At Linbury Theatre, an opera about Kurt Cobain's final days has been revived to unsettling effect. Here, the protagonist, Blake, a thinly veiled version of the Nirvana frontman, navigates his crumbling home, now part-dollhouse, part-squat, under scaffolding that seems to be collapsing inwards. Blake mutters constantly, and one moment he tumbles out of a kitchen cupboard; another, he hastily closes his lurid green coat over his head like a child attempting to disappear.
Oliver Leith's operatic take on the story, based on Gus Van Sant's 1992 film, turns this depiction into something truly unnerving. The score is not just narrative but also incorporates artful manipulations of sound and silence. This includes the use of sustained strings that evoke a sense of auto-melancholy. At one point, a private investigator bursts in with a kind of hymn, accompanied by vigorous banjo-style strumming from the orchestra.
But it's Leith's mastery of timbre – his ability to blur the boundaries between what we hear and how our brains process sound – that truly unsettles. He takes even the most mundane sounds, like clinking bottles or an empty phone call, and transmutes them into eerie melodic riffs that echo through the opera house. The audience is left questioning their own grip on reality as Blake's world descends further into chaos.
The production, conducted by Jack Sheen with a slick ensemble of actors and singers, features standout performances from Patricia Auchterlonie and Jake Dunn. However, it's Leith's remarkable sound design that truly holds the opera together, plunging the audience into a dreamlike world where reality is fragile and the boundaries between music and silence are constantly shifting.
In this haunting and disturbing opera, Cobain's final days take on a new level of meaning as Blake's world unravels. The result is an unsettling experience that leaves you questioning what is real and what is just sound – or both.
Oliver Leith's operatic take on the story, based on Gus Van Sant's 1992 film, turns this depiction into something truly unnerving. The score is not just narrative but also incorporates artful manipulations of sound and silence. This includes the use of sustained strings that evoke a sense of auto-melancholy. At one point, a private investigator bursts in with a kind of hymn, accompanied by vigorous banjo-style strumming from the orchestra.
But it's Leith's mastery of timbre – his ability to blur the boundaries between what we hear and how our brains process sound – that truly unsettles. He takes even the most mundane sounds, like clinking bottles or an empty phone call, and transmutes them into eerie melodic riffs that echo through the opera house. The audience is left questioning their own grip on reality as Blake's world descends further into chaos.
The production, conducted by Jack Sheen with a slick ensemble of actors and singers, features standout performances from Patricia Auchterlonie and Jake Dunn. However, it's Leith's remarkable sound design that truly holds the opera together, plunging the audience into a dreamlike world where reality is fragile and the boundaries between music and silence are constantly shifting.
In this haunting and disturbing opera, Cobain's final days take on a new level of meaning as Blake's world unravels. The result is an unsettling experience that leaves you questioning what is real and what is just sound – or both.
I went to see this opera with my friends last month and it was honestly super freaky 
. I mean, Cobain's life was already so tragic and we all know how he ended up, but hearing his story in an opera was just... intense 
. The way the sound design was used was genius - like you said, it really made me question what was real and what wasn't. At one point I was like "is that a phone call or just someone messing with us?" 
. And Patricia Auchterlonie's performance as this private investigator was so good! She had this super confident vibe that just contrasted with the rest of the chaos on stage 
. Anyway, if you're into that sorta thing, I'd def recommend checking it out 
he takes those mundane sounds and turns them into these eerie melodic riffs that are giving me CHILLS 
i mean, clinking bottles? 
who knew it could be so hauntingly beautiful?!?! 
and the way the strings are used to create this sense of auto-melancholy is just masterful... 
like, i'm totally here for it! 
. I mean, who knew phone calls could be so...unsettling? 
. It's like the line between reality and sound just got all blurred.
. The opera about Kurt Cobain's final days was so immersive that I kept looking around the theatre wondering if anyone else was experiencing what I was feeling 
. The sound design is seriously trippy - it's like they took all my worst anxiety and turned it into a musical 
. But what really got me thinking is how the opera blurs the line between reality and dreams... does that mean we're just living in our own personal hell? 
. Anyway, I need to talk about this more elsewhere 
.
I went to see it last night at the West End and I'm still reeling from the experience. The way Oliver Leith manipulates sound and silence is pure genius! 
The opera has been viewed 1.2 million times on YouTube in the past month alone, with a whopping 75% of viewers saying they're "still thinking about it" 
What do you guys think - have you seen this opera?