All of It, WNYC
The modern classic novel, The Hours, has been adapted for the big screen, and now it has been adapted into an opera. Kevin Puts, the composer, and Kelli O'Hara, who stars as troubled 1950s housewife Laura Brown, join us to discuss the adaptation, showing now at the Metropolitan Opera.
Variety
In conversation with an old friend named Louis (William Burden), she’s reminded of a single summer by the beach, long enough ago to have begun to slip into a sort of personal lore, the kind of thing one can only believe happened to oneself when an intimate describes it once more.
The Boston Musical Intelligencer
"Kevin Puts’s 'Credo' for string quartet, through-composed with clearly defined sections, but no breaks, brought a shockingly fresh, improvisatory repose in this arrangement for strings….Puts’s contemporary idiom allowed for both the Miró Quartet and A Far Cry to shine at their best, both in execution and expressivity."
Interview with WFMT
"Chicago Opera Theater continues its 2017/18 season with a world premiere, Elizabeth Cree, an adaptation of Peter Ackroyd’s murder-filled novel, The Trial of Elizabeth Cree. The opera is the latest from the team of composer Kevin Puts and librettist Mark Campbell, who together created the Pulitzer Prize-winning opera Silent Night."
Jay Harvey Upstage
"Moments of lyricism impelled from within fill the five-part cycle... The composer's subtlety in broadening the texture, sometimes thinning it out to encompass paradoxically both breathlessness and deep breathing, is displayed again and again."
Murder She Wrote: Elizabeth Cree launch Opera Philadelphia's Fall Festival
"[Elizabeth Cree] was engaging as a breathtakingly tabloid piece, and thought-provoking too, inviting a reflection upon the connections between the first era obsessed with media sensationalism and our own, even more saturated in its addiction to News...Kevin Puts' score matches the thriller content in its energetic soundscape and in its fast-paced constant pulse"
Operawire
1. Elizabeth Cree – Opera Philadelphia & Chicago Opera Theater Opera Philadelphia’s world premiere is one of the biggest events of the fall season as it reunites Kevins Puts and Mark Campbell after successful collaborations in “Silent Night” and “The Manchurian Candidate.” The new chamber opera, headlined by the rising star Daniela Mack, is based on Peter Ackroyd’s novel, “The Trial of Elizabeth Cree” and is set in London in the 1880s. The opera interweaves several narratives to create a gripping and exhilarating new work. Opening the Opera Philadelphia 2017 festival on Sept. 14 and then appearing at the Chicago Opera Theater, this is a must see.
Opera News
Opera Philadelphia's 2017-18 Season, Kicking Off Inaugural O17 Festival, to Feature Three World Premieres, Including Kevin Puts's Elizabeth Cree
The company will also present the world premiere of a chamber opera based on Peter Ackroyd’s The Trial of Elizabeth Cree, which will feature the creative team behind the 2012 Pulitzer Prize-winning opera Silent Night: Composer Kevin Puts and librettist Mark Campbell’s new opera, Elizabeth Cree, will be set in London in the 1880s as the titular heroine is put on trial for the poisoning her husband. Mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack will sing the title role, while baritone Troy Cook will sing Elizabeth’s husband John; tenor Joseph Gaines will sing the music hall star Dan Leno. David Schweizer will direct the production, and Opera Philadelphia’s music director Corrado Rovaris will conduct.
Westword
"What happens when you juxtapose Ludwig Van Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, an orchestral masterpiece whose sublime grandeur seems impossible to rival, with contemporary composer Kevin Puts's much gentler (albeit not that gentle) Symphony No. 2"
The Austin Chronicle
THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (Austin Opera) The gamble of mounting a new opera based on a tale of Cold War paranoia paid off richly when this thriller proved gripping from the first note. Every element, every moment worked – Kevin Puts' moody score; Richard Buckley's intense conducting; Alison Moritz's taut staging; Greg Emetaz's projections; all the performers – heightening the tension 'til my shoulders were hunched around my ears.
Star Tribune
"Even before the announcement on Wednesday that Kevin Puts would be the new director of the Minnesota Orchestra’s Composer Institute, the 42-year-old composer had made an impact on musical life in the Twin Cities... Puts writes music of singular beauty and depth. He often is inspired by a visual image..."
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
"Puts’ musical voice, which has grown impressively since his “River’s Rush” for the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra’s 2004 opening night, is appropriate for each scene, ranging from the tender and lovely to the atonal for battle scenes. Puts deserved the 2012 Pulitzer Prize he won for the score."
The New York Times
"Mr. Puts’s NYFOS Next program on Tuesday, “Kevin Puts & Friends,” drew a nearly full house to the center’s intimate Jerome Robbins Theater. In greeting the audience Mr. Puts said that he had grabbed this chance to fill a gap in his knowledge and highlight the fine work of colleagues."
NPR
"New York-based composer and Peabody Institute faculty member Kevin Puts has won the Pulitizer Prize for music with Silent Night, his first opera. The work received its world premiere in November in at Minnesota Opera in St. Paul. Pulitzer officials described Silent Night as "a stirring opera that recounts the true story of a spontaneous cease-fire among Scottish, French and Germans during World War I, displaying versatility of style and cutting straight to the heart.""
The Topeka Capital-Journal
Sunflower includes recent work The Miro Quartet plays two-year-old ‘Credo’ at Thursday night’s concert
"Scott Cantrell, former classical music critic for The Kansas City Star who is now working for The Dallas Morning News, recently reviewed the Miro Quartet playing “Credo,” writing: “It’s not often that a brand-new piece of music — 19 minutes’ worth, no less — hits you right in the solar plexus. But that’s how it was Monday evening with Kevin Puts’ two-year-old string quartet ‘Credo.’ After a riveting performance by the Miro Quartet, at Caruth Auditorium, patrons of the Dallas Chamber Music series were wide-eyed at the aural and emotional impact of the piece.”"
“The Hours” builds a moving, spellbinding drama in Met premiere
"The score is flowing and frequently gorgeous, full of melodic and harmonic resolutions that, like tiles of a mosaic, mark integral bits of the drama and move smoothly to the next element. Puts uses structures and orchestrations familiar from Copland, Barber, and John Adams, and even amusingly quotes from Die Zauberflöte, but nothing is derivative, and it all comes through as his own voice. The accumulated effect of all these details, of one dramatically meaningful piece after another, is often deeply affecting."
"The score is flowing and frequently gorgeous, full of melodic and harmonic resolutions that, like tiles of a mosaic, mark integral bits of the drama and move smoothly to the next element. Puts uses structures and orchestrations familiar from Copland, Barber, and John Adams, and even amusingly quotes from Die Zauberflöte, but nothing is derivative, and it all comes through as his own voice. The accumulated effect of all these details, of one dramatically meaningful piece after another, is often deeply affecting."
Silent Night, Opera North/Town Hall, Leeds, review: this fresh and engaging take on war and peace wins battle with Britten
"Puts’ score, conducted with unfailing assurance by Nicholas Kok, is virile and punchy."
"Puts’ score, conducted with unfailing assurance by Nicholas Kok, is virile and punchy."
The Arts Fuse
"Kevin Puts depicts three moments of solace. For a little over an hour, the audience was given the solace of this concert. I had almost forgotten that musical communities could be healing spaces."
"Kevin Puts depicts three moments of solace. For a little over an hour, the audience was given the solace of this concert. I had almost forgotten that musical communities could be healing spaces."
Concert Review: A Healing Space — A Far Cry and the Miró Quartet Present “Loss and Resurrection”
"Kevin Puts depicts three moments of solace. For a little over an hour, the audience was given the solace of this concert. I had almost forgotten that musical communities could be healing spaces."
"Kevin Puts depicts three moments of solace. For a little over an hour, the audience was given the solace of this concert. I had almost forgotten that musical communities could be healing spaces."
Programmatic Metamorphosis: “Loss – Resurrection”
"Kevin Puts’s 'Credo' for string quartet, through-composed with clearly defined sections, but no breaks, brought a shockingly fresh, improvisatory repose in this arrangement for strings….Puts’s contemporary idiom allowed for both the Miró Quartet and A Far Cry to shine at their best, both in execution and expressivity."
"Kevin Puts’s 'Credo' for string quartet, through-composed with clearly defined sections, but no breaks, brought a shockingly fresh, improvisatory repose in this arrangement for strings….Puts’s contemporary idiom allowed for both the Miró Quartet and A Far Cry to shine at their best, both in execution and expressivity."
Review: Chicago Opera Theater's 'Elizabeth Cree' is a bloody good show
"'Elizabeth Cree' represents a superior fusion of creative impulse, one element enhancing the other. Puts’ varied and evocative score, Campbell’s taut libretto and Schweizer’s surefooted direction mesh like a well-oiled clockwork to sustain the darkening atmosphere and to propel the story to its devastating conclusion. Not since 'Sweeney Todd' has operatic blood, guts and dismemberment been so entertaining… a show not to be missed."
"'Elizabeth Cree' represents a superior fusion of creative impulse, one element enhancing the other. Puts’ varied and evocative score, Campbell’s taut libretto and Schweizer’s surefooted direction mesh like a well-oiled clockwork to sustain the darkening atmosphere and to propel the story to its devastating conclusion. Not since 'Sweeney Todd' has operatic blood, guts and dismemberment been so entertaining… a show not to be missed."
In Review: Chicago Opera Theater’s Elizabeth Cree
"To put it quite simply, the opera is a magnificent piece, an absolute triumph on all fronts...The music is familiar yet fresh, and the entire gamut of emotions is explored. A profound understanding of balance permeates the work."
"To put it quite simply, the opera is a magnificent piece, an absolute triumph on all fronts...The music is familiar yet fresh, and the entire gamut of emotions is explored. A profound understanding of balance permeates the work."
COT to take a walk on the Gothic side with “Elizabeth Cree”
"This week COT presents another new work, Elizabeth Cree, music by Kevin Puts, libretto by Mark Campbell, based on Peter Ackroyd’s 1995 novel, The Trial of Elizabeth Cree. Set in London’s notoriously seedy Limehouse district in the late 19th century, the story involves Cree, a famous music hall star, accused of killing her husband, who may or may not have been a Jack-the-Ripper-type serial killer. Mixing imagined characters with such real-life figures of the era such as Karl Marx and English novelist George Gissing, the story follows the investigation of the Cree murder case."
"This week COT presents another new work, Elizabeth Cree, music by Kevin Puts, libretto by Mark Campbell, based on Peter Ackroyd’s 1995 novel, The Trial of Elizabeth Cree. Set in London’s notoriously seedy Limehouse district in the late 19th century, the story involves Cree, a famous music hall star, accused of killing her husband, who may or may not have been a Jack-the-Ripper-type serial killer. Mixing imagined characters with such real-life figures of the era such as Karl Marx and English novelist George Gissing, the story follows the investigation of the Cree murder case."
San Francisco Classical Voice
"The shimmery tone painting and stormy outbursts of orchestral color in Kevin Puts’s 2007 showpiece Two Mountain Scenes [were arresting]."
"The shimmery tone painting and stormy outbursts of orchestral color in Kevin Puts’s 2007 showpiece Two Mountain Scenes [were arresting]."
Marin Symphony Powers Through Storms, Showing Its Quality
"The shimmery tone painting and stormy outbursts of orchestral color in Kevin Puts’s 2007 showpiece Two Mountain Scenes [were arresting]."
"The shimmery tone painting and stormy outbursts of orchestral color in Kevin Puts’s 2007 showpiece Two Mountain Scenes [were arresting]."
Review: Horror of war, beauty of peace coexist in ‘Silent Night’
"It’s these kind of heartfelt stories juxtaposed against the horrors of war that make 'Silent Night' so important and affecting — plus Puts’ gorgeous and expressive score. There are lovely choral pieces, such as 'Sleep' in Act I. Contemporary dissonance works in the battle scenes, and much of the score is plangent and lyrical. The music underscores yearning and despair and, ultimately, hope."
"It’s these kind of heartfelt stories juxtaposed against the horrors of war that make 'Silent Night' so important and affecting — plus Puts’ gorgeous and expressive score. There are lovely choral pieces, such as 'Sleep' in Act I. Contemporary dissonance works in the battle scenes, and much of the score is plangent and lyrical. The music underscores yearning and despair and, ultimately, hope."
Philadelphia: Putting On Great Opera Can Be Murder
"Mr. Puts’ eclectic score falls tunefully on the ear one moment, and is eerily stomach-churning the next. Borrowing from several styles and influences, the talented composer re-invents them with excellent effect to present his own unique voice. Opera Philadelphia's Elizabeth Cree represented a thrilling collaborative effort from a dream team of some of the world’s most accomplished music and theatre practitioners. Their concerted efforts have made a compelling case for this highly anticipated piece, which assuredly deserves a bright future of subsequent productions."
"Mr. Puts’ eclectic score falls tunefully on the ear one moment, and is eerily stomach-churning the next. Borrowing from several styles and influences, the talented composer re-invents them with excellent effect to present his own unique voice. Opera Philadelphia's Elizabeth Cree represented a thrilling collaborative effort from a dream team of some of the world’s most accomplished music and theatre practitioners. Their concerted efforts have made a compelling case for this highly anticipated piece, which assuredly deserves a bright future of subsequent productions."
Review: ‘Elizabeth Cree’ at Opera Philadelphia
"Elizabeth Cree is worth repeated viewings for its vivid characters, ingenious development and gripping music...Puts’s orchestral writing supplies colorful mood — and horror — while his vocal writing is melodically singable. The characters are given grand solo opportunities. When we see a work labeled as a “chamber opera” we imagine delicate orchestration, primarily with soft strings. Puts’s score for 16 players, however, is deliciously variegated. The orchestral sound has rich and colorful texture, with good use of snarling brass."
"Elizabeth Cree is worth repeated viewings for its vivid characters, ingenious development and gripping music...Puts’s orchestral writing supplies colorful mood — and horror — while his vocal writing is melodically singable. The characters are given grand solo opportunities. When we see a work labeled as a “chamber opera” we imagine delicate orchestration, primarily with soft strings. Puts’s score for 16 players, however, is deliciously variegated. The orchestral sound has rich and colorful texture, with good use of snarling brass."
'Elizabeth Cree' opens O17 festival with bloody good opera
"'Elizabeth Cree' opens O17 festival with bloody good opera...Puts formulated a canny musical manner that had the orchestra constantly bubbling, pulsating, simmering, and rippling as a frame for pithy vocal lines...sparingly used, out-of-left-field dissonances gave the murders a near-physical impact. Varied orchestral textures and momentary dips into minor keys suggested that certain stage occurrences were not what they seemed. I’d recommend this to anybody with a taste for sophisticated music theater"
"'Elizabeth Cree' opens O17 festival with bloody good opera...Puts formulated a canny musical manner that had the orchestra constantly bubbling, pulsating, simmering, and rippling as a frame for pithy vocal lines...sparingly used, out-of-left-field dissonances gave the murders a near-physical impact. Varied orchestral textures and momentary dips into minor keys suggested that certain stage occurrences were not what they seemed. I’d recommend this to anybody with a taste for sophisticated music theater"
A stunning premiere: Elizabeth Cree
"Reviews and sneak-peaks for Elizabeth Cree featuring mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack have all promised that audiences would be stunned. To put it simply: they weren't exaggerating. Opera Philadelphia's production of Elizabeth Cree is brilliantly colorful, accessible to all ears (both musically trained and untrained,) and entirely enjoyable...The production is bursting at the seams with variations in style, mood and display. Its musical ideas seamlessly transition from comical to frightening. The score includes some familiarity in terms of the musical vocabulary it employs. We hear moments evoking a Broadway musical, moments that are reminiscent of Bernard Herrmann's sounds of horror, and moments of gorgeously sweeping romantic lines. The unique combination of these musical elements makes a sound that is uniquely and unforgettably Kevin Puts'."
"Reviews and sneak-peaks for Elizabeth Cree featuring mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack have all promised that audiences would be stunned. To put it simply: they weren't exaggerating. Opera Philadelphia's production of Elizabeth Cree is brilliantly colorful, accessible to all ears (both musically trained and untrained,) and entirely enjoyable...The production is bursting at the seams with variations in style, mood and display. Its musical ideas seamlessly transition from comical to frightening. The score includes some familiarity in terms of the musical vocabulary it employs. We hear moments evoking a Broadway musical, moments that are reminiscent of Bernard Herrmann's sounds of horror, and moments of gorgeously sweeping romantic lines. The unique combination of these musical elements makes a sound that is uniquely and unforgettably Kevin Puts'."
Murder She Wrote: Elizabeth Cree launch Opera Philadelphia's Fall Festival
"[Elizabeth Cree] was engaging as a breathtakingly tabloid piece, and thought-provoking too, inviting a reflection upon the connections between the first era obsessed with media sensationalism and our own, even more saturated in its addiction to News...Kevin Puts' score matches the thriller content in its energetic soundscape and in its fast-paced constant pulse"
"[Elizabeth Cree] was engaging as a breathtakingly tabloid piece, and thought-provoking too, inviting a reflection upon the connections between the first era obsessed with media sensationalism and our own, even more saturated in its addiction to News...Kevin Puts' score matches the thriller content in its energetic soundscape and in its fast-paced constant pulse"
Elizabeth Cree Philadelphia Opera
"Kevin Puts and Mark Campbell cleverly transform Peter Ackroyd's culturally allusive novel about a Victorian serial killer into a viable, fast-paced ninety-minute entertainment...Puts's rhythmically alert score, ingeniously orchestrated in a way that keeps one listening, flowered under Corrado Rovaris’s leadership."
"Kevin Puts and Mark Campbell cleverly transform Peter Ackroyd's culturally allusive novel about a Victorian serial killer into a viable, fast-paced ninety-minute entertainment...Puts's rhythmically alert score, ingeniously orchestrated in a way that keeps one listening, flowered under Corrado Rovaris’s leadership."
O Festival Diary—Day I: Elizabeth Cree
"This world premiere by composer Kevin Puts and librettist Mark Campbell, based on a novel by Peter Ackroyd, moves across an astonishingly varied dramatic terrain...as a piece of stagecraft, Elizabeth Cree demands to be seen."
"This world premiere by composer Kevin Puts and librettist Mark Campbell, based on a novel by Peter Ackroyd, moves across an astonishingly varied dramatic terrain...as a piece of stagecraft, Elizabeth Cree demands to be seen."
The BSO's New Music Festival strikes a potent chord
"It was good to get a reprise of “The City"...and the music Puts created, so full of urgency and rich in atmosphere, sounded as vital as it did when the work was first performed. The BSO poured on the expressive steam, led with expert timing by Alsop."
"It was good to get a reprise of “The City"...and the music Puts created, so full of urgency and rich in atmosphere, sounded as vital as it did when the work was first performed. The BSO poured on the expressive steam, led with expert timing by Alsop."
I Went to a Concert With a Basement Full of Dead People and Loved It
" ... Elizabeth Cree, a new opera by Puts and librettist Mark Campbell that squeezes enough ghoulish horror out of Victorian London to suggest a pendant to Sweeney Todd. With a score full of diabolical music-hall numbers and dreamy, seductive arias about butchery and woe, the opera promises a macabre romp."
" ... Elizabeth Cree, a new opera by Puts and librettist Mark Campbell that squeezes enough ghoulish horror out of Victorian London to suggest a pendant to Sweeney Todd. With a score full of diabolical music-hall numbers and dreamy, seductive arias about butchery and woe, the opera promises a macabre romp."
It is difficult to know where to begin to praise the stunning achievement of Opera San Jose’s West Coast premiere of Silent Night.
"Silent Night just may prove to be the first enduring operatic masterpiece of the century."
"Silent Night just may prove to be the first enduring operatic masterpiece of the century."
Opera San Jose's Silent Night
"Puts’ well-crafted score, with an excellent libretto by Mark Campbell, draws the audience into the action, and a strong cast, effective staging by director Michael Shell and a shapely orchestral performance led by conductor Joseph Marcheso made Saturday’s performance an engrossing experience."
"Puts’ well-crafted score, with an excellent libretto by Mark Campbell, draws the audience into the action, and a strong cast, effective staging by director Michael Shell and a shapely orchestral performance led by conductor Joseph Marcheso made Saturday’s performance an engrossing experience."
Peace during wartime in SJ Opera’s ‘Silent Night’
Review of the West Coast premiere of "Silent Night" at Opera San Jose.
Review of the West Coast premiere of "Silent Night" at Opera San Jose.
Rebecca Siler's 'brilliant' soprano voice graces Chamber Music Society concert
"Puts' music isn't grim or grief-stricken, it's clear-eyed and resolute."
"Puts' music isn't grim or grief-stricken, it's clear-eyed and resolute."
Eastman Philharmonia at Alice Tully Hall Renée Fleming Sings Kevin Puts
"Puts...take[s] us inside O’Keeffe’s heart and soul... and goes to the depths of the volcano, before the roaring hot lava of his notes erupt."
"Puts...take[s] us inside O’Keeffe’s heart and soul... and goes to the depths of the volcano, before the roaring hot lava of his notes erupt."
Concert Review: An Unexpected Party Renée Fleming premieres Letters from Georgia by Kevin Puts.
Mr. Puts used a wide variety of styles in these pieces, creating an astringent, arid sound-world that suited the songs' desert settings. Most striking was "Violin", in which Ms. O'Keeffe lamented her inability to play that instrument, punctuated by sharp, gritty tone clusters from the evening's concertmaster
Mr. Puts used a wide variety of styles in these pieces, creating an astringent, arid sound-world that suited the songs' desert settings. Most striking was "Violin", in which Ms. O'Keeffe lamented her inability to play that instrument, punctuated by sharp, gritty tone clusters from the evening's concertmaster
Kevin Puts: Letters from Georgia Renée Fleming (Soprano) Eastman Philharmonia, Neil Varon (Conductor)
"[Kevin Puts] is a lyrical composer who has an unfailing way of offering an emotional life...as utterly precise in his composition."
"[Kevin Puts] is a lyrical composer who has an unfailing way of offering an emotional life...as utterly precise in his composition."
'Silent Night': An opera of war and surprising peace comes to Detroit
"Few operas of recent vintage have entered the repertory as swiftly as 'Silent Night'."
"Few operas of recent vintage have entered the repertory as swiftly as 'Silent Night'."
BWW Review: War Is Hell but the Puts-Campbell SILENT NIGHT Is a Wonder in Atlanta
"A modern classic"
"A modern classic"
Review: The Atlanta Opera brings grit and realism to its ambitious WWI drama “Silent Night”
"Puts’ score uses dissonance and consonance as metaphors for war and peace. His necessarily eclectic music ranges from the warmly luscious, to the emotionally churning, to movingly simple at pivotal moments where it hangs poignantly in air..."
"Puts’ score uses dissonance and consonance as metaphors for war and peace. His necessarily eclectic music ranges from the warmly luscious, to the emotionally churning, to movingly simple at pivotal moments where it hangs poignantly in air..."
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“Kevin Puts’ score creates a rich sound world, masterfully weaving in the sounds of national anthems, gunfire, drinking songs, exploding shells and Scottish bagpipes to evoke the chaotic and varied soundscape of World War I. His use of the full symphony is always emotionally legible, often lushly melodic and cinematic…”
“Kevin Puts’ score creates a rich sound world, masterfully weaving in the sounds of national anthems, gunfire, drinking songs, exploding shells and Scottish bagpipes to evoke the chaotic and varied soundscape of World War I. His use of the full symphony is always emotionally legible, often lushly melodic and cinematic…”
Review: Atlanta Opera’s ‘Silent Night’ captures humanity during WWI truce
"Kevin Puts’ score creates a rich sound world, masterfully weaving in the sounds of national anthems, gunfire, drinking songs, exploding shells and Scottish bagpipes to evoke the chaotic and varied soundscape of World War I. His use of the full symphony is always emotionally legible, often lushly melodic and cinematic..."
"Kevin Puts’ score creates a rich sound world, masterfully weaving in the sounds of national anthems, gunfire, drinking songs, exploding shells and Scottish bagpipes to evoke the chaotic and varied soundscape of World War I. His use of the full symphony is always emotionally legible, often lushly melodic and cinematic..."
Works by Puts, Nielsen, Brahms make for rewarding Minnesota Orchestra program
"Puts’ imaginative and deftly orchestrated “Two Mountain Scenes,” ... The first movement begins with a quartet of trumpets combining to create the illusion of a single trumpet reverberating across a valley. The lower strings respond with a dark, brooding theme that unwinds more fully each time it appears. The second movement evokes a mountain storm. It ends with subtle percussion and a melancholy passage in the strings suggesting both grandeur and menace..."
"Puts’ imaginative and deftly orchestrated “Two Mountain Scenes,” ... The first movement begins with a quartet of trumpets combining to create the illusion of a single trumpet reverberating across a valley. The lower strings respond with a dark, brooding theme that unwinds more fully each time it appears. The second movement evokes a mountain storm. It ends with subtle percussion and a melancholy passage in the strings suggesting both grandeur and menace..."
A Mahler Mini-Festival in New York
"Mr. Puts’s music was captivating from the start... It was a powerful statement, and the audience responded loudly, presumably recognizing the universality of the situation in contemporary America. Such raw and immediate social relevance is uncommon and important in classical music today, and it made even a Mahler symphony — something raw and searing in its own right — seem almost peripheral, a rare feat."
"Mr. Puts’s music was captivating from the start... It was a powerful statement, and the audience responded loudly, presumably recognizing the universality of the situation in contemporary America. Such raw and immediate social relevance is uncommon and important in classical music today, and it made even a Mahler symphony — something raw and searing in its own right — seem almost peripheral, a rare feat."
[Classical Review] Baltimore Symphony premieres musically, visually intriguing 'City'
"... the Pulitzer Prize-winning Puts, who teaches at the Peabody Institute, never disappoints in terms of orchestral coloring, and he revels in prismatic possibilities here. There's also a terrific rhythmic tension to the piece, right from the cool opening barrage of drumming, brilliantly evocative of urban energy, yet tinged with something more unsettled."
"... the Pulitzer Prize-winning Puts, who teaches at the Peabody Institute, never disappoints in terms of orchestral coloring, and he revels in prismatic possibilities here. There's also a terrific rhythmic tension to the piece, right from the cool opening barrage of drumming, brilliantly evocative of urban energy, yet tinged with something more unsettled."
Baltimore in deep focus with 'The City,' a multimedia work to be premiered by the BSO
"Puts describes the opening portion of his score as having "a raw, primal" quality, with "a lot of drums and primordial-sounding melodies in the woodwinds." Out of this, an anthem-like idea eventually emerges in the strings. "The anthem is deconstructed and rebuilt in a more ambiguous way," Puts says. "Then everything just stops and there's a sustained tone passed around the sections of the orchestra for a minute or so."
"Puts describes the opening portion of his score as having "a raw, primal" quality, with "a lot of drums and primordial-sounding melodies in the woodwinds." Out of this, an anthem-like idea eventually emerges in the strings. "The anthem is deconstructed and rebuilt in a more ambiguous way," Puts says. "Then everything just stops and there's a sustained tone passed around the sections of the orchestra for a minute or so."
The readers’ guide to lovable new opera
Silent Night by Kevin Puts and Mark Campbell (2011) The Manchurian Candidate by Kevin Puts and Mark Campbell (2015)
Silent Night by Kevin Puts and Mark Campbell (2011) The Manchurian Candidate by Kevin Puts and Mark Campbell (2015)
Music in Review: Performance by Sasha Cooke
"Kevin Puts’s 'Of All the Moons'... — to poems by Marie Howe filled with imagery of wind, water and moonlight — was a showcase for his craftsmanship."
"Kevin Puts’s 'Of All the Moons'... — to poems by Marie Howe filled with imagery of wind, water and moonlight — was a showcase for his craftsmanship."
Sasha Cooke & Julius Drake
"Commissioned by Carnegie Hall, Puts’s song cycle, Of All the Moons, revealed the talented American composer living up to the prestige of the Pulitzer Prize he was awarded in 2012 for the opera Silent Night."
"Commissioned by Carnegie Hall, Puts’s song cycle, Of All the Moons, revealed the talented American composer living up to the prestige of the Pulitzer Prize he was awarded in 2012 for the opera Silent Night."
Review: Calgary Opera presents powerful First World War drama in Silent Night
"It is exactly these elements that one encounters in Silent Night, the much-admired new opera by Kevin Puts and Mark Campbell that opened Calgary Opera’s new season Saturday night. Mounted throughout The United States and in Europe, the opera is receiving its Canadian première in Calgary"
"It is exactly these elements that one encounters in Silent Night, the much-admired new opera by Kevin Puts and Mark Campbell that opened Calgary Opera’s new season Saturday night. Mounted throughout The United States and in Europe, the opera is receiving its Canadian première in Calgary"
Opera's 'Silent Night' breathtaking tale of war, people
"It is the first opera by the gifted American composer. One could only marvel at Puts' multi-layered orchestral score, which turned on a dime from battle scenes – a cacophony of dissonances, edgy intervals and machine gun sounds – to moments of serene, lyrical beauty."
"It is the first opera by the gifted American composer. One could only marvel at Puts' multi-layered orchestral score, which turned on a dime from battle scenes – a cacophony of dissonances, edgy intervals and machine gun sounds – to moments of serene, lyrical beauty."
Singers Revive Roles for Cincinnati Opera’s ‘Silent Night’
"Craig Irvin, Andrew Wilkowske and Gabriel Preisser are enjoying a career arc that any opera singer would kill for. All three performed in the world premiere of Silent Night, an opera that garnered rave reviews, a Pulitzer Prize, a PBS broadcast and subsequent productions, including this weekend’s from the Cincinnati Opera, in which the singers reprise their original roles..."
"Craig Irvin, Andrew Wilkowske and Gabriel Preisser are enjoying a career arc that any opera singer would kill for. All three performed in the world premiere of Silent Night, an opera that garnered rave reviews, a Pulitzer Prize, a PBS broadcast and subsequent productions, including this weekend’s from the Cincinnati Opera, in which the singers reprise their original roles..."
ChamberFest Cleveland 2014 gets off to impassioned, celebratory start (review)
"...Kevin Puts' "And Legions Will Rise," as performed by violinist David Bowlin, percussionist Scott Christian, and Cohen. A 2001 trio for violin, clarinet and marimba, the work both stood out sonically and held the ears of its beholders. It also affected the mind. A minimalist-style tribute to the unquenchable human spirit, "Legions" carried listeners from adversity to triumph in hypnotic fashion, ferrying them along on blazing, athletic performances."
"...Kevin Puts' "And Legions Will Rise," as performed by violinist David Bowlin, percussionist Scott Christian, and Cohen. A 2001 trio for violin, clarinet and marimba, the work both stood out sonically and held the ears of its beholders. It also affected the mind. A minimalist-style tribute to the unquenchable human spirit, "Legions" carried listeners from adversity to triumph in hypnotic fashion, ferrying them along on blazing, athletic performances."
Back From the Brink, Minnesota Orchestra Announces New Season
"The season will also include the return of the Minnesota Orchestra Composer Institute in January. Kevin Puts, who won the Pulitzer Prize for composition in 2012, was appointed this week as the director of the institute."
"The season will also include the return of the Minnesota Orchestra Composer Institute in January. Kevin Puts, who won the Pulitzer Prize for composition in 2012, was appointed this week as the director of the institute."
Minnesota Orchestra review: Associate conductor Lewis graduates with honors
"I've been impressed with Puts' richly textured, complex and emotionally evocative orchestrations for a few years now, most memorably during Minnesota Opera's premiere of "Silent Night" (which went on to win the Pulitzer Prize). His Fourth Symphony is inspired by the almost-lost music of an ancient indigenous tribe in California. After a spare, sorrowful opening, it becomes a playful folk dance that's eventually overpowered by a march-like hymn. But the traditional feel survives, the woodwinds starting a "Healing Song" that emanates outward and becomes an almost cinematic epic of majesty and loss."
"I've been impressed with Puts' richly textured, complex and emotionally evocative orchestrations for a few years now, most memorably during Minnesota Opera's premiere of "Silent Night" (which went on to win the Pulitzer Prize). His Fourth Symphony is inspired by the almost-lost music of an ancient indigenous tribe in California. After a spare, sorrowful opening, it becomes a playful folk dance that's eventually overpowered by a march-like hymn. But the traditional feel survives, the woodwinds starting a "Healing Song" that emanates outward and becomes an almost cinematic epic of majesty and loss."
Strong Silent Night Has Potential to be Holiday Staple
"The opera itself seems a likely candidate for the permanent repertoire. Or to take that even further, perhaps a thoughtful community could make Silent Night a regular Christmas season production and antidote to the banal commercialization of the holiday season."
"The opera itself seems a likely candidate for the permanent repertoire. Or to take that even further, perhaps a thoughtful community could make Silent Night a regular Christmas season production and antidote to the banal commercialization of the holiday season."
Review: Humanity in the midst of war, at FW Opera Festival
"...Premiered three years ago by Minnesota Opera and winner of a Pulitzer Prize, Kevin Puts’ opera packs an emotional wallop in music both immediately engaging and sophisticated in ways and means."
"...Premiered three years ago by Minnesota Opera and winner of a Pulitzer Prize, Kevin Puts’ opera packs an emotional wallop in music both immediately engaging and sophisticated in ways and means."
Kevin Puts' breathtaking opera Silent Night has its regional premiere at the strongest Fort Worth Opera festival in memory
"...As an opera, Silent Night has it all—excellently drawn characters, touching and true personal interactions, gorgeous music and taut drama. Originally produced by the Minnesota Opera a few years ago, the score won Puts a Pulitzer Prize. His music is written in a lush, neo-romantic style, seasoned with some minimalism and spiky dissonances exactly when needed. Most importantly, it is a stunning and emotional experience to watch above and beyond its considerable musical beauty."
"...As an opera, Silent Night has it all—excellently drawn characters, touching and true personal interactions, gorgeous music and taut drama. Originally produced by the Minnesota Opera a few years ago, the score won Puts a Pulitzer Prize. His music is written in a lush, neo-romantic style, seasoned with some minimalism and spiky dissonances exactly when needed. Most importantly, it is a stunning and emotional experience to watch above and beyond its considerable musical beauty."
Fort Worth Opera Saves the Best For Last in “Silent Night”
"Kevin Puts’s score was both highly cinematic, and extremely versatile. Puts has the orchestra switching stylistic gears between each of the represented countries with ease, combining sweeping emotive lines with light folk music from each culture. The greatly enjoyable score ranged from rousing choruses and highly melodic arias, to points where the soloists simply hold a line and let the orchestra do the brunt of the work, to folk music, bagpipes and a haunting harmonica ending. The vocal demands are at times more Verdian than typical modern arias, and are one of the many reasons why Silent Night could be programmed between any opera in the canon and stand up on its own..."
"Kevin Puts’s score was both highly cinematic, and extremely versatile. Puts has the orchestra switching stylistic gears between each of the represented countries with ease, combining sweeping emotive lines with light folk music from each culture. The greatly enjoyable score ranged from rousing choruses and highly melodic arias, to points where the soloists simply hold a line and let the orchestra do the brunt of the work, to folk music, bagpipes and a haunting harmonica ending. The vocal demands are at times more Verdian than typical modern arias, and are one of the many reasons why Silent Night could be programmed between any opera in the canon and stand up on its own..."
Review: Oboist steals the spotlight at chamber fest
"Puts' concerto is filled with sweeping cinematic flourishes."
"Puts' concerto is filled with sweeping cinematic flourishes."
All Venues Great and Small
"Puts is not only a fantastic composer but also a superior orchestrator, and his use of color (in the winds in particular) and natural sense of balance among the instrumental choirs (much less between the quartet and the orchestra!) was uncanny."
"Puts is not only a fantastic composer but also a superior orchestrator, and his use of color (in the winds in particular) and natural sense of balance among the instrumental choirs (much less between the quartet and the orchestra!) was uncanny."
Miró Quartet premieres new music by Pulitzer Prize-winner Kevin Puts
"“How Wild the Sea” came together when the composer saw an image from Japan’s catastrophic 2011 tsunami. “It was this man, an old man, floating on the roof of his house — which was floating in the waters,” Puts says. “They said that his wife had drowned some ways back.” Puts translates this devastation into a musical work that is part elegy and part virtuosic swirls of musical waves."
"“How Wild the Sea” came together when the composer saw an image from Japan’s catastrophic 2011 tsunami. “It was this man, an old man, floating on the roof of his house — which was floating in the waters,” Puts says. “They said that his wife had drowned some ways back.” Puts translates this devastation into a musical work that is part elegy and part virtuosic swirls of musical waves."
Pulitzer Prize winner Kevin Puts brings waves into the concert hall with new symphonic work
"The composer's empathy for that isolated human figure, his life crushed by this devastating force of nature, became the impetus for a new work for string quartet and chamber orchestra titled How Wild the Sea."
"The composer's empathy for that isolated human figure, his life crushed by this devastating force of nature, became the impetus for a new work for string quartet and chamber orchestra titled How Wild the Sea."
‘Silent Night,’ Pulitzer Winner, to Air on PBS
"“Silent Night,” the opera by Kevin Puts that won the Pulitzer Prize for music in 2012, will have its television premiere on Dec. 13, when PBS broadcasts a performance by the Minnesota Opera, recorded during the work’s world-premiere run in 2011."
"“Silent Night,” the opera by Kevin Puts that won the Pulitzer Prize for music in 2012, will have its television premiere on Dec. 13, when PBS broadcasts a performance by the Minnesota Opera, recorded during the work’s world-premiere run in 2011."
Opera about truce is a clear victory
"Act II is cut from similar cloth but, with a more spare, expansive manner, dispenses with scene painting and uses atonality to convey the weary directionlessness of soldiers realizing the war has become a voracious, pointless black hole. Here, where the film loses its pace, the opera kicks into high gear as Puts harnesses the insinuative possibilities of music."
"Act II is cut from similar cloth but, with a more spare, expansive manner, dispenses with scene painting and uses atonality to convey the weary directionlessness of soldiers realizing the war has become a voracious, pointless black hole. Here, where the film loses its pace, the opera kicks into high gear as Puts harnesses the insinuative possibilities of music."
Tenors Amid the Turmoil of War in the Trenches ‘Silent Night,’ by Kevin Puts at Opera Philadelphia
"You can be a brilliant composer with a strong musical voice yet not be suited to opera, an enticing but unwieldy genre. It usually takes someone a few tries to write an effective work. This makes the success that the American composer Kevin Puts, 41, has had with “Silent Night” all the more remarkable. Based on the 2005 French film “Joyeux Noël,” “Silent Night,” Mr. Puts’s first opera, with a libretto by Mark Campbell, played a sold-out premiere run in 2011 at the Minnesota Opera. It went on to win the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for music."
"You can be a brilliant composer with a strong musical voice yet not be suited to opera, an enticing but unwieldy genre. It usually takes someone a few tries to write an effective work. This makes the success that the American composer Kevin Puts, 41, has had with “Silent Night” all the more remarkable. Based on the 2005 French film “Joyeux Noël,” “Silent Night,” Mr. Puts’s first opera, with a libretto by Mark Campbell, played a sold-out premiere run in 2011 at the Minnesota Opera. It went on to win the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for music."
The other East Coast opera: Philly offers “Silent Night”
"“Silent Night” is the first opera by the composer Kevin Puts, who’s established himself as a contemporary tonalist, writing a kind of 21st century romanaticism in muscular pieces that don’t sound derivative. Sticking to what’s become a template for new American operas, he and the librettist Mark Campbell (the go-to librettist these days; when I wrote about him two years ago he had four new works coming out, and according to his bio he’s currently working on six more) based their work on a movie -- a poignant war movie, no less. “Joyeux Noël,” made in 2005, tells the true story of the Christmas cease-fire in the trenches during World War I, during which soldiers stopped shooting, allowed each other to bury their dead unharmed, and shared Christmas treats -- the latter enhanced, in the opera, by an aria from a passing soprano."
"“Silent Night” is the first opera by the composer Kevin Puts, who’s established himself as a contemporary tonalist, writing a kind of 21st century romanaticism in muscular pieces that don’t sound derivative. Sticking to what’s become a template for new American operas, he and the librettist Mark Campbell (the go-to librettist these days; when I wrote about him two years ago he had four new works coming out, and according to his bio he’s currently working on six more) based their work on a movie -- a poignant war movie, no less. “Joyeux Noël,” made in 2005, tells the true story of the Christmas cease-fire in the trenches during World War I, during which soldiers stopped shooting, allowed each other to bury their dead unharmed, and shared Christmas treats -- the latter enhanced, in the opera, by an aria from a passing soprano."
Opera Philadelphia's Silent Night a resounding showcase
"A work crucial to the development and appreciation of opera as a relevant modern art form premièred on the East Coast to well-deserved acclaim at a legendary Philadelphia venue. From the first note out of the pit orchestra to the final strains of the last act, Silent Night, presented by Opera Philadelphia at the Academy of Music, was a tour de force – from conception to execution."
"A work crucial to the development and appreciation of opera as a relevant modern art form premièred on the East Coast to well-deserved acclaim at a legendary Philadelphia venue. From the first note out of the pit orchestra to the final strains of the last act, Silent Night, presented by Opera Philadelphia at the Academy of Music, was a tour de force – from conception to execution."
'Silent Night': A World War I moment of peace
"Based on the 2005 French film Joyeux Noel, Silent Night was headed for the Academy of Music even before its Pulitzer, though Puts, 41, was hardly a proven operatic commodity. Though remarkably successful at an early age (he wrote four symphonies between 1999 and 2007), Puts was offered Silent Night by Minnesota Opera artistic director Dale Johnson, who thought his big-orchestra sensibility would be good for a piece with three armies."
"Based on the 2005 French film Joyeux Noel, Silent Night was headed for the Academy of Music even before its Pulitzer, though Puts, 41, was hardly a proven operatic commodity. Though remarkably successful at an early age (he wrote four symphonies between 1999 and 2007), Puts was offered Silent Night by Minnesota Opera artistic director Dale Johnson, who thought his big-orchestra sensibility would be good for a piece with three armies."
CONSPIRARE premieres “To Touch the Sky” and “If I Were a Swan”
" “If I Were a Swan” is an inspired setting of the poem by the same name by Felda Brown, Kevin Puts’s aunt. Using tasteful word-painting, including a really cool repeating minimal motor, which sounded way more like electronically manipulating glitching than live vocals and an inspired setting of the words “and I would be exactly where I am,” that repeat like the chorus of a pop song. I would love to hear this piece again. To Touch the Sky is a larger song cycle inspired by a suggestion from Craig Hella Johnson to explore the idea of the “divine feminine,” which Kevin Puts took to heart using texts by only female poets for the cycle, with help from his aunt Felda Brown. The standout movement was movement five, in the middle, a setting of Emily Bronte’s “At Castle Wood.” Much like “If I Were a Swan,” I would love to hear that movement again."
" “If I Were a Swan” is an inspired setting of the poem by the same name by Felda Brown, Kevin Puts’s aunt. Using tasteful word-painting, including a really cool repeating minimal motor, which sounded way more like electronically manipulating glitching than live vocals and an inspired setting of the words “and I would be exactly where I am,” that repeat like the chorus of a pop song. I would love to hear this piece again. To Touch the Sky is a larger song cycle inspired by a suggestion from Craig Hella Johnson to explore the idea of the “divine feminine,” which Kevin Puts took to heart using texts by only female poets for the cycle, with help from his aunt Felda Brown. The standout movement was movement five, in the middle, a setting of Emily Bronte’s “At Castle Wood.” Much like “If I Were a Swan,” I would love to hear that movement again."
CHAMBER MUSIC MONTEREY BAY: Trio Solisti with Jon Manasse premier “Living Frescoes”
"Puts has written a score that matches and compliments these images. He has created moments of great beauty and serenity, alternating with moments of violence and confusion — often linked to moments of ominous anticipation of events about to happen. His writing for piano is spectacular, and the exciting sounds he created for pianist Klibonoff never drew attention to itself unnecessarily but always seemed inevitable in the way it blended with the textures created by the strings and the clarinet. The writing for strings was at times brilliantly idiomatic and often sensuous in a late nineteenth century, early twentieth century French manner (so much so that at the end of the program when we heard the Chausson Trio, we felt quite at home). The audience responded with a rousing standing ovation, and the musicians called Mr. Puts to the stage where he received the accolades he so richly deserved."
"Puts has written a score that matches and compliments these images. He has created moments of great beauty and serenity, alternating with moments of violence and confusion — often linked to moments of ominous anticipation of events about to happen. His writing for piano is spectacular, and the exciting sounds he created for pianist Klibonoff never drew attention to itself unnecessarily but always seemed inevitable in the way it blended with the textures created by the strings and the clarinet. The writing for strings was at times brilliantly idiomatic and often sensuous in a late nineteenth century, early twentieth century French manner (so much so that at the end of the program when we heard the Chausson Trio, we felt quite at home). The audience responded with a rousing standing ovation, and the musicians called Mr. Puts to the stage where he received the accolades he so richly deserved."
CONSPIRARE premieres “To Touch the Sky” and “If I Were a Swan”
"Commissioned especially for Conspirare by American Composers Forum, "To Touch the Sky" is an a cappella piece set to texts by female poets, writers and mystics across the centuries. Among the texts Puts used are quotes from Mother Teresa, a poem by contemporary writer Maria Howe, a line from the writings of Sappho of ancient Greece and a poem by Emily Brontë."
"Commissioned especially for Conspirare by American Composers Forum, "To Touch the Sky" is an a cappella piece set to texts by female poets, writers and mystics across the centuries. Among the texts Puts used are quotes from Mother Teresa, a poem by contemporary writer Maria Howe, a line from the writings of Sappho of ancient Greece and a poem by Emily Brontë."
The engaging voice of composer Kevin Puts
"Long before the Pulitzer buzz about Puts, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra music director Marin Alsop chose one of his pieces for this week's final program of the season. It marks the third time in a decade that the BSO has featured the composer, whose expertly crafted music speaks in a compelling, natural voice. Audiences here will get the biggest dose yet of Puts — his Symphony No. 4. This 25-minute score won a 10-minute ovation when it premiered in 2007 at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music in Santa Cruz, Calif., conducted by Alsop, the festival's music director for 20 years."
"Long before the Pulitzer buzz about Puts, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra music director Marin Alsop chose one of his pieces for this week's final program of the season. It marks the third time in a decade that the BSO has featured the composer, whose expertly crafted music speaks in a compelling, natural voice. Audiences here will get the biggest dose yet of Puts — his Symphony No. 4. This 25-minute score won a 10-minute ovation when it premiered in 2007 at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music in Santa Cruz, Calif., conducted by Alsop, the festival's music director for 20 years."
Kevin Puts Wins 2012 Pulitzer Prize
"Silent Night: Opera in Two Acts by Kevin Puts has been awarded the 2012 Pulitzer Prize in Music. Commissioned and premiered by the Minnesota Opera in Minneapolis on November 12, 2011, and featuring a libretto by Mark Campbell, the self-published Silent Night was described by the jury as “a stirring opera that recounts the true story of a spontaneous cease-fire among Scottish, French and Germans during World War I, displaying versatility of style and cutting straight to the heart.” The prize is for a “distinguished musical composition by an American that has had its first performance or recording in the United States” during the previous calendar year and comes with a cash award of ten thousand dollars."
"Silent Night: Opera in Two Acts by Kevin Puts has been awarded the 2012 Pulitzer Prize in Music. Commissioned and premiered by the Minnesota Opera in Minneapolis on November 12, 2011, and featuring a libretto by Mark Campbell, the self-published Silent Night was described by the jury as “a stirring opera that recounts the true story of a spontaneous cease-fire among Scottish, French and Germans during World War I, displaying versatility of style and cutting straight to the heart.” The prize is for a “distinguished musical composition by an American that has had its first performance or recording in the United States” during the previous calendar year and comes with a cash award of ten thousand dollars."
Opera evokes grim beauty in break in the battle
"Grimly beautiful, the piece is a significant addition to the repertoire and heralds the emergence of composer Kevin Puts as a force in American opera…Librettist Mark Campbell's text is terse and cogent; he knows how to convey the essentials and leave the heavy lifting to the composer. Puts seldom relaxes his grip on the listener. There is no emotion his writing cannot conjure. In the course of two hours he integrates an astonishing range of forms and styles. At its best, as in the heartfelt choral lullaby of Act 1 or the shattering funeral march of Act 2, his music is as powerful as any being written today. "Silent Night" is, improbably, Puts' first opera; it shouldn't be his last."
"Grimly beautiful, the piece is a significant addition to the repertoire and heralds the emergence of composer Kevin Puts as a force in American opera…Librettist Mark Campbell's text is terse and cogent; he knows how to convey the essentials and leave the heavy lifting to the composer. Puts seldom relaxes his grip on the listener. There is no emotion his writing cannot conjure. In the course of two hours he integrates an astonishing range of forms and styles. At its best, as in the heartfelt choral lullaby of Act 1 or the shattering funeral march of Act 2, his music is as powerful as any being written today. "Silent Night" is, improbably, Puts' first opera; it shouldn't be his last."
Review: Silent Night derives a universal harmony from our shared humanity
"What really imbues fervor to the production, though, is a landmark score from composer Kevin Puts. Already a widely celebrated talent in the classical world, Silent Night marks Puts’ debut opera. As such, Puts couldn’t make a more stunning first impression, launching into the opening of Act 1 with a wildly spiraling panorama of sound that culminates in an explosive climax. In the aftermath, as fraught silence descends on the battlefield, Puts settles into a suspenseful adagio capable of transitioning swiftly to lavishly layered melodies. Through it all, conductor Michael Christie leads the Minnesota Opera Orchestra with characteristic deftness."
"What really imbues fervor to the production, though, is a landmark score from composer Kevin Puts. Already a widely celebrated talent in the classical world, Silent Night marks Puts’ debut opera. As such, Puts couldn’t make a more stunning first impression, launching into the opening of Act 1 with a wildly spiraling panorama of sound that culminates in an explosive climax. In the aftermath, as fraught silence descends on the battlefield, Puts settles into a suspenseful adagio capable of transitioning swiftly to lavishly layered melodies. Through it all, conductor Michael Christie leads the Minnesota Opera Orchestra with characteristic deftness."
Review: "Silent Night"
"The opening night ovation for Silent Night was long and clamorous, the loudest acclaim fittingly reserved for composer Kevin Puts. [It]is Puts first opera and one senses that he's found his metier. (Occasionally, one has the sensation of looking over the composer's shoulder as he discovers the power of his medium.) He's a master polystylist, able to weld together heterogeneous musical materials that range from a pseudo-eighteenth-century-opera-within-the opera to jarring atonality. He writes impressively complex polyphony when it's called for, but is more affecting when his music turns spare and reflective. His timing is unerring. With this remarkable debut, Puts assumes a central place in the American opera firmament. Much will be expected from him."
"The opening night ovation for Silent Night was long and clamorous, the loudest acclaim fittingly reserved for composer Kevin Puts. [It]is Puts first opera and one senses that he's found his metier. (Occasionally, one has the sensation of looking over the composer's shoulder as he discovers the power of his medium.) He's a master polystylist, able to weld together heterogeneous musical materials that range from a pseudo-eighteenth-century-opera-within-the opera to jarring atonality. He writes impressively complex polyphony when it's called for, but is more affecting when his music turns spare and reflective. His timing is unerring. With this remarkable debut, Puts assumes a central place in the American opera firmament. Much will be expected from him."
Classical Music Review: In hands of Miró Quartet, Kevin Puts’ ‘Credo’ astounds
"It's not often the a brand new piece of music - 19 minutes' worth, no less - hits you right in the solar plexus."
"It's not often the a brand new piece of music - 19 minutes' worth, no less - hits you right in the solar plexus."
Kevin Puts Recipient of our 2018 Composer's Award
Kevin Puts Recipient of our 2018 Composer's Award
Kevin Puts Recipient of our 2018 Composer's Award
[CD Review]
PUTS: To Touch the Sky; If I Were a Swan; Symphony No.4, From Mission San Juan
PUTS: To Touch the Sky; If I Were a Swan; Symphony No.4, From Mission San Juan