Kansas City Lyric Opera clicks on something different: Rise and fall of Steve Jobs

Patrick Neas interviews Mason ahead of the Kansas City premiere of The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs. 

“[Bates’] music is also some of the most distinctive new music out there. Having grown up on English psychedelia, Bates is not afraid to use the latest technology in his music, a quality used to great effect in (R)evolution.”

“Bates’ technological innovations couldn’t be put to a better use than in an opera about the ultimate technological innovator. “The first sounds you hear are samples of old Macintosh gear,” Bates said. “You hear keyboards, you hear little beeps. I thought it would be fascinating to open the opera with the actual sounds the protagonist created. We also hear Buddhist meditation sounds that have been recorded and electronically processed to represent the world of Kobun, Jobs’ spiritual adviser.”

Read the full article on the The Kansas City Star website. 

The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs will be at the Lyric Opera of Kansas City on March 11 and 12 and on March 13 at Muriel Kauffman Theater, Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts.

Credit: Erich Schlegel, Austin Opera

The Independent: “Jobs Well Done”

Paul Horsley of The Independent talks to the creators of The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, ahead of its upcoming performances at The Atlanta Opera and Lyric Opera of Kansas City.

“The outstanding new opera by Composer Mason Bates and Librettist Mark Campbell employs impressionistic vignettes and reflective flashbacks to tell the life story of a man who probably had a greater impact on how we communicate today than anyone in modern history.”

“For its creators, part of this opera’s draw is that its subject is of interest to millions. “This audience is going to be made up of opera outsiders,” John Moore (Steve Jobs) said. “I am interested… in those people who don’t know they love opera discovering it through a piece like this.”

Read the full article at The Independent

The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs at The Long Center Austin Opera, February 2022

The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs upcoming performances:

The Atlanta Opera
April 30 May 3, 6 & 8, 2022

Lyric Opera of Kansas City
March 11, 12 & 13, 2022

Conversations with the Philadelphia Orchestra

Mason talks with the Philadelphia Orchestra on how the life of Apple CEO Steve Jobs “inspired an opera, a rhapsody, and a revolution.”

The Philadelphia Orchestra has performed two of Mason’s premieres in the last year alone. The premiere of The Rhapsody of Steve Jobs, which swirls together many of the musical elements from his opera The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs and the world premiere and Philadelphia Orchestra co-commission of Mason’s Piano Concerto.

Mason’s Piano Concerto, performed by Daniil Trifonov and the Philadelphia Orchestra under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin, will be available to live-stream on Philadelphia’s Digital Stage on:

Wednesday, April 27, 2022, 8:00 PM ET
Wednesday, May 4, 2022, 11:00 PM ET

The concerts will be available to live-stream from the performance and will be available for ticket holders to watch on-demand for one week.

For more information and to purchase a digital ticket visit The Philadelphia Orchestra.

World Premiere of The Rhapsody of Steve Jobs with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Eun Sun Kim

The Philadelphia Orchestra performed the world premiere of The Rhapsody of Steve Jobs last weekend under the baton of Eun Sun Kim.

“Verizon was near full Saturday, one of the rare times it has been since the orchestra’s return to regular live performances, and it was a welcome sight”

“Filled with pulsing energy, the new work for orchestra depicts, among other things, the moment Jobs unveiled the iPhone”

“The music represents, among other things, the moment Jobs presented the world with its first iPhone. Bates doesn’t depict the event as an act of Promethean significance, but, rather, one of driving optimism, and it is this spirit that infuses the whole work — upbeat with a slight pop-music flavor, highly rhythmic, and limned in a silvery wonder. Trumpets surge, violins race, and you have no doubt that the tech god is going places.”

The Philadelphia Inquirer

“Excerpted from the composer’s 2017 opera about the late founder of Apple, the 15-minute suite pulses with a technological undercurrent despite featuring no electronica. Strings and woodwinds swirl through the opening motif in a manner that recalls a computer processing code. But the music turns almost immediately to an expansive, cinematic sweep – think Elmer Bernstein scoring Hud, or even Copland. It’s probably no accident that Bates, a native Philadelphian now based in Northern California, chose to evoke Western soundtracks in his depiction of the man who colonized Silicon Valley. The choice is a smart one that further banishes the concept of “movie music” as a pejorative. The programmatic piece ends with a sweet aria for Jobs’ widow, Laurene, that celebrates the natural beauty to be found just beyond the iPhone screen.”

BachTrack

The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs: Austin Opera Review

Michael Barnes of Austin American-Statesman writes a glowing review of The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs which gave its Texas premiere at Austin Opera last weekend.

Barnes writes:

“Those whom I buttonholed in the lobby expressed, like me, affirmative responses to Mason Bates’ and Mark Campbell’s impeccable 100-minute opera, given its Texas premiere by Austin Opera, as sleek, smart and sublime as an Apple device.”

“Also crucial to the opera’s success was Bates’ pulsating, propulsive music, combined with a bit of jazz and a fully romantic payoff.”

Read the full review at Austin American-Statesman.

The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs:

Atlanta Opera on April 30, May 3, 6 & 8
Kansas City on March 11, 12 & 13

BLOG: The Legacy of Steve Jobs

In the pantheon of iconic figures, very few continue to grow in influence after their death.  Whether you love him or hate him, Steve Jobs made such an enduring impact on our culture that his impact has only increased since his untimely death in 2010.

His legacy reaches across industries and counties.  His ‘simplicity first’ design ethos has made sleek interfaces a requirement for everything from tablets to Teslas.  His fusion of creativity and technology is continuously showcased in animated films from Pixar, which he created.  His cold managerial style and lack of philanthropy created a dangerous ‘genius monarchist’ model for today’s tech CEOs.  

The continuing fascination with Jobs is on my mind as my opera The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs receives its second production in a half a dozen cities this season and next.  It opens this week at Austin Opera under the direction of Tomer Zvulin, who has created a stunning reimagination of the work.

A new production means new sets, costumes, lighting and projection design – in short, new everything.  The original production at Santa Fe Opera featured an ingenious ‘monoliths’ resembling enormous iPods that continuously moved around the stage.  Illuminated from within and projected on like canvases, they could stack close together and resemble the four walls of Jobs’ garage, or could fly apart and become an outdoor wedding at Yosemite.  This design element was the stroke of genius that guided the first production, but not every opera house can handle the crew and technical requirements of flying monoliths.

So Tomer and production designer Jacob Climer created a new multilevel set, emblazoned with dozens of flatscreens, that opens to reveal a second hidden world upstage.  Animated by brilliant projection design of Katy Tucker, the set fluidly morphs into an apple orchard or Apple headquarters – and many things in between.  It has an abstraction to it that emphasizes the sense that the entire opera is a sequence of memories in the mind of Jobs on his deathbed.

Screenshot 2022-02-04 at 18.10.40

The Austin Opera Orchestra sounds superb under the direction of Timothy Meyers.  He makes the propulsive surfaces of the opera glisten with excitement while, in the work’s last third, pulling back to let the lyricism open up.  At the end, the opera shifts focus to Lauren Powell Jobs, who’s warmth brings a crucial humanity to the story.  Her final aria “Look Up, Look Out” is a plea for everyone to look away from devices and strive for true connection. 

Baritone John Moore so vividly creates the lead role that, by the end, you will be half-certain you are witnessing the man himself.  From hippie to mogul to, tragically, a man almost unable to stand, Steve Jobs is conjured by John Moore in a superb tour-de-force.  Mezzo Sarah Larsen brings to life the strong independence of Laurene, and Madison Leonard reprises the role of Chrisann with both innocence and sadness.  Bass Wei Wu has created the role of Kobun, the Buddhist spiritual advisor to Jobs, from the world premiere, and he absolutely owns this important role.  New to the Steve Jobs family is tenor Bille Bruley, who beautifully portrays the everyman Steve Wozniak.

I’m often amused to see the surprised look on someone’s face when hearing about the opera for the first first.  “An opera about Steve Jobs?!”  A technologist clad in black turtlenecks and sneakers doesn’t initially seem like a natural subject for opera, which to the general public is noble medium populated by romantics.  But the story of Steve Jobs is full of passion, obsession, love, betrayal, and tragedy that is the stuff of opera – and as this new production begins its life, I hope you get a chance to see it.  

The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs:

Austin Opera: Feb 3, 5, 6 2022

Kansas City Opera: March 11-13 2022

Atlanta Opera: April 30 & May 3, 6, 8 2022

Sightlines: ”The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs clicks on the human connection”

“Even though [the story of Jobs] sounds like a crazy idea for an opera, the obsession with love, the tragedy of his death, it really is the stuff of opera,” said Mason Bates.

[The pandemic] has taught us how important human connection is, and that’s what this opera ultimately makes a plea for,” said Mark Campbell, the opera’s librettist.

One interesting point [about now] is the fascination with the screen and with all its pluses or minuses,” Director Tomer Zvulun said. “I think that what Steve Jobs did is change the world, and it really was right in time for the pandemic. He influenced it in a big way without knowing, 10 years after his death.”

Read the full article on the Sightlines website.

The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs
Austin Opera on February 3, 5 & 6
Atlanta Opera on April 30, May 3 6 & 8
Kansas City on March 11, 12 & 13

Piano Concerto Reviews

”Bates gave the pianist lots of presence, both in technically showy flourishes as well as stretches of spare, crystalline introspection […] It had, for want of a better term, story. Every listener will have a personal reaction, of course, but Bates’ great strength is that he writes in a clear, personal voice, which to these ears often echoes the best of film-score writing. The sensation of a carefree Saturday morning came to mind in the first movement. But then there are sections of complexity you’d like to examine over and over, like the one later in the first movement from the piano-alone music to the orchestral climax.”

The Philadelphia Inquirer

”Bates composed the concerto during the pandemic with Trifonov in mind. Seldom have composer and artist been so suited to each other. Trifonov and the orchestra tapped ideas across an invisible musical tennis net and intertwined themes with the sleek grace of snakes in a caduceus.”

Bachtrack

 “Stunning. Staggering. Stupendous…Deserving these accolades and more is Mason Bates’ three-movement Piano Concerto…”

“Bates’ Piano Concerto Honors Era of Virtuoso […] Besides knowing how to write for a pianist of extreme virtuosity, the 44-year-old composer keeps even his most terse melodic ideas from wearing thin, thanks to framing them in an optimum harmonic environment. Nobody of his generation can build a movement so effectively. Most important, he knows when to stop.”

Classical Voice North America

Mason Bates’ Piano concerto was co-commissioned by the orchestra and the San Francisco Symphony, conducted by Philadelphia music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and written for pianist Daniil Trifonov. Bates’ Piano Concerto premiered with the Philadelphia Orchestra on January 14 2022.

Additional performances

New Jersey Symphony on March 10, 11, 12 & 13

Israel Philharmonic on March 25

San Francisco Symphony on June 2, 3, 4 & 5 (co-commissioner)

The work will be broadcast on Philadelphia Orchestra’s Digital Stage on April 27 and May 4.

Mason Bates joins Austin Opera for Conductor Cues

Ahead of the premiere of the new production of The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, Mason joins Timothy Myers (Principal Conductor & Artistic Director, Austin Opera) for Conductor Cues. The program will be live-streamed on Wednesday, January 19th at 7pm CT.

For more information, please visit the Austin Opera website.

Austin Opera will also present the Texas Premiere of The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs on February 3, 5, & 6, 2022. This new take on the life of Apple pioneer Steve Jobs caused a sensation at its 2017 world premiere at Santa Fe Opera, and the live recording went on to win the 2019 Grammy for Best Opera Recording. According to Seattle Weekly, “Mason Bates’ score is unfailingly inventive and often gorgeous…” ‘’It seems fitting that this ground-breaking new co-production created by Austin Opera, Atlanta Opera, and Lyric Opera of Kansas City will premiere in Austin, Texas, a city simultaneously known as “Silicon Hills” and the “Live Music Capital of the World.” Tomer Zvulun, creator of Austin Opera’s award-winning production of Silent Night, returns to direct.’’

World Premiere of Bates Piano Concerto with Daniil Trifonov, Philadelphia Orchestra and Yannick Nézet-Séguin

One of the world’s most gifted pianists, Daniil Trifonov, will perform the premiere of Mason Bates Piano Concerto with the Philadelphia Orchestra (co-commissioner) conducted by the orchestra’s Music Director, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, at Verizon Hall, January 14, 15, 16. The Piano Concerto and Rimsky-Korsakov’s Sheherazade will also be filmed for streaming through the Digital Stage in April.

“Daniil has an unmatched tone and lyricism. Grammy-winning releases such as Transcendental showcase the marvelous colors he coaxes from the instrument. Technical pyrotechnics are in copious supply as well, but Daniil always complements virtuosity with a deeply poignant sense of phrase. If you close your eyes, you wouldn’t think you were hearing such a young man.

I want to hear all those subtleties, and honestly, new piano concerti offer precious little in the way of transparency. There’s no shortage of pieces with everyone playing all the time, the pianist hammering octaves over blizzards of orchestral figuration.  I’ll have that too, but maybe not until the last movement.”

Mason Bates

January 14, 2pm
January 15, 8pm
January 16, 2pm

More information and tickets