The Fall of the House of Usher

Music by Philip Glass / Book by Arthur Yorinks and Philip Glass / Based on the story by Edgar Allan Poe / Vocal lyrics by Arthur Yorinks

The emotionally torn Roderick Usher is the last branch of a degenerate noble family at the center of this dark tale by Edgar Allan Poe. The story is initially a dialog between Roderick Usher and the narrator William, who finds his friend in a precariously absent-minded state in his demonic house. Roderick's twin sister also lives in this otherwise deserted house. But for William, her presence is like a ghostly assumption - especially when Roderick declares her deceased. So this enormous, demonic house seems to have a malevolent hold over the souls that live in it. What family history is inscribed in it?

Philip Glass turns this mystical, floating piece of world literature into a captivating opera with his atmospherically dense music. His minimal music, tone loops in constant repetition and rhythmic patterns, winds its way into the ear canals full of tension.