200 Motels, The Suite
Composer: Frank Zappa
Adaptation: Ali Askin
Director: Johan Simons
Conductor: Jurjen Hempel
Company: Nederlands Philharmonisch Orkest, Cappella Amsterdam
Performers: Drums: Morgan Agren Keyboards: Mats Oberg Soprano: Claron McFadden
Locations: Koninklijk Theater Carré - AMSTERDAM
Dates and Time: Friday 23 June 2000 (08:30 PM), Saturday 24 June 2000 (08:30 PM)
Lengt Performance: 1:30 h
World Première: Friday 23 June 2000, Koninklijk Theater Carré
Recorded by NPS Radio
The Nederlands Philharmonisch Orkest, conducted by Jurjen Hempel, performs music composed by Frank Zappa for his road movie, 200 Motels (1972). This is Zappa’s best known film. The soundtrack is a combination of classical music and rock. The Suite differs from the original in a number of ways. On the soundtrack, there was still a large difference between the classical and rock sections. This version integrates both styles. However, The Suite is certainly not a rock opera. Frank’s widow, Gail Zappa, commissioned Ali N. Askin, who had with collaborated with Zappa in the Yellow Shark Project, to arrange 200 Motels, The Suite. He was given carte blanche to study and rearrange the many recordings, transcriptions and directions for 200 Motels left by Zappa. He also incorporated much of the newly discovered material into The Suite. Drummer Morgan Agren and keyboard player Mats Oberg will augment the Zappa band during the performance in Carré. They have both worked with him on previous occasions.
Ali N. Askin
Ali N. Askin (1962) studied composition at the Münchner Hochschule. He works as a musician, composer and producer for radio, theatre and television and was Frank Zappa's assistant in the Yellow Shark Project between 1991 and 1993. He orchestrates and rearranges Zappa’s musical legacy and has been working for the Zappa Family Trust since Zappa’s death.
Jurjen Hempel
Conductor Jurjen Hempel specialises in contemporary repertoire. He has participated in many collaborations, including with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra and the Rotterdam Philharmonic. He was winner of the prestigious Ozawa Fellowship Award, and was also a finalist in the 1995 Sibelius Conductors Competition.
Claron McFadden
Soprano Claron McFadden sings works from both the classical and contemporary repertoires. She debuted as an opera singer in Hasse’s L’Eroe Cinese at the Holland Festival in 1985.
200 Motels, the film
The film 200 Motels (1972) is a travelogue of the experiences of Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention while on tour. A new motel meant ’another tuna sandwich, but from a different caterer.’ The film takes a surrealistic look at life on the road. A soundtrack accompanied the film. The Mothers played with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra on the 200 Motels CD. It had been Zappa’s wish to perform the music live, with a major orchestra. It had seemed as if this wish was going to be fulfilled * with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in the Royal Albert Hall in London - but the performance was cancelled after protests from some rather puritanical members of the orchestra. The Mothers had behaved in an ‘unseemly fashion’ during the recording of the film, and the members of the orchestra felt that a repeat of this was inappropriate for such a respected venue. A learning experience for Zappa. During the eighties, he attended a meeting organised by the Parents Music Resource Center, a group intending to restrict obscene and blasphemous lyrics in rock music. This is where Zappa coined the famous phrase: ‘Ladies, what we are doing here is treating dandruff with decapitation.’
200 Motels Poster
Holland Festival Poster
