Operas
The influence of legend and literature as well as landscape and the visual arts can be found in Casken's works. The libretto of his first opera, Golem, based on the Jewish legend of Golem, was written by the composer in collaboration with Pierre Audi, who commissioned and directed the work for the 1989 Almeida Festival. Golem was extremely successful, winning the first Britten Prize for Composition in 1990, as well as being recorded by Virgin Classics. In 1991 a Gramophone Award in the contemporary category was awarded to Casken for this recording. The recording has now been re-released on the NMC label, and there have been six further productions of Golem since 1989: Opera Omaha, 1990; Northern Stage (UK Arts Council/Contemporary Music Network Tour), 1991; Theater Dortmund, 1994; Aspen Festival, 2000; Neue Operbühne Berlin 2001; Opéra de Rennes and Angers Nantes Opéra, 2006.
The influence of literature can also be found in John Casken's second opera, God's Liar, although this time in the form of an elaboration on Tolstoy's novella Father Serguis. The libretto was written by the composer in collaboration with Emma Warner. God's Liar was jointly co-commissioned and presented by The Almeida Festival, London, and was premièred in 2001 by Almeida Opera in London and Brussels, and received its Austrian premiere by Neue Oper Wien in the KlangBogen Festival in Vienna in the summer of 2004. This production was directed by Stephan Bruckmeier, with the Amadeus Ensemble-Wien conducted by Walter Kobéra. The opera was then recorded by Belgian Radio and subsequently broadcast in Belgium and by BBC Radio 3, introduced by the composer.
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