KOCH INTERNATIONAL CLASSICS TO RELEASE ANTHONY DAVIS OPERA 'TANIA' BASED ON 1974 KIDNAPPING OF PATTY HEARST

Port Washington, NY - (June 18, 2001) - In February of 1974, the kidnapping of Patty Hearst by the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) turned in to a four-month-long television news drama as the quiet apolitical heiress metamorphosed into the beret-clad Tania. Later that year on live television, Americans witnessed the shootout between the SLA and the Los Angeles Police Department, where five members of the SLA were killed.  Inspired by this historically bizarre event, composer Anthony Davis composed his third opera Tania where it premiered at the American Music Theater Festival in 1992.

Tania re-imagines the Hearst kidnapping as a surreal trip "through the looking glass." The opera begins and ends in Patty's bedroom with the SLA hiding in her closet. Patty's voyage through the closet door plunges her into a political and sexual world of dreams and nightmares filled with dark humor. People in Hearst's life are transformed in the mythical closet world.  Her mother becomes Betty Ford; her father becomes the symbol of the revolution Fidel Castro.

Music for this opera takes similar flights of fancy.  Betty Ford's aria is a trip to the lush life of jazz ballads, while the love duet between Betty and Fidel as the rhythmic trappings of Tito Puente.  The opera embraces pop culture with a vengeance using irony and satire as musical devices.  Patty sings a duet with her answering machine and is engulfed by TV-Patty characters that appear in video trios and quartets.

Composer Anthony Davis, first distinguished himself as a jazz pianist and composer and in the 1980s began to compose music for ballet and theater.  Davis' music has been performed by all of the major symphony orchestras in the United States.  Davis' other opera's include  X: The Life And Times Of Malcolm X, Under The Double Moon and Amistad.  He is currently Professor of Music at the University of California at San Diego.

Actor Avery Brooks sings the role of "Cinque" in Tania.  Brooks, known for his roles in the television series Star Trek Deep Space 9, Spencer For Hire and A Man Called Hawk, is a versatile performer who has appeared in other modern operas.  He originated the role of Malcolm X in Davis' X: The Life And Times Of Malcolm X and his rich baritone voice was also heard on and off-Broadway as Paul Robeson in the play Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been?  Brooks is an accomplished actor, director, musician and teacher.

In addition to Avery Brooks, other key members of the cast of Tania include soprano Cynthia Aaronson-Davis in the role of Tania and tenor Thomas Young.  Davis' instrumental ensemble Epistome, conducted by Rand Steiger, provides the instrumental portion of the recording, showing their versatility in the broad spectrum of styles required from the orchestra, merging swinging jazzy interludes and traditional opera.

Tania will be released on CD by KOCH International Classics on September 25^th and will be labeled with a parental warning sticker due to explicit language.

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For more information please contact James Scileppi at (516) 484-1000 ext. 243 or via email at james.scileppi@kochint.com

Source: Steve Wehmhoff, Manager: Classical Labels
KOCH International

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