Album Notes

MURDER AT THE MASQUE: Casebook of Edgar Allan Poe
Music composed & Produced by Patrick Soluri
©2009 Patrick Soluri & Soluri Music

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SYNOPSIS

Prelude: (Track 1) Edgar Allan Poe is at his desk writing; ideas, stories and characters swirl in his head. (Track 2) He remembers a Masquerade Ball he once attended, with his friend Auguste Dupin, at the mansion of the wealthy and charming Lord User.

ACT 1 - Scene 1: (Track 3) Poe and Dupin arrive at the House of Usher and are introduced to the guests. The masks are elaborate; Lenore’s is decorated with raven feathers. Lord and Lady Usher make a grand entrance, and Lord Usher unlocks a cabinet containing a bottle of rare Amontillado wine, which he shares with his guests.

Scene 2: (Track 4) Lord Usher has prepared an entertainment, featuring local children playing hand bells. The performance proves stranger than the guests expect.

Scene 3: (Track 5) The ball begins in earnest. Lord Usher dances with each of the women in turn. Their husbands are not pleased. Lady Usher leads the women away.

Scene 4: (Track 6) The men are looking forward to another glass of Amontillado wine. Tensions rise when Lord Usher cannot find the key to his cabinet. He sends the men away to the wine cellar, but himself remains, perplexed. (Track 7) The Red Death enters, taunting Lord Usher with a goblet of wine. Hearing the commotion, Poe and Dupin rush in, and the Red Death flees. The guests return, concerned over what has transpired; all decide to retire for the evening.

Scene 5: (Track 8) The house is quiet. Lord Usher returns to the locked cabinet, still unnerved. He has been followed. One by one the women appear, each hoping for a midnight tryst with Lord User. At last, Lady Usher puts a stop to these flirtations and Lord Usher is alone. (Track 9) The Red Death returns. This time, using the clock from the table, it murders Lord Usher.
Synopsis continued

ACT 2 - Scene 1: (Track 10) The butler discovers the body; Poe and Dupin are next on the scene, but all the guests soon awake and are horrified to see the corpse. Dupin sends the butler to search the grounds and begins to question the guests. Suddenly the clock chimes from within the locked cabinet. To everyone’s shock, the missing key is now in the cabinet door. The bloody clock is inside. The butler returns with the mask of the Red Death, in which a raven’s feather is discovered. It was Lenore! She denies it, but Poe & Dupin re-enact the murder, proving her guilt.

Scene 2: (Track 11) During a fantasy Pas de Deux, we see how Lenore and Lord Usher were once in love. But when he pushed her away, Lenore's anger, hatred and jealousy built until, at last, she murdered him.

Scene 3: (Track 12) Lenore is placed under arrest and led away. (Track 13) Poe and Dupin collect their things from the butler and depart, another case solved.

Postlude: (Track 14) Poe returns to his writing desk, his stories, his characters and his memories.

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WORLD PREMIER PRODUCTION
Dances Patrelle - Artistic Director: Francis Patrelle
April 16-19, 2009 - The Kaye Playhouse - New York City

Choreography: Francis Patrelle
Music: Patrick Soluri
Story: Justin Allen

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PATRICK SOLURI is a multi-talented composer based in New York City who specializes in dramatic music for orchestra, ballet, opera, film and TV. His love of telling stories through music is evident in his large body of work for the stage, screen and concert hall.

Commissions include three orchestral ballet scores, performed by Dances Patrelle featuring the world renowned dancers Marcelo Gomes and Sandra Brown from American Ballet Theater and Jenifer Ringer and Stephen Hanna from New York City Ballet. Mr. Soluri was recently commissioned by American Lyric Theatre for a one act opera based on the work of Edgar Allan Poe; a previous opera was showcased by New York City Opera. Upcoming projects include a newly commissioned children’s ballet, the Carnegie Hall premiere of a 10 minute comic opera and several chamber works. His music is available on iTunes worldwide.

In addition to his classical work, Mr. Soluri has scored independent feature and short films as well as composing, orchestrating and producing hundreds of tracks of music for film and TV in multiple genres ranging from orchestral, jazz and industrial, to rock and world music. His versatility has also enabled him to work fluidly as an orchestrator and producer in numerous styles.

For more information visit: www.patricksoluri.com