Reviews

Forum Opera

“The whole is an absolute success […] Like flesh is demanding, seductive and effective […] we are captivated by its magical sonic and visual world”

"The musical language is resolutely of our time, mobilizing all the knowledge, all the means, in a masterly fusion […] it speaks to everyone.”

"The work goes beyond a close collaboration between its creators: true osmosis is achieved between text, sound and image, giving way to a strong operatic expression […] it is pure joy.”

ResMusica

"The music is of great refinement… carefully sculpted and of a beautiful plasticity, both in terms of timbre and in its fusion with the voices”

Croix du Nord

“Guided by her characters’ emotions, Sivan Eldar fuses voices, orchestra and electronics through a kind of magic, evoking both terrestrial life and intimately hidden worlds.”

ANACLASE

"Sivan Eldar's music modifies our sonic perception with undeniable refinement. The theme of metamorphosis is woven into the orchestra itself, where a seductive and moving personal universe is revealed, coupled with arresting vocal writing."

Liberté Hebdo

“Stunning music [...] Unprecedented sensations [...] A singular operatic drama".

“The result is astounding and gives rise to a new kind of listening: an understanding of nature expressed through music that has not been experienced until now."

“In this first opera, Sivan Eldar shows a superb mastery in her treatment of voices in close connection with a particularly innovative practice of instrumental and electroacoustic musical writing”

Midi Libre

"This new chamber opera brings together a team of distinguished artists [...] It is bold, and the sonic immersion is intensely felt”

Opera Online

"In Like Flesh we find an exceptional cohesion [...] The fruits of this artistic companionship (Sivan Eldar and Cordelia Lynn) burst from the first measures: rarely in new opera have we felt such an osmosis between text and music. Every detail is carefully perfected."

“The greatness of Like Flesh lies in the passionate musical and philosophical questions it raises.... Sivan Eldar plunges us into an unknown world: we feel a forest of sound vibrating all around us, we experience the fullness of an inhuman world. Music, text, set design and video respond to each other with remarkable intelligence.”

Bachtrack

“Sivan Eldar's writing is exceptionally expressive”

"The fluidity of the whole opera is impressive. It draws the viewer into a hypnotic universe."

“Like Flesh is a welcome reminder that opera loses none of its relevance when it addresses contemporary issues."

Les Inrockuptibles

"A work where the intimate and the societal mingle to form a a singular musical score [...] A contemporary gem"

Olyrix

"The spectator is at the centre of a shamanic ritual, a form of trance. The soundscapes moves from large to the small, from the terrifying macrocosm of the forest to the teeming life of a world invisible to the naked eye.”

Diapason

"The Forest, distilled to a vocal ensemble of six singers, is striking in its singularity and finesse: Sivan Eldar has created a highly poetic, occasionally madrigal-like piece of writing to sing the story of nature, from its genesis to its hoped-for rebirth.

Premiere Loge

“An operatic revelation!”

synopsis

Woman/Tree – contralto, sixties | Forester – barytone, sixties | Student – soprano, thirties | The Forest – Chorus

Suffering in an unhappy marriage, Woman yearns for a world beyond the boundaries of flesh and an existence outside of the conventions of human society. A secret young Lover’s desire instigates an explosive metamorphosis, and Woman finds perfect release as a tree. But the world is a dark place for trees as well as humans, and deep in the forest, the Lover and a Forester lay claim to a body of wood and leaf, one for money and one for love. 

Inspired by Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Like flesh draws on modern environmental science to create a radical and passionate new myth about our broken relationship with an environment in crisis.

Musical forces

Soloists (3) 

Soprano | Contralto | Barytone

Chorus (6) 

Soprano | Mezzo-soprano | Countertenor | Tenor | Barytone | Bass

Instrumental Ensemble (13) 

Flute | Clarinet | trumpet | Trombone | Percussion (x2) | Piano | Accordion | String quartet | Double Bass

Electronics 

A modular array of distributed speakers