Composed by Tobias Picker
Libretto (Eng) by Aryeh Lev Stollman,
Based on the book by Dr. Oliver Sacks

Tobias Picker, the Grammy Award winning composer, became friends with Oliver Sacks after Picker approached the doctor for help with his Tourette syndrome. Sacks attended many of Picker’s earlier operas at the Metropolitan Opera, in Santa Fe and at Glimmerglass, and they discussed what would become this full-length retelling of the Awakenings story many times over the years.

Probing into the themes originally explored by Sacks’s groundbreaking book— statuesque immobilization, locked-in secrets, and the poetic possibility of renewed life, this sensitive operatic adaptation is the first to accurately portray Oliver Sacks as a shy gay man struggling with his sexuality — something he only revealed publicly decades later in his 2015 memoir.

Ballet
for Orchestra
Inspired by Dr. Oliver Sacks’ book “Awakenings”
Text by Oliver Sacks
Choreographed by Aletta Collins
Commissioned for Rambert Dance Company by Daniel Katz Limited Official Website of Author & Neurologist

A one-act opera adapted by Michael Morris, music by Michael Nyman, based on author Oliver Sacks’s critically-acclaimed book. Produced and libretto by Christopher Rawlence. First performed at the Inst. of Contemporary Arts, London, Oct. 30, 1986. U.S. Premiere at the American Music Theater Festival, Philadelphia, Sept. 30, 1987. Performed at Lincoln Center Theater, New York City, July 14, 1988.

Listen to the opera soundtrack, composed by Michael Nyman and featuring the Nashville Opera Orchestra.