Medea

Gavin Bryars' first opera grew out of an invitation from Robert Wilson to write the music for his adaptation of the play: by mutual consent, the singing took over.  It was an immediate success and marked a decisive step in Bryars' development as a composer.  The vocal writing is much influenced by Richard Strauss, whose writing for female voices was a particular source of inspiration for Bryars, but much of the drama lies in the pulsating ostinato rhythms in the orchestra.  Bryars and Wilson regarded Medea as a rational woman, cool, detached and fully in control of her actions.