West Coast premiere: David Lang's the loser
"Boldly unconventional… engrossingly ambiguous."
Baritone Rod Gilfry starred in the West Coast premiere of David Lang’s the loser—a Bang on a Can production—at the Theatre at Ace Hotel. Based on a novel by Thomas Bernhard, the loser was a painful meditation on dreams forsaken and hopes unrealized as two piano prodigies encountered an even greater talent: the young Glenn Gould on the cusp of superstardom.
Cast
- Narrator
- Rod Gilfry
- Pianist
- Conrad Tao
Creative
- Composer / Librettist / Director
- David Lang
- Conductor
- Lesley Leighton
- Lighting
- Jennifer Tipton
- Scenery
- Jim Findlay
- Costume Designer
- Suzanne Bocanegra

Read the synopsis
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A scene from David Lang's "the loser" at BAM's Next Wave Festival, 2016.
Richard TermineSwipe for More

Rod Gilfry (at right) in a scene from David Lang's "the loser" at BAM's Next Wave Festival, 2016.
Richard TermineWest Coast premiere
Adapted from the novel by Thomas Bernhard, translated from the German by Jack Dawson
LA Opera Off Grand made possible by a generous grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Additional support from a consortium of generous donors to LA Opera's Contemporary Opera Initiative, chaired by Barry and Nancy Sanders. Piano graciously provide by Yamaha, Official Piano of LA Opera.