Composer Anthony Gatto's releases "Wise Blood," his operatic setting of Flannery O'Connor's iconic novel about a crisis of faith, patriotism, and painful transformation. The pace and syntax of southern preaching colors much of Gatto's text setting, while at other times his approach suggests the pace and tenor of radio drama. Choosing a wind and brass heavy orchestration, Gatto's sound world for "Wise Blood" draws on Coplandesque Americana elements, experimental musical theatre, and post-modernism, frequently relying on a grotesque distortion of conventional elements from these styles to express the power of doubt to erode one's sense of security in bedrock principles.
