Tresno

score and text by Jacqui Rutten
Instrumentation - mez., counter ten., 5 chorus, vln., vla., vlc., cb., Indonesian bonang.
Tresno is a cultural and a performance hybrid. Five dancers are used on stage for the duration of the performance, with occasional vocal participation as chorus. Off stage, two opera singers, string players and bonang supply the musical accompaniment. The score fuses elements of traditional Javanese musics, and Italian baroque opera, and a libretto comprised of a made-up language. The staging draws on aspects of Dutch colonial history, particularly in Indonesia. As a 'movement-opera', the work exists in a performance area somewhere between dance, opera and theatre.
"...a state of the art piece..." The Sunday Age
World Premiere Sydney Festival, Wharf Theatre Studio, Sydney (January 1995). Directed by Douglas Horton. Designed by Trina Parker, lighting by Margie Medlin.