The gay cowboys of Brokeback Mountain will change course and head east, as an operatic adaptation of Annie Proulx’s hugely popular short story (which also inspired the 2005 film) is set to open at Madrid’s Teatro Real later this month.
The New York City Opera originally commissioned American compositor Charles Wuorinen to write an opera based on thrice Oscar-winning love story of two star-crossed ranch hands back in 2008, but the project was allegedly halted after the resignation of former General Director Gerard Mortier.
According to a friend of entertainment columnist Liz Smith:
Gerard…was slated to take control of the New York City Opera…when the company decided it needed an avant-garde shot in the arm. He subsequently backed out once he realized he would actually have to stay within budget and that New York was not ready–or actually too sensible–for his radical nonsense.
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Wuorinen completed the opera in 2012 after spending four years roaming the Wyoming mountains with Proulx. The finished product was again picked up by Mortier, who must have a ton of new funds and creative freedom as the new Artistic Adviser at the Teatro Real Opera House.
Set to play protagonists Ennis del Mar and Jack Twist are Canadian bass-baritone Daniel Okulitch and American tenor Thomas Randle, who as you can see below, will make a perfect match for the racy sex scenes (that hopefully haven’t been edited out).
Daniel Okulitch / Thomas Randle
MikeE
It’s nice to see Queerty post something about some more “serious” culture.
Regarding this Brokeback opera, my only concern is that Wuorinen is most definitely not a “populist” composer. He writes in a very avant-garde style, which tends to go over like a lead balloon with opera audiences.
Jespi032
I’m sorry but let me get this straight? This project is having a rought time in being developed because of the “racy” sex scenes?
MikeE
@Jespi032: No, the project had a rough time because the person who commissioned it ended up resigning over financial questions (ie: staying within a limited budget).
Where did you get the idea it was because of “racy sex scenes”?
The final line of Matthew Tarrett’s Queerty piece is the only mention of “racy sex scenes”, and it doesn’t come anywhere near implying that they are the reason the project has had a rough time.