Croak
Opera: 5 soloists, choir and orchestra
Composed:
2018
Score / parts
Instrumentation and duration
Opera: 5 soloists (soprano, tenor, mezzo-soprano, counter-tenor, and bass baritone), SATB choir, orchestra: 2.2.2.2/2.2.0.0./perc./Str.
Duration: 2 hours
Libretto
Libretto by Mikhail Brashinsky
Acts / scenes
Opera in two acts with 16 scenes
Commission / dedications
Commissioned by Mixed Art Society Poike and Pori Opera Society
First performance
Directed by Anna Ivanova-Brashinskaya
Puppets and visual design by Viktor Antonov
Joonas Eloranta, tenor, Anna-Kristiina Kaappola, soprano, Teppo Lampela, counter-tenor, Merja Mäkelä, mezzo-soprano, Jouni Kokora, bass-baritone, Pori Opera Choir, Pori Sinfonietta, cond. Nils Schweckendiek, Promenade Hall, Pori, Finland, March 9, 2018
Reflections
Concert review, published on Satakunnan Kansa by Juha-Pekka Peltonen
Interview, published on Satakunnan Kansa by Hanna Laasanen
Work commentary
Markku Klami and Maria Kallionpää co-composed Croak, each independently writing their pre-assigned scenes. The opera is a commission by the Pori Opera Society and Mixed-art Society Poike. Originally the opera was commissioned from Jouni Kaipainen (1956-2015), whose work was left unfinished.
The new composers started from a scratch and begun composing a new opera in 2016. They divided the opera into sections where every scene is composed by only one composer.
Croak – or the Unexpected Joys and Perils of Singing is the first full-length opera work by Klami and Kallionpää.