The loser at Peter Jay Sharp Building

He appears to float in the nothingness. Confined to a tall tower 20 feet above the seats, he is alone, broken, and has a story to tell.

In this daringly staged one-act opera from Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Lang— featuring mezzanine-only seating and based on the novel by Austrian writer Thomas Bernhard— a failed piano student (baritone Rod Gilfry, Anna Nicole, 2013 Next Wave) recounts a life lived in the shadows of his famous friend Glenn Gould. As virtuoso pianist Conrad Tao and a chamber ensemble conducted by Karina Cannelakis accompany from far in the distance, the cavernous space engulfs the singer, as he sings of the distance that separates beauty from perfection.