Slow_Man_(opera)
Slow Man is an opera by Nicholas Lens to an English-language libretto by J. M. Coetzee, based on his 2005 novel of the same name. The opera was commissioned by the Malta Festival, Poznań and produced by the Opera Poznań.[1][2][3][4][5]
It is the first time author and Nobel Prize winner Coetzee has collaborated on a stage adaptation of his work.
Although the operatic version differs from the original story, Slow Man is a contemporary opera that arouses deep emotions among each of the original main characters: Paul Rayment, Elizabeth Costello and Marijana. The opera is centered on a meeting arranged by Elizabeth Costello (the writer) between Paul Rayment, a man of late middle-age with an amputated leg and the blind Marijana. The meeting has not only a strong sexual connotation but themes as love, isolation, old age, and fear of demise are prevalent.[6][7][8]
J. Roszak in Biweekly described Slow Man as a ‘high risk opera’ but also as 'an important operatic work'.[9]