A Poe Cabaret: A Dream Within A DreamWorld Premiere

Words and music to haunt your dreams – including Canadian and world premieres.

"It is in Music perhaps," wrote Edgar Allan Poe, "that the soul most nearly attains the great end for which, when inspired by the Poetic Sentiment, it struggles - the creation of supernal Beauty. We are often made to feel, with a shivering delight that from an earthly harp are stricken notes which cannot have been unfamiliar to the angels."

The intimate evening of Poe-inspired compositions features the Canadian premiere of librettist Mark Campbell and composer Lance Horne's opera The Tell-Tale Heart featuring Sean Clark (tenor) and Horne on piano, fresh from its debut in New York, and the world premieres of two Luminato commissions. Mike Ross premieres new songs sung by Patricia O'Callaghan and Alexina Louie scores The Raven, which will be read by CBC's Tom Allen. Plus, harpist Lori Gemmell joins the Penderecki String Quartet in French composer André Caplet's take on The Masque of the Red Death - a spine-chilling concerto. Hosted by Mike Ross, directed by Lorenzo Savoini.

"There amid the madness, dark humor lies in wait ..." Review of The Tell-Tale Heart in The New York Times

The Tell-Tale Heart
A musical monologue based on the short story by Edgar Allan Poe
Libretto by Mark Campbell
Music by Lance Horne
Special thanks to David Schweizer and Michael Slattery for their collaboration in the original production.

Alexina Louie's The Raven is co-commissioned by Luminato and The Ottawa Chamber Music Society. 

Please note that these performances are general admission with cabaret-style seating.  Licensed event.

Meet the artists at a panel discussion. See Illuminations on the right side of this page.