This week on Classical Tulsa, we’ll give the radio premiere of a new composition by Tulsa Opera Artistic Director Tobias Picker. Tobias has composed six operas to date, but this new piece represents his return to symphonic music – with an operatic twist.
The piece is called Opera Without Words, and while it’s completely instrumental, it was written with a secret libretto by American-born German author Irene Dische. When I spoke to Tobias, he dropped tantalizing hints that the libretto had to be hidden to protect the reputations of certain people he knew, but that the dramatic narrative can still be felt on an almost subconscious level entirely through the music.
We’ll hear Opera Without Word in its entirety, from a new recording by the Nashville Symphony and conductor Giancarlo Guerrero, along with highlights from my interview with composer Tobias Picker and more, this Friday, September 25, at noon on Classical 88.7 KWTU HD-1.
It’s your financial support that makes programming like this possible on Public Radio Tulsa. As we continue our Fall Fund Drive, please take a moment and make a one-time or a monthly sustaining donation here. Thank you for playing your part in keeping classical music alive on the radio in northeast Oklahoma!
