Differences in Demolition

Opera is usually thought of as uncool and outmoded. If you haven't challenged this cliché yet, Opera Circus is likely to dazzle you. Their most recent work, Differences in Demolition, written by the great Scottish composer and Edinburgh University professor, Nigel Osborne, is a contemporary opera inspired by the Sevdah musical tradition of Bosnia.
Osborne defines Sevdah as love and music that make love, the music that is 'humanly dignified as opposed to the cynical junk that press and media feed us'. To create this modernist piece, Osborne researched the rich Balkan music tradition and rewrote it into new material, adding an English libretto by the Bosnian poet Goran Simic. Only one song, 'Aksam geldi', remains intact in the opera; the rest is completely submerged. Sevdah's intercultural form symbolises the ethnic diversity of the Balkan region and in this piece it also refers to the horror of the recent civil war.

The story begins in the West on a demolition site where an immigrant worker starts imagining what it would be like to demolish a house in his own country. While the tale of love, greed and destruction unfolds, the hall resonates with the buzzing music injected with Slav, Ottoman, and Sefardic scales and rhythms. For Osborne, the piece contains whole continents brought together through intertwining songs and melodies. This harmonious medley contrasts the story in which the conflict between three brothers ruins their home and their lives. At times the Opera Circus sestet breaks into stirring musical dissonance - the powerful accordion echoes fear and loss of hope while the clarinet nostalgically muses about a peaceful homeland.

Theatrically the performance is quite modest, with little evident choreography. However, the singers' thrilling voices successfully weave a tale without any extra movement. It is through this stage simplicity and musical complexity that Osborne realises his belief in the transformational power of music. It is disturbing for sure, but in times of constant war it truly makes you wonder what it would be like if your own house was suddenly, simply, pulled down.