19/08/2005 - Kiel's Opera (Germany)
Madrugada is the futuristic story of a teenage girl's rebellion against her parents and the repressive society that terrorizes them into submission. A Jeanne d'Arc-like fantasy, Takemitsu conceived in a dream this notion of a world gone wrong only to be saved and ultimately resurrected by forces of nature both unyielding represented by cetaceans, the whales and brave he girl, Yumi, a tough but tender Pied-Piper destined to lead all living creatures into an ever evolving and vastly more enlightened era.
This tale of generational, cultural and artistic conflict perfectly expressed for Takemitsu the struggle of beauty versus all that he perceived as ugly in terms of human behavior. As such, Madrigada gives voice to Toru-san's aesthetic agenda, his formula for escape from fear. It is with this purpose in mind that The Hermphrodite admonishes us in the Coda to, "Remember ! The memory of love is the saving grace of the human Race".
