Phillip Houghton ♪ Ophelia... a haunted sonata I. FEAR... AND THE ANGEL II. SUFFERING AND MADNESS.... AM I BUT A DREAM OF A SHADOW III. CHANT...of the flower-moon IV. WATER...memories-halls of ghosts-wash away V. DEATH...with moons in your hair
"Ladies" Project is to explore the topic of "What roles are ladies playing in the society nowadays?" The project consists of four contemporary solo guitar pieces and each of them represents a woman character:
Mermaid, composed by Yunjia Liu, was inspired by H. C. Anderson's fairy tale "The Little Mermaid". The music piece described the love story in three parts: "First Glance", "Destiny", and "Aria of Dissolving - last time singing". Another composition by Yunjia Liu, Fairy of the Snow, is dedicated to a female friend of the composer representing a mother, who searches the balance of fulfilling the family and social roles.
Composed by Australian composer Phillip Houghton, Ophelia... a haunted sonata was inspired by the tragic character Ophelia from Shakespeare’s Hamlet – a lady, who was tortured by the conflicts between the strong love and the fierce family hatred, and finally compromised to her own destiny with suicide. Medusa, composed by the German guitarist-composer Thomas Fellow, described the woman character Medusa from the Greek Mythology. Even though cursed by the inevitable power unfairly, even though considered as being evil, she was strong enough to pursue her own freedom regardless of the stereotypes from the society.
Theater Version feat. Laura Bečeić (in German Language)
Trailer
Online PREMIERE Feb 3, 2021
Initiated by Yunjia Liu, the theater version of the project is a multidisciplinary experiment with solo guitar music and theatrical representation by French actress and singer Laura Bečeić.