LEITHIAN CONCERT aftermath

Hello, Tolkien opera fans. Well, we did our concert of LEITHIAN Part Two over the weekend of April 14-15, 2007. Twenty-nine people came to see it. That's twenty the first day, nine the second. (Nine Walkers? More like Nine Swimmers in that rainstorm.) I don't know what it takes to get people to see a world premiere of an opera about a Tolkien story, but whatever it is, we didn't do it. Two Tolkien fan club sites never even got back to me about joining their listserve so I could announce the concert. One Ring Dot Net disallowed my email to subscribers even though I did everything I was told to do in order to be able to post to that list.

However, somehow the announcement made it to their website news page. Osse over at Cyberdusk in Poland sent it to lots of fansites, and at least one Russian one picked up the news and put it on their page; thanks, Osse. I don't think any local newspaper carried the announcement, even the Village Voice which did list it last time. Whatever. It's over and I have another opera to write. If the publishers ever renew my permission to use the story, we might do it again, but don't hold your breath. Intellectual property means MONEY, and as long as money is more important than art (e.g. all the lawsuits we see over the recent movies etc.), I doubt anyone in power will take my opera seriously. But any noise anyone cares to make to those Powers may cumulatively turn the deaf ears to listening ones.

Thank you all who bothered to show up, especially those we didn't know personally, since you're the ones we were trying to reach. And thank you web surfers who found it after the fact, and I hope you like what you hear.

You can listen to both concerts here.

Yours truly,

Adam Klein

A quote from the author himself:
"I would draw some of the great tales in fullness, and leave many only placed in the scheme, and sketched. The cycles should be linked to a majestic whole, and yet leave scope for other minds and hands, wielding paint and music and drama..."
-J.R.R. Tolkien, from a letter written to Milton Waldman, ca. 1951 -    (from the Tolkien Music List)

Words, music, and drama: add them up and what do you get? OPERA. Mine, for instance.

*This opera is based on THE SILMARILLION by J.R.R. Tolkien,(c) 1977 George Allen & Unwin (Publishers) Ltd.
Used by permission.