Neither is the only opera by Morton Feldman, dating from 1977. Its libretto is a 16-line poem by Samuel Beckett. 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. Feldman had echoed Beckett’s sentiment,Strauss, Walter A., Review of Samuel Beckett and Music by Mary Bryden (2000). SubStance, 29 (2, Issue 92): pp. 104-108. so that the work emerged in Rome as a setting for soprano soloist only, accompanied by orchestra.
Recordings 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
References
External links 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.