So another rather interesting chamber opera from Europe has come my way.  It’s Like Flesh; music by Sivan Eldar and English language libretto by Cordelia Lynn.  It’s 80 minutes long and uses three soloists, a chorus of six and an eight piece instrumental group plus electronics.  It’s sort of a modern ecological take on Ovid’s idea of a woman turning into a tree.  Here the woman is unhappily married to the Forester who buys into the basic idea that Nature exists to serve humans and is a willing accomplice in environmental degradation.  There’s also a female student who is studying the forest and is discovering much that isn’t covered in the classroom.  The transformation takes place against a back drop of destructive wild fires and the wanton felling of woodland to make way for concrete.  Given the subject matter, the libretto is really quite poetic. Continue reading →