At That Time (2021)

a chamber opera in one act

At That Time follows a love story about two writers, Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas. Using text from Stein's Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas and Everybody’s Autobiography, it explores the relationship between these two women, both authors, one sacrificing her career in service of the other. Stein's "autobiography," which ushered her into the public eye, essentially narrates Alice’s story as if it was Gertrude’s own. This could be perceived as an ultimate act of love, or also robbery. Over the course of the piece, six semi-linear movements, Alice is left to find subtle and subversive ways to express her self and creativity as Gertrude navigates her new-found fame.

Video directed by Heinrich Horwitz and performed by the Decoder Ensemble: Leopold Hurt (zither), Carola Schaal (clarinet), Sonja Lena Schmid (cello), Jonathan Shapiro (percussion), and Sebastian Berweck (keyboard), with soloist Jessica Aszodi. They were curated by the artistic director and composer Margareta Ferek Petrić for the Zagreb Music Biennale, with video by Heinrich Horwitz (director), Lara Rodriguez Cruz, and Jule Katinka Cramer and audio recorded by Anne Taegert and Carlo Grippa, mastered by Christopher Botta.