

Performers
Judith Dodsworth, voice
Elizabeth Layton, violin
Helen Ayres, violin
Stephen King, viola
Thomas Marlin, cello
Matthew Kneale, bassoon
Michael Ierace, piano

Performance credits (Cast & Crew )

Cast

Instrumentation

Crew