Love Counts

2005 opera by Michael Nymann and Michael Hastings

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
Find sources: "Love Counts" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (February 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

|

Love Counts is a 2005 opera in two acts by Michael Nyman to a libretto by Michael Hastings.

## Performance history

[edit]

The opera premiered 12 March 2005 at the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe, Germany, directed by Robert Tannenbaum. It was performed in London at the Almeida Theatre on 14 July 2006, directed by Lindsay Posner, designed by Peter McKintosh, and conducted by Paul McGrath.[1]

## Roles

[edit]

Role  | Voice type | Premiere cast, 12 March 2005

|
|

Avril  | soprano |
Patsy  | bass |

## Synopsis

[edit]

The opera begins with Patsy Bear (spelled Bear in the libretto but spelled Blair in the character list), a middleweight boxer, punching leaves on a tree. Avril Ainger, a mathematics lecturer, encounters him while riding her bicycle and they have a conversation. The next day, Avril passes by the gym where Patsy fights. His manager has dropped him. He is waiting for the bus, but when the driver arrives, he will not tell Patsy the number, for Patsy is illiterate and has difficulty even recognizing numbers. She accompanies him back to his hut and they learn more about each other, Patsy's limitations, and the hurt of Avril's first marriage. They go to a restaurant, and Avril tries to help Patsy with the bill, but he is typically one to walk off without paying.

She begins teaching him basic mathematics, starting with familiarizing him with all the digits, but he only wants to make love.

The second act is set mostly in Avril's bedroom, jumping backward and forward in time, often with the characters changing clothes in front of the audience.

Avril asks Patsy about the nature of his erections because her previous husband could get them only if he hit her. After they make love for the first time, Patsy's manager calls and tells him that a new lad wants him to be his trainer.

The lessons continue, and Nyman uses a found number system based on Albert Riemenschneider's collection of 371 Bach Chorale Harmonisations, although Patsy surely knows nothing of Johann Sebastian Bach's work. He compares this to Dr. P's use of Robert Schumann in The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat.

Avril wants Patsy to promise he will not get back in the ring. She cuts up his gear. She takes off her top and hits him, saying she does not want to be hurt again. Patsy asks her to be more ladylike and make love.

Later, she gets a phone call, and collapses at what she hears. Patsy has fallen into a coma. The doctor says he will regain his memory if she keeps talking to him.

In the final scene, Avril pushes Patsy, now in a wheelchair, down the street where they first met, express their desire to make love, and go through their counting routine.

## Recording

[edit]

Love Counts
an opera in two acts

Photograph by Michael Nyman
design by Russell Mills and Michael Webster

Studio album by

Michael Nyman

Released| 12 March 2007 (UK)
27 May 2008 (United States)
Recorded| 4, 5, 12 December 2006 (Abbey Road Studios, London)
24–28 July 2006 (Olympic Studios, London)
Genre| Opera
Length| Disc 1: 60:17
Disc 2: 62:19
Language| English
Label| MN Records
Producer| Simon Kiln
Michael Nyman chronology
| Nyman Brass
(2006)  | Love Counts
an opera in two acts
(2007)  | Mozart 252
(2008)

|
|

SoundtrackReview scores

Source| Rating
The Guardian| [2]

A recording based on the Almeida production was released in 2007 featuring Andrew Slater as Patsy Bear (bass) and Helen Williams as Avril Ainger (soprano). It is the 57th Michael Nyman album.

### Personnel

[edit]

The Michael Nyman Band

* conducted by Paul McGrath
* Ian Humphries, violin
* Phillippa Ibbotson, violin
* Nicolette Kuo, violin
* Jonathan Evans-Jones, violin
* Emlyn Singleton, violin
* Debbie Widdup, violin
* Harriet Davies, violin
* Fenella Barton violin
* Kate Musker, viola
* Nick Barr, viola
* Jonathan Barritt, cello
* Tony Hinnigan, cello
* William Schofield, cello
* Chris Laurence, bass
* Mary Scully, bass
* Andrew Walley, bass
* Martin Elliott, bass guitar
* Dominic Saunders, piano
* Walter Fabeck, keyboards
* Dave Fuest, clarinet, bass clarinet
* Andrew Sparling, bass clarinet
* Andrew Findon, baritone saxophone, flute, piccolo
* Dave Lee, horn
* Steve Sidwell, trumpet
* Nigel Gomm, trumpet

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Review: Love Counts" by Andrew Clements, The Guardian, 17 July 2006
2. ^ "Nyman: Love Counts, Williams/ Slater/ Michael Nyman Band/ McGrath", review by Andrew Clements, The Guardian, 5 May 2007

## External links

[edit]

* "Two ways to score a hit in the ring" by Anthony Holden, The Observer, 24 July 2006

* v
* t
* e

Michael Nyman

Michael Nyman Band members|

| Current|

* Gabrielle Lester
* Catherine Thompson
* Kate Musker
* David Roach
* Simon Haram
* Andrew Findon
* Nigel Barr
* Dave Lee
* Steve Sidwell
* Martin Elliott
* Sarah Leonard

|

Former|

* Alexander Bălănescu
* John Harle
* Chris Laurence
* Ann Morfee
* Jonathan Carney
* Madeleine Mitchell
* Jamie Talbot
* Georgina Born
* Marjorie Dunn
* Beverley Davison
* Barry Guy
* John Greaves
* Andrew Shulman
* Michael Thompson
* Richard Watkins
* John Metcalfe
* Christian Forshaw
* Ute Lemper
* Marie Angel
* Hilary Summers
* Omar Ebrahim
* David Cunningham
* Molly Nyman

Nyman-produced
albums|

* Decay Music
* 'The Masterwork' Award Winning Fish-Knife
* Michael Nyman
* The Draughtsman's Contract
* The Cold Room
* The Kiss and Other Movements
* A Zed & Two Noughts
* And Do They Do/Zoo Caprices
* The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat
* Drowning by Numbers
* La Traversée de Paris
* The Cook The Thief His Wife & Her Lover
* Out of the Ruins
* La Sept
* String Quartets 1–3
* Prospero's Books
* The Michael Nyman Songbook
* The Hairdresser's Husband
* The Essential Michael Nyman Band
* Time Will Pronounce
* The Piano
* Michael Nyman for Yohji Yamamoto
* The Piano Concerto/MGV
* À la folie
* Live
* Noises, Sounds & Sweet Airs
* Carrington
* The Diary of Anne Frank
* After Extra Time
* The Ogre
* Enemy Zero
* Concertos
* Gattaca
* The Suit and the Photograph
* Strong on Oaks, Strong on the Causes of Oaks
* Practical Magic
* Ravenous
* Wonderland
* The Commissar Vanishes
* Nabbie's Love
* The End of the Affair
* The Claim
* String Quartets 2, 3 & 4/If & Why
* Facing Goya
* 24 Heures de la vie d'une femme
* Sangam: Michael Nyman Meets Indian Masters
* The Actors
* Man and Boy: Dada
* The Piano Sings
* The Libertine
* The Composer's Cut Series Vol. I: The Draughtsman's Contract
* The Composer's Cut Series Vol. II: Nyman/Greenaway Revisited
* The Composer's Cut Series Vol. III: The Piano
* Six Celan Songs • The Ballad of Kastriot Rexhepi
* Acts of Beauty • Exit no Exit
* Nyman Brass
* Love Counts
* Mozart 252
* 8 Lust Songs: I Sonetti Lussuriosi
* The Glare
* Acoustic Accordions

Nyman-contributed albums|

* The Pavilion of Dreams
* The Sensual World
* Piano Circus
* Taking a Line for a Second Walk
* Twentieth-Century Blues: The Songs of Noel Coward
* Generation Sex

Compilations|

* Pure Moods
* The Very Best of Michael Nyman: Film Music 1980–2001
* Man on Wire

Additional operas|

* Tristram Shandy
* Letters, Riddles and Writs
* Vital Statistics
* La Princesse de Milan

Unreleased
film scores|

* Vertical Features Remake
* The Falls
* Brimstone and Treacle
* Ballet Mécanique
* Monsieur Hire
* Mesmer
* Katie and Orbie
* Titch
* Act Without Words I
* Man with a Movie Camera
* Nathalie...
* À propos de Nice
* A Cock and Bull Story

Major individual
compositions|

* Memorial
* MGV

* Les Disques du Crépuscule
* Minimalist music
* Systems music

Portal:

* Opera

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template