A mad woman, a proto-feminist, and an icon of Wicca communities, Isobel Gowdie, a peasant woman tried for witchcraft in Auldearn, northeast Scotland, in 1662, has been interpreted in many ways since her four lengthy and detailed confessions were re-discovered in 1833. Likely under torture, she confessed to everything: twenty-seven spells, carnal dealings with the Devil, membership in a coven serving him, meetings with the fairy queen and king, murder, animal sacrifices, and changing into animals. The record of her sentence is lost, but almost certainly she was put to death with someone named Dawglas, Janet Breadhead and her husband John Taylor, and many others implicated in her confession. The Retraction, framed as a dramatic song cycle for soprano, three-voice choir, and mixed ensemble, serves partly as a timely warning of the perils of irrational thought and unchecked power, but mainly seeks to give a voice to Isobel—a young woman at the bottom of the social order, destroyed by the wheels of a brutal and unjust society.
Featuring Musicians: Amy Foote, soprano, Emilio Peña, tenor, Tim Selva, tenor, Sideny Chen, Bass, Michael Long (CMC Faculty), violin, Jessie Nucho, flute, Vicky Ehrlich, cello, Keisuke Nakagoshi, piano.
Music and text by Davide Verotta (CMC Piano & Composition Faculty)
Friday, April 24 and Saturday, April 25 at 8pm
Tickets: $25 General Admission; $15 Senior & Students
Purchase Tickets Here
CMC Students, Faculty and Staff get 50% off advanced tickets using the code CMC-THERETRACTION