Ellen West

Composed for Soprano and Baritone with an instrumental sextet, Ellen West brings the audience into the lives of psychiatrist Ludwig Binswanger and his patient, Ellen West, who throughout her life filled journals and wrote poetry. Frank Bidart’s text juxtaposes the clinical observations of Binswanger with fictitious entries of Ellen’s writing which shine light on her deeply personal struggles. This one act tour-de-force delves into the emotional, psychological, and physical challenges of a woman struggling with perceptions of her body, her troubling relationship with food, and the world closing in around her.

A remarkable operatic poem written for an intimate instrumentation,
Ellen West
plunges into the emotional, psychological, and physical challenges of a woman struggling with perceptions of her body, her relationship with food, and the world closing in around her. Inspired by one of the earliest cases of existential analysis, poet Frank Bidart and composer Ricky Ian Gordon examine the lives of psychiatrist Ludwig Binswanger and his patient, Ellen West. Bidart’s poem, which serves as the opera’s libretto, juxtaposes the clinical observations of Binswanger with fictitious entries of Ellen’s journals, illuminating a psychological portrait of a woman at war with her body.

Composed for Soprano and Baritone with an instrumental sextet, Ellen West brings the audience into the lives of psychiatrist Ludwig Binswanger and his patient, Ellen West, who throughout her life filled journals and wrote poetry. Frank Bidart’s text juxtaposes the clinical observations of Binswanger with fictitious entries of Ellen’s writing which shine light on her deeply personal struggles. This one act tour-de-force delves into the emotional, psychological, and physical challenges of a woman struggling with perceptions of her body, her troubling relationship with food, and the world closing in around her.