MICHAEL NYMAN (b.1944): The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat.

Description: It's taken a while for a new recording to come along of Nyman's famous, and widely performed, chamber opera based on Oliver Sacks' famous, and widely read, case study of a musician with visual agnosia who could not identify or make sense of objects in the world around him, but whose musical capabilities remained intact and enabled him to function by choreographing the world to a soundtrack in his own head. The piece, like Sacks' account, is strange and remarkably moving, and with its musical associations the story is a gift to a composer with theatrical inclinations. The music is classic Nyman, minimalistic and modular, melodic lines spun over insistent blocks of repeating gestures, instantly recognisable. Libretto available online. Matthew Treviño (bass), Rebecca Sjöwall (soprano), Ryan MacPherson (tenor), Nashville Opera;  Dean Williamson.