Utwory na płycie:

• Prologue (instrumental)
• – Urgent! – Drop ev’rything!
• I was in the heyday of being in love
• Damn, girl!
• You married a cop?
• I love him
• What about your obsession?
• I’m gonna strap my baby on my back
• You havin’ a what?
• – Forgive our sistah. – She knows not what she do
• Birth that baby boy to term
• Ha. Ha ha ha
• I’m having this boy. I’m keeping this boy close
• We wish on ev’rything you can wish on
• Scrape the wax off your wings
• Transition to Scene 2 (instrumental)
• How you doin’, baby?
• I’m somebody’s mother
• Hello…Mom!
• Cup your hand under his head and neck
• Hello...Hello, my son
• Go, go, go!
• – Halftime! – We’re all yours, buddy
• How do you feel?
• Welcome to the daddy club!
• How did you produce a son?
• I’ve got a baby boy
• Here’s a toast
• Introduction (instrumental)
• You not getting off that easy
• Yes, sir! Got my own private warden
• Moved up here so you could spread out and be by yourself
• No! New York is the richest city in the world
• Stat Stat Statue of Liberty
• The world done change
• – What am I supposed to do? – Stay alive
• You alive, ain’t you?
• I am out there in the jungle
• Whatcha gonna do?
• – Let me go. – No, my son, I will never let you go
• What is your name, my son?
• Ah! You are the father whose child was lost
• Ah! Your heart is broken, I hear it knocking against your ribs
• This is my badge
• When my boy was taken from me
• I did not come here seeking redemption
• Only a white God
• You are walking in a terrible darkness, my son
• May restoring waters clear the night’s weeping
• In my hour of need I seek no salvation from you
• Come away from the window
• She sits in this matchbox disguised as a house
• She was lying in her bed. In her own home. In her bed
• – Look at her. – She wears the captive shroud of stony death
• Let us go forth
• Oh God! Bring my baby back
• God, give me back any part of my baby
• My heart…my heart is heavy tonight
• Somebody...
• A mother, clear out of her mind
• God, we ask you, take care of this boy
• Stay alive
• Son, the light is turning amber. Run!
• We sing...Christ wore the crown of thorns
• Cup your hand under his head and neck
• Introduction (instrumental)
• I don’t know what the hell you talkin’ about
• Set aside your sides, eat some set-asides I set aside for my boys
• – You my son. – I got deep fried, red-eyed, drip-dried...
• Kneaded, pinched, and prodded
• Heavenly Father, we humbly thank you
• Hey Mom, hey Dad

CD 1:
Prologue (instrumental)
Act I - Scene I
Act I - Scene II
Act I - Scene III
Act I - Scene IV

CD 2:
Act II - Scene I
Act II - Scene II
Act II - Scene III
Act II - Epilogue

Washington National Opera presents Blue, a contemporary opera on racial injustice in the US today, with a libretto by Tazewell Thompson set to music by Jeanine Tesori. Blue tells the tragic story of an African-American police officer whose son is killed by a fellow officer during a protest. Strongly resonating with the Black Lives Matter movement, the piece is equally groundbreaking thanks to its intimate and layered portrayal of African-American family life on the operatic stage. Historically and musically, Blue compassionately tells a story that is at once painful and identifiable to so many of us. The Music Critics Association of America named Blue the “Best New Opera” of 2020, while the Financial Times praised it as “an exceptionally strong new opera about race in America”, and hailed Tesori’s music as “eclectic, but assuredly so, full of beauty and eloquence.” The piece is sung by an excellent cast of vocalists, including Kenneth Kellogg as The Father, Briana Hunte as The Mother, and Aaron Crouch as The Son, while The Washington National Opera Orchestra is led by rising star conductor Roderick Cox.

Jeanine Tesori is one of the most important American composers of today, with a diverse catalog for musical theatre, opera, film, and television. Tazewell Thompson is an internationally acclaimed director, playwright, teacher, and actor. Washington National Opera is among the leading US opera houses, and has the mission to present stories that reflect the America of today.

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This studio album was recorded in June 2021 at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Opera House.