Opera for Five
Opera for Five (Greek: Οπερα για πέντε, Opus 27) is an unproduced and unrecorded work by Manos Hadjidakis written in New York between 1969 and 1971. Not a traditional opera, it was said to be closer to a musical with five characters and music played by a five-piece band. The title is a reference to Bertolt Brecht's "Threepenny Opera" ("Die Dreigroschenoper") whose Greek title is "Opera of Five" (Όπερα της πεντάρας).
Background
In 1966 Hadjidakis moved to the United States from Greece for "purely tax reasons—it was revealed that [he] owed three and a half million to the state."
Hadjidakis' first rock collaboration was with The New York Rock & Roll Ensemble in 1968. They recorded his new soundtrack for the 1964 Turkish film "Dry Summer," which was to be re-released and re-titled "Reflections" in the United States. The music was rejected by film's producer and the band released it as an regular album in 1970—in part to get out of their recording contract with Atlantic. The album sold poorly and the film took until 1975 to be re-released.[1]
Casting
Hadjidakis' first choice for the female lead was Grace Slick from Jefferson Airplane. Hadjidakis had stayed at the group's residence in [year]. Greek vocalist Fleury Dantonakis, with whom he would continue to collaborate for many years, was cast as the heroine Amanda.
Michael Kamen, then still part of The New York Rock & Roll Ensemble, was cast as Don, the male lead. Hadjidakis' first choice was American singer-songwriter Emitt Rhodes.
For the band, Hadjidakis "invited Mayo [Thompson] and Steve [Cunnginham] to New York for discussions about a possible project," a rock opera with "the Red Krayola as the backing band."[2]
Cast
- Amanda: Fleury Dantonakis
- Don: Michael Kamen
- Sheila: unknown
- Unknown: unknown
- Unknown: unknown
Writing
Amy Mims translated the libretto to English as it was written, via post, for over a year.
The only known audio documentation is two songs that were recorded to cassette and sent to Amy Mims in the mail. Hadjidakis plays piano and Fleury Dantonakis sings in English. One of the songs is titled "Amanda" but the recording has not been released.
Theater production and recording
Cancelled recording
- Scheduled for 1971
- Producer: Teo Macero - producer for CBS
- Visual design and cover: Mino Argyrakis
Cancelled theater production
- Scheduled for 1972
- Director: Ludovic de Boer
- Production: Maurice Huisman for Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels, Belgium
Cancellation and afterward
Hadjidakis abandoned the project in 1972 after he returned to Greece. In 1980 he expressed that he abandoned the project because it didn't make sense to continue the heavily America-focused project in Greece.
In 1973 he would again attempt to collaborate with Mayo Thompson. Thompson travelled to Greece in summer 1973 to record an album, and remained for a month, but Hadjidakis was too ill for the project to come to fruition.