Marco Polo (opera)

The opera originated in a late-1980s commission from the Edinburgh International Festival. Although intended for Edinburgh, the completed work premiered at the 1996 Munich Biennale. Griffiths’s earlier novel Myself and Marco Polo has been cited in connection with the opera’s genesis, although the libretto is not a direct adaptation. ==Performance history==

Marco Polo began as a commission by the Edinburgh International Festival in the late 1980s. However, it was not completed until 1995 and received its first performance at the Munich Biennale on 7 May 1996 directed by Martha Clarke. Its US premiere followed on 8 November 1997 at the New York City Opera. Marco Polo was first seen in the UK in November 1998 in a concert performance at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival. Its most recent revival was a November 2008 production at De Nederlandse Opera in Amsterdam. ==Roles==

• Memory: Polo (tenor) • Being 1: Marco (mezzo-soprano) • Being 2: Kublai Khan (bass) • Nature: Water (soprano) • Shadow 1: Rustichello/Li Po (tenor) • Shadow 2: Sheherazada/Mahler/Queen (mezzo-soprano) • Shadow 3: Dante/Shakespeare (baritone) == Synopsis ==

The opera presents Marco Polo’s expedition as three overlapping journeys: physical travel from an Italian piazza toward China’s Great Wall, a spiritual “Book of Timespace” (Winter–Spring–Summer–Autumn) in which “shadows” of historical figures appear, and a parallel musical journey. Marco embodies action and being, while Polo embodies memory. The three strands converge at the Great Wall, a symbolic threshold the merged “Marco Polo” must cross. ==Recordings==

• Marco Polo (CD Sony 62912) - World premiere recording with Thomas Young and Alexandra Montano in the title roles, the Cappella Amsterdam, and the Netherlands Radio Chamber Orchestra conducted by the composer. Recorded live at Yakult Hall, Amsterdam on 20 June 1996. • Marco Polo (DVD Opus Arte OA1010D) - The 2008 production of the opera by De Nederlandse Opera, with Charles Workman and Sarah Castle in the title roles and conducted by the composer. ==Notes and references==