Journey to the Center of the Earth - 3 Ballets arranged for Bayan Accordion Ensemble

Journey to the Center of the Earth was first performed on tour in the Netherlands by the accordion musical-theatre ensemble, Alphen Opus 2, in October 2009. The music was conducted by Sergé Latychev and the stage production was directed by Arnold Sandhaus.

The ballet Pellucidar was inspired by the fourth book of the fictional "hollow earth" series, Tarzan at the Earth's Core, written by Edgar Rice Burroughs in 1929, capitalizing on the popularity of his earlier Tarzan books. Tarzan leaves the jungle to participate in an expedition to Pellucidar, a land mass in the center of the earth, where he encounters and subdues a variety of prehistoric creatures and peoples.

The commedia dell'arte was the source of Zanni, a ballet depicting the comic exploits of the silly and cunning members of the servant class: the gymnastic Francatrippa; the quirky Truffaldino; the scheming Brighella; the clownish Pagliaccio; and the deviously agile Arlecchino in his characteristic checkered costume.

Antinous, an ode composed in 1918 by the Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa, provided the inspiration for the ballet of the same name, an exploration of love and beauty during the reign of Hadrian, Emperor of Rome.

John Franceschina, composer, has created scores for the National Shakespeare Company and the Provincetown Playhouse in New York City, the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles, the Coconut Grove Playhouse in Miami, Baltimore's Center Stage, Washington's Ford's Theatre and the Arena Stage, the Pittsburgh Public Theatre, Cleveland Playhouse, Florida Studio Theatre, Geva Theatre, Syracuse Stage, Papermill Playhouse, Music Theatre Works, and the Moscow Art Theatre, in addition to the Asolo State Theatre in Sarasota, Florida, where he acted as composer-in-residence from 1976 to 1993. His Fanfare for the Fiftieth was commissioned by Philippe Entremont for the fiftieth anniversary of the New Orleans Symphony Orchestra in 1985; his secular oratorio, Houtebeen, for male chorus, string orchestra and accordion ensemble, toured the Netherlands in 2014, and his opera, Scenes from the Jungle toured the Netherlands in 2019.

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