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From Act One - The Light
Love Song (Inanna and Dumuzi)
The Vision (Geshtinanna)
Share my Joy (Inanna, Chorus, Geshtinanna, Free Voice)
The Nomad Song (Utu and Inanna)
From Act Two - The Dark
Raw Song (Inanna and Free Voice)
Gates 5, 6 and 7 (Ereshkigal, Inanna, Chorus and Free Voice)
Inzides Song and Hysterical Song (Enki, Ereshkigal, Chorus, Free Voice)
Chase Song and White Bull Dying (Inanna, Dumuzi, Chorus, Enki, Geshtinanna, Dumuzi, Free Voice)
The story of Inanna can be found
here.
To hear music from the rest of the opera as Midi files (created using Sibelius software) see
here.
Cast
Conductor : Alex Ingram
Inanna : Maria Jardardottir
Dumuzi: Steve Douse
Geshtinanna: Marie Angel
Ereshkigal - Adey Grummett
Enki : Nigel Robson.
Utu: Michael Solomon Williams
Free Voice: Jenni Roditi
Chorus: Kerry Andrew
Chorus: Jeremy Birchall
Instrumentalists
The Smith Quartet
violin 1 - Ian Humphries
violin 2 - Darragh Morgan
viola - Nic Pendelbury
'cello - Deirdre Cooper
double bass - Corado Canonici
flute - Nancy Ruffer
clarinet - Dai Pritchard
piano - Julian Jacobson
keyboard - Walter Fabeck
percussion 1 - Martin Allen
percussion 2 - Joby Burgess
Film maker: Steve Teers (Diva Pix Productions)
Sound recording: Martin Gordon, Adrian Lee
Sound mixing : Steve Parr (Hear No Evil Studios), Jenni Roditi
INTRODUCTION TO THE DESCENT OF INANNA
Inanna - the Sumerian Goddess (circa 2500BC) - is known as an iconic symbol of magic, fertility, inner strength and transformation. Her story comes from the land that is Iraq - then known as Sumer. Her city was Uruk - close to Basra in the south of the country. Her dramatic story preserved in cuneiform writing (carved on stone tablets) expresses a multi-layered narrative exposing a terrifying place known as The Netherworld, similar, but older than, the Greek Hades.The Netherworld is ruled over by the Dark Goddess Ereshkigal.
After a jubilant journey of maturation in the first act - 'The Light', Inanna is compelled to seek out her dark sister Ereshkigal in The Netherworld, during the second act - 'The Dark'.
She must travel through Seven Gates to reach her destination. At each Gate she is faced with a transformative challenge. At the final Seventh Gate a deadly eye-to-eye battle of wills ensues between the two sisters. This has far-reaching consequences for the social and emotional order of life in the upper world. The final outcome is a new holding awareness of the darkness within, sharing and acknowledging our human condition of suffering in mutual recognition and cooperation.
PRESS COMMENTS FROM THE ORIGINAL STAGE PRODUCTION IN 1992
The Independent "..pace, energy.. echoes ranging from Sondheim and Reich to African and Middle Eastern rhythms and cantillations.. many place where the score matches the situation memorably: Inanna's return to life or her radiant first entry with its cascading string scales. Roditi's vocal writing can be imaginative and sensitive". - Stephen Johnson.
The Times "..an ever changing melange of heavy chest voice and falsetto.. a score characterised by a vigorous near minimalism.. Roditi herself was a huskily eloquent tale spinner, a passionate narrator between some robustly written ensembles...." - Hilary Finch
I to I Magazine "Jenni Roditi's opera Inanna is a powerful piece of music theatre. It is healing in the sense that it is cathartic, exploring the depths of the female psyche through the story of the Sumerian Goddess of heaven who descends to the Netherworld 'because it is there'" - Brian Lee
You can find out more about the composer Jenni Roditi's music at elsewhere on this site: see the navigation bar on the left of the screen.
All songs © 1992 Jenni Roditi and Lyn Gambles.
All rights reserved. All songs are registered with the MCPS/PRS alliance.
