Opera in Bhutan

My friend Aaron Carpene, a musician in Rome, is working on a formidable and unprecedented task: to bring opera to Bhutan. He just got back from a fact-finding mission there.

He writes on his blog:

"The small opera Acis and Galatea by G. F. Handel is the chosen piece. It is based on one of the stories from Ovid's Metamorphoses: Acis and Galatea's love is wrecked and destroyed by the jealous cyclopean monster, Polyphemus. Galatea's grief inspires her divine powers to transform the mortal Acis into an ever-flowing stream. A nice story that resonates in many ways with Buddhist values."

Bhutan's got that, for sure, but it doesn't have any theaters to accommodate the production of an opera, so they're looking at sacred sites at which to stage the performance. Of course, astrologers will have to be involved to choose a date and appeals will be made by monks to local deities to ensure their cooperation.

And the El Paso Opera and University of Texas at El Paso are part of this, too. (Fans of deep-data trivia of Bhutan will see the connection.)

Check it out for more information: http://aacarpene.blogspot.com/2012/02/triumph-of-galatea-raffaello-sanzio.html