#1852: Program #1852

New Sounds | May 24, 2010

Pittsburgh’s experimental theater troupe Squonk Opera rode into town three years ago with their brilliantly eclectic fifth show, Bigsmörgåsbørdwünderwerk. After an Off-Off Broadway debut at P.S. 122, it played a year later at the Helen Hayse, challenging much conventional wisdom about what works on the Great White Way. Indeed, it’s a completely off-the-wall project that mocks overly serious experimental opera with a smirking grandiosity and rich brew of musical influences (from Irish techno-folk and Indian ragas to heavy metal and Philip Glass). Squonk Opera has released albums both independently and for Angel Records, which we hear on this edition of New Sounds.

PROGRAM # 1852, with Squonk Opera, live (First aired on Friday, November 17, 2000)

ARTIST(S)	RECORDING	CUT(S)	SOURCE
Squonk Opera	Bigsmörgåbørdwün-derwerk	In The Kitchen Of The Mountain King [3:00]	Angel/EMI #26523** (PRMS* or www.squonkopera.com )
Squonk Opera	Live	What Stirs [4:30] Eat You Up [1:30] Dance Of The 7 Vowels [3:00] Drank Big Drink [2:30] In Wavelet White [2:30] Whirring Of The Wheel [4:30]	All available on the CD listed above.
Squonk Opera	Bigsmörgåbørdwün-derwerk	Everything Stirs [3:30]	Angel/EMI #26523** (PRMS* or www.squonkopera.com )
Björk	Selmasongs (soundtrack to "Dancer In The Dark")	Overture [3:00] I've Seen It All [5:30] New World, excerpt [1:30]	Elektra #62533** (PRMS* or www.bjorkweb.com )

Find the recordings you've heard - go to the New Sounds Recordings Information page

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