Neither (opera)

Neither
Opera by Morton Feldman
The composer in 1976
Librettist	Samuel Beckett
Language	English
Premiere	1977 (1977)

Neither is the only opera by Morton Feldman, dating from 1977.^[1] Its libretto is a 16-line poem by Samuel Beckett.^[2] Composer and librettist had met in Berlin two years earlier with plans for a collaboration for Rome Opera. However, Beckett told Feldman that he himself did not like opera.^[3] Feldman had echoed Beckett’s sentiment,^[4] so that the work emerged in Rome as a setting for soprano soloist only, accompanied by orchestra.^[5] It could theoretically be termed a “monodrama”; however, given the creators’ disdain for opera, the label “anti-opera” fits better.

• HatHut, hat (now) ART 180: Sarah Leonard, soprano; Radio-Sinfonie-Orchester Frankfurt; Zoltán Peskó, conductor
• Col Legno, WWE 1CD 20081: Petra Hoffman, soprano; Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks; Kwamé Ryan, conductor

• neither (short story)

• The Modern World, pages on: Feldman and Beckett Neither
• JazzLoft page on recording of Neither
• Neither Wealth Nor Splendor: Getting Morton Feldman’s and Samuel Beckett’s 1977 opera NEITHER from a Workshop Performance in NYC to the Konzerthaus in Vienna and the Obstacles Concerned.