The idea for this piece began with my work on a contemporary reimagining of Cherubini’s opera Medea, in collaboration with director Panos Balomenos and pianist Gailė Griciūtė, which was presented in August 2011 at the Helsinki Design Museum in Helsinki (Finland) as part of the festival Night of the Arts. The sound material for Maledetta is built primarily from treatments of the voice of Maria Callas singing the opera’s title role, and of a recording of the piano reduction.

Maledetta intends to present a portrait of the title character of Medea, primarily through a portrayal of her psychological states — shifting back and forth between calm and maternal, and vengeful, violent and disturbed. This is most clearly achieved through the processing and treatment of the sound material, but also through the dislocated formal structure: while certain sound materials act as both themes and structural markers, the work proceeds in a series of alternating states, with the sense of formal development regularly frustrated and ruptured.

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Maledetta was realized in 2011 in Studio Erkki of Sibelius-Akatemia in Helsinki (Finland), and premiered on October 20, 2011 at the Acousmatica I concert in the Black Box of the Musiikkitalo (Music Centre) in Helsinki (Finland). Thanks to Gailė Griciūtė, and Panos Balomenos.

Premiere

• October 20, 2011, Acousmatica I: Canada — Finland, Black Box — Musiikkitalo, Helsinki (Finland)