Arjuna's Dilemma

Douglas J. Cuomo has gathered an exciting array of artists from points East and West for his chamber opera Arjuna's Dilemma, which tells the story of the Bhagavad Gita in music that seamlessly melds classical, jazz, and Indian traditions. Indian singer Amit Chatterjee (Zawinul Syndicate), tenor Tony Boutte, and members of Anonymous 4 are accompanied by a ten-piece ensemble that includes the Ethel string quartet, pianist Kathleen Supove, and bassist Robert Black of the Bang on a Can All Stars. Tabla player Badal Roy (Miles Davis, John McLaughlin) and tenor saxophonist Bob Franceschini, a giant of Latin jazz, are the featured instrumental soloists. 

A work of both sweeping grandeur and piercing intimacy, Arjuna's Dilemma addresses ancient themes that remain startlingly topical: the conflicting claims of conscience and duty; the search for self-knowledge in a changing world. Arjuna's Dilemma showcases breathtaking vocal turns and virtuosic ensemble and solo playing. The piece utilizes North Indian performance styles, melodic structures, tuning systems, time signatures and rhythmic patterns alongside Western instrumentation, harmonies and forms. North Indian vocals co-mingle with a Western tenor and four-part choral writing, with references to both modern vocal styles and Byzantine and Gregorian chant. Improvisation is common to both musical worlds, with Chatterjee, Roy and Franceschini each using their respective improvisatory traditions to call into being the ecstatic, sublime, and sometimes terrifying world of Arjuna's Dilemma. 

Douglas J. Cuomo has composed highly acclaimed and original music for concert and theatrical stages, television, and film. His compositions range from well-known television themes - for Sex and the City and NOW with Bill Moyers, among others - to evening-length theater works. Arjuna's Dilemma is preceded on disc by Cuomo's Kyrie for And on Earth, Peace (2007) commissioned by the vocal ensemble Chanticleer and recorded by the group on Warner Music.