Love Counts
| Love Counts an opera in two acts |
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| Studio album by Michael Nyman | ||||
| Released | March 12, 2007 (UK) May 27, 2008 (United States) |
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| Recorded | 4, 5, 12 December 2006 (Abbey Road Studios, London) 24-28 July 2006 (Olympic Studios, London) |
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| Genre | Opera | |||
| Length | Disc 1: 60:17 Disc 2: 62:19 |
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| Language | English | |||
| Label | MN Records | |||
| Producer | Simon Kiln | |||
| Michael Nyman chronology | ||||
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| Soundtrack | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| The Guardian |   |
Love Counts is a 2005 opera in two acts by Michael Nyman to a libretto by Michael Hastings.
The opera premiered 12 March 2005 at the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe, Germany, directed by Robert Tannenbaum. It was performed in London at the Almeida Theatre on 14 July 2006, directed by Lindsay Posner, designed by Peter McKintosh, and conducted by Paul McGrath.
The opera begins with Patsy Bear (spelled Bear in the libretto but spelled Blair in the character list), a middleweight boxer, punching leaves on a tree. Avril Ainger, a mathematics lecturer, encounters him while riding her bicycle and they have a conversation. The next day, Avril passes by the gym where Patsy fights. His manager has dropped him. He is waiting for the bus, but when the driver arrives, he will not tell Patsy the number, for Patsy is illiterate and has difficulty even recognizing numbers. She accompanies him back to his hut and they learn more about each other, Patsy's limitations, and the hurt of Avril's first marriage. They go to a restaurant, and Avril tries to help Patsy will the bill, but he is typically one to walk off without paying.
She begins teaching him basic mathematics, starting with familiarizing him with all the digits, but he only wants to make love.
The second act is set mostly in Avril's bedroom, jumping backward and forward in time, often with the characters changing clothes in front of the audience.
Avril asks Patsy about the nature of his erections because her previous husband could get them only if he hit her. After they make love for the first time, Patsy's manager calls and tells him that a new lad wants him to be his trainer.
The lessons continue, and Nyman uses a found number system based on Albert Riemenschneider's collection of 371 Bach Chorale Harmonisations, although Patsy surely knows nothing of Johann Sebastian Bach's work. He compares this to Dr. P's use of Robert Schumann in The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat.
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Wikipedia