Black Square
opera in two acts
Idea by Igor Konyukhov
Libretto by Olga Maslova and Igor Konyukhov
The world premiere took place on November 28, 2018 at New Tretyakov Gallery (Moscow)
“Black Square acknowledges artistic response to that era’s large-scale upheaval while allowing us to sense ongoing relevance. Demutsky evokes, in a contemporary way, some of the rhythmic incision and colorful flair of several well-known Soviet musicians. The libretto cautions against political manipulation, and contains much that is bizarre, leveraging ironic distance while suggesting that stable kinds of meaning are elusive”
— Katherine Syer, for Lyric Theatre quarterly newletter, January 2018
“ Black Square is an English-language, avant-garde opera, created first and foremost for American audiences: not a museum piece but a new work of theatre, intended to bring something of Kruchenykh and Malevich to life today, simultaneously moving and delighting contemporary audiences.”
— Jessica Hinds-Bond, for The Theatre Times, December 2017
“With music by Ilya Demutsky and libretto by Olga Maslova and Igor Konyukhov, the opera is a two-act futuristic tragicomedy that “mixes intellectual traditions of Russian avant-garde and fast pacing style of an action thriller.” The work is reportedly inspired by the 1913 opera “Victory over the Sun.””
— David Salazar for Opera Wire, November 2018