Music Theatre since 1990

Music Theatre since 1990 An annotated catalogue

Performing material is available on hire unless otherwise stated. Please send your email order to com. hire@schott-music.com or contact the agent responsible for your territory or your local Schott offi ce.

All editions with edition numbers are available from music shops or via our online shop. Free info material on all works can be requested by e-mail at infoservice@schott-music.com.

All durations are approximate.

For original contributions and images all rights reserved. Although we made efforts to contact all authors and photographers we kindly ask those whom we could not reach to contact us concerning subsequent copyright clearance.

This catalogue was completed in March 2009.

Schott Music Mainz GmbH & Co. KG Weihergarten 5, 55116 Mainz/Germany, Postfach 3640, 55026 Mainz/Germany Geschäftszeit: Montag bis Donnerstag von 8.00 bis 12.30 und 13.30 bis 17.00 Uhr Freitag von 8.00 bis 12.30 und 13.30 bis 16.00 Uhr Telefon +49-6131-2 46-0 Telefax +49-6131-24 62 11 E-Mail: infoservice@schott-music.com Internet: www.schott-music.com Schott Music London Ltd. 48, Great Marlborough Street, London W1F 7BB/Great Britain Telephone +44-20-7534 0750, Telefax +44-20-7534 0759 E-Mail: promotions@schott-music.com Schott Music Madrid S.L. Alcalá 70, 28009 Madrid/Spain Telephone +34-1-57 707 51, Telefax +34-1-5 75 76 45 E-Mail: seemsa@seemsa.com

Schott Music New York Corp.

EAMDLLC (European American Music Distributors LLC) 254 West 31st Street, New York NY 10001-6212/USA Telephone +1-212 461-6940 Telefax +1-212-8 10 45 65 E-Mail: ny@schott-music.com Schott Music Paris S.A. 175, rue Saint-Honoré, 75040 Paris cedex 01/ France Téléphone +33-1-42 96 89 11 Télécopie +33-1-42 86 02 83 E-Mail: paris@schott-music.com Schott Music Panton Prag s.i.o.

Radlická 99/2487, 15000 Praha 5/Czech Republic Telephon +4 20-2-5155 39 52 Telefax: +4 20-2-5155 59 94 E-Mail: panton@panton.cz Schott Music Tokyo Kasuga Bldg., 2-9-3 Iidabashi, Chiyoda-Ku, Tokyo 102-0072/Japan Telephone +81-3-32 63 65 30 Telefax +81-3-32 63 66 72 E-Mail: info@schottjapan.com

Cover: Akie Amou as Venus in: György Ligeti, Le Grand Macabre, Komische Oper Berlin 2003, Photo: Monika Rittershaus Editors: Dr. Christiane Krautscheid, Rainer Schochow, Dr. Christian Wildhagen Translations by Sally Groves and Lindsay Chalmers-Gerbracht Print layout and typography: Christopher Peter Printed in Germany KAT 219-99

MUSIC THEATRE SINCE 1990 An annotated catalogue 2009

www.schott-music.com Mainz · London · Berlin · Madrid · New York · Paris · Prague · Tokyo · Toronto

FOREWORD Dear reader, This new catalogue bears witness to the wide variety of music theatre published by Schott Music since 1990. We opted for a chronological listing according to the year of each work’s premiere, because we felt that this would give an interesting picture of what has happened in these years - as well as encouraging you to look at works you might have missed if we had listed things alphabetically!

If you would like to have further information or samples about any work we would be delighted to send this to you. Just email us at infoservice@schott-music.com

Some practical details on using this handbook: • •

•

•

The operas are listed chronologically from 1990 to March 2009 We have not included music theatre for children and young people: you can find this repertoire in our catalogue “Kinder brauchen Theater – Musiktheater für Kinder und Jugendliche” (KAT 33-99). This is available on our website or we can send it to you.

Each work is presented in the same way: title – date(s) of development – language(s) of the text – characters / voices – instrumentation – duration – information on performance materials – any special features – performances – short synopsis – quote from a review or a short explanation by the composer At the back you will find an index, cross-referenced for names of composers or librettists, operas without a chorus, operas lasting under 70 minutes or operas with special topics or literary themes.

We look forward to hearing from you!

The Schott Promotion Team

CONTENTS Works in chronological order........................................................................ 6 Index Composers and their works . .................................................................... 188 Work titles . ............................................................................................. 190 Librettists................................................................................................. 191 Subjects.................................................................................................... 193 Short operas............................................................................................. 194 Operas without chorus............................................................................. 194

Hans Werner Henze

Das verratene Meer | Gogo no Eiko Music drama in two acts Libretto by Hans-Ulrich Treichel after the novel „Gogo no Eiko“ („The Sailor who betrayed the sea“) by Yukio Mishima Origin: 1986, 1989 | 2003, 2005 (revised version)

1990

Language: German | Japanese (revised version) Cast: Fusako Kuroda, a 33year old Widow · lyric soprano – Noburo, her 13year old Son, also called “Number Three” · tenor – Ryuji Tsukazaki, 2. Offi cer of the cargo ship “Rakuyo-Maru” · bass – Petty Offi cer · tenor – the Youth Gang and Friends of Noburo: “Number One”, the Leader · baritone – “Number Two” · counter tenor – “Number four” · baritone – “Number fi ve” · bass – a Naval Offi cer, Seamen, Dock Workers, the Business Manager of the Boutique “Rex”, three Salesladies · silent roles Orchestra: 3 (2. auch Picc., 3. auch Altfl .) · 1 · Ob. d‘amore (auch Engl. Hr.) · 2 (2. auch Bassklar.) · Bassklar. (auch Kontrabassklar.) · Sopransax. · 3 (3. auch Kontrafag.) – 4 · 3 · Altpos. · 1 · 1 Basspos. · 1 Kontrabasspos. · 0 – P. S. (Beckenpaar · 2 Gong. · chin. Gong · Basstamt. · kl. Tr. · Schellentr. · 6 Tomt. · Mil.Tr. · Rührtr. · Trinidad steel-drum · gr. Tr. mit Beck. · Mar. · Kast. · Tempelbl. · Woodblock · O-Daiko · Guiro · Peitsche · Ratsche · Waldteufel · Flex. · Vibr. · Marimb. · Sir. · 6 Gl.) (7 Spieler) – 2 Hfn. · Klav. · Cel. – Str. – Tonband: Hafengeräusche, Möwengeschrei, Schiffsglocke Duration: 110‘ Libretto BN 3365-00 · Study score ED 8624 · Performance material on hire Remarks: The revised version (2003) in Japanese language has the title “Gogo no Eiko”; it contains music newly composed especially for this version and is free for the stage première.

Selected Productions Das verratene Meer

Gogo no Eiko

05.05.1990 Deutsche Oper Berlin (WP) Markus Stenz · Götz Friedrich · Hans Hoffer · Jan Skalicky

15.10.2003 Suntory Hall Tokyo (WP, concert performance) Gerd Albrecht · Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra

30.06.1990 Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden Ulf Schirmer · Alois Michael Heigl · Johannes Leiacker 09.03.2002 Oper Frankfurt Bernhard Kontarsky · Nicolas Brieger · Hans Dieter Schaal · Margit Koppendorfer

8

26.08.2006 Salzburg Festival 31.08.2006 Philharmonie Berlin 05.09.2006 Auditorium RAI Torino · Settembre Musica Gerd Albrecht · Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI Torino (concert performances)

Synopsis Das verratene Meer | Gogo no Eiko, based on the iconic novel by Yukio Mishima, tells the story of a murder committed out of disappointment and a misconceived sense of honour: the teenage boy Noboru and the gang of youths that he has joined kill the lover of Noboru’s mother Fusako, the ship’s officer Ryuji. They cannot bear that he, the passionate seaman, wants to turn his back on the sea, the symbol of independence and vastness, out of his love for Fusako.

Gogo no Eiko 15.10.2003 Suntory Hall, Tokyo

Das verratene Meer [is] a highly opulent work of mature and refined mastery: a summary with certain perspectives which are new for Henze. There are numerous moments of almost narcotic beauty: tonal constructions which only Henze could have created which alternate between simple, enchanting cantabile [and] passages of extreme and catastrophically shrillest complexity.

(Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 07.05.1990)

9

Ingomar Grünauer

König für einen Tag (King for a Day) Opera in three scenes Libretto by the composer after Pedro Calderón de la Barca’s “La vida es sueno” and Hugo von Hofmannsthal’s “Der Turm” Origin: 1989

1990

Language: German Cast: Prince Sigismund · baritone (bass baritone) – the Guard · tenor – the King · bass – Julia · soprano – First State Counsellor · high soprano (coloratura soprano) – Invisible Voices (governesses, teachers etc.) · chorus (in the 1. and 3. scene) – chorus solo parts in the 2. scene: 2.-8. State Counsellor · 4 altos, 3 tenors – 1.-4. Man from the street · 4 basses (one of them baritone alternatively) – 1.-4. Woman from the street · 4 sopranos Orchestra: 2 (2. auch Picc.) · 2 (2. auch Engl. Hr.) · 2 (2. auch Bassklar.) · 2 (2. auch Kontrafag.) – 2 · 1 · 1 · 0 – S. (Marimb. · kl. Tr. · Rührtr. · 2 hg. Beck. · 3 Tomt. · 3 Crotales · Hi-hat) (1 Spieler) – Reißnagel-Klav. – Solo-Str. (4 Vl. · 2 Vla. · 2 Vc. · 1 Kb.) Duration: 85‘ Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 16.05.1990 Luzern, Stadttheater Luzern (WP) Christian Pollack · Georges Delnon · Erich Fischer · Anuschka Meyer-Riehl

10

Ingomar Grünauer 1990 in front of the Stadttheater Luzern · Photo: Felix von Wartburg

Synopsis For 10 years Prince Sigismund has been incarcerated in a tower by order of his father, the king, so as to protect the royal household from his volatile moods. His soliloquies and fantasies constantly circle around his beloved Julia, the discoverer Amerigo Vespucci and a free and better world without a king and without exploitation. The king and Julia arrive at the tower and the king gives in to her demand to free Sigismund. Meanwhile, the empire is in danger and the people threaten unrest.

The counsellors confer, no-one is sure how to deal with the situation.

Amidst the confusion, the king informs the Privy Council of his decision that Sigismund should be the new king. Sigismund is rather unsure at first, not knowing whether he is being tricked and mocked, but all too soon his volatility takes over.

He tortures the counsellors, announces the victory of the riotous rebels and wants to fraternize with the crowd. Soon the situation escalates; the crowd turns on the counsellors and is about to string Sigismund, “the last bloodsucker” up. At the last moment the king intervenes and calms the situation with a few words. The king reveals that everything was a game, to show Sigismund that “An empire isn’t a cue ball for fantasies.” Sigismund is distraught and of his own will returns to the tower, refusing to leave ever again.

The whole musical event develops from one core, structured basic sound, which stands for Sigismund’s mental state. This permanently varying sound structure circles round itself, tries to escape from its hermetic spiral and ends up where it started without achieving closure. If an audience recognises this principle intuitively, it will recognise variations as elements of tension. And this is the most important fact for me: An audience experiencing an exciting, sensuous and complex music theatre. (Ingomar Grünauer)

11

Volker David Kirchner

Erinys (The Furies) Threnos in two parts after the “Orestie” by Aeschylus Text compilation by the composer Concept by Harald Weirich Origin: 1986 | 1989

1990

Language: German Cast: Elektra · dramatic soprano – Orest · baritone – Klytaimnestra · mezzo soprano – Agamemnon · baritone – Kassandra · high soprano – Aigisth · character tenor – 3 Servants / 3 female Voices behind the scene / 7 Mourning Women · 3 sopranos · 1 mezzo soprano · 3 altos – 9 Old Men · 3 tenors, 3 baritones, 3 basses – the Blind Beggar · counter tenor – Folk · silent roles Orchestra: 4 (2. bis 4. auch Picc., 2. auch Altfl. und Panfl.) · 3 (3. auch Engl. Hr.) · 3 (2. auch EsKlar., 3. auch Bassklar.) · 2 · 1 · Kfg. – 4 · 3 · 3 · 1 – P. (2 Spieler) · S. (2 Trgl. · Röhrengl. · Gong · 2 Tamt. · Beck.paar · 3 hg. Beck. · Ind. Schellen · Zimb. · Donnerbl. · Schellentr. · 2 Bongos · 10 Tomt. · 2 Mil. Tr. · 2 Rührtr. · Tenortr. · 2 kl. Tr. · 2 gr. Tr. · Timb. · 2 Holzbl. · 4 Tempelbl. · Steinsp. · Kast. · Rute · Messgl. · Tastenglspl. · Xyl. · Vibr. · Marimb. · Röhrengl. · Gong.) (6 Spieler) – Hfe. · 2 Klav. (2. auch Cel.) · 3 Schofare (oder Stierhr.) – Str. – Tonband Duration: 80‘ Libretto BN 3446-00 · Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 15.04.1990 Wuppertaler Bühnen (WP) 18.04.1991 Opernhaus Mönchengladbach · Tage des Neuen Musik-Theaters 25.04.1991 Forum Leverkusen · Tage des Neuen Musik-Theaters Neil Varon · Friedrich Meyer-Oertel · Hanna Jordan

12

Synopsis Outside the palace in Mycenae: Clytemnestra proclaims that Troy has fallen. Agamemnon, the Greek commander-in-chief, returns home, bringing with him the Trojan king’s daughter Cassandra as one of the spoils of war. Clytemnestra greets her spouse and duplicitously invites him to enter the palace. Cassandra then raises her voice and all that can be discerned is that she is speaking of catastrophe and nemesis. Screams can be heard from inside the palace. Clytemnestra appears, before her the dead bodies of Agamemnon and Cassandra. She confesses to having committed regicide: this was revenge for Agamemnon’s previous sacrifice of her daughter Iphigenia. Clytemnestra crowns her beloved Aegisthus as king.

Ten months later. Agamemnon’s daughter Electra laments the still unatoned murder. A stranger arrives who announces himself as Electra’s long-lost brother Orestes and claims that he intends to kill Aegisthus. A blind man warns Orestes of Electra’s thirst for power. The inebriated Aegisthus comes out of the palace. The news that Orestes has fallen sends him into a state of ecstasy.

At this moment, Electra stabs Aegisthus. Orestes also raises his knife to kill Clytamnestra, hesitates, but is persuaded by Electra to kill their mother. Electra crowns Orestes as king, but while the masses are exulting, the blind man prophesises that this misdeed will only bring renewed disaster. Orestes is driven insane: he believes that he can hear the voice of his mother who has set the spirits of revenge upon him...

Erinys 15.04.1990 Wuppertaler Bühnen

The gripping effect […] is primarily generated by Kirchner’s music. Against all expectations, the music remains extremely quiet over long periods. Kirchner has categorically avoided superficial horror music. The music in the upper strings frequently stands still, almost as if not daring to breathe in the face of scorching danger… (Neue Zeitschrift für Musik 05/1990)

13

Detlev Müller-Siemens

Die Menschen (The Men) Opera in two acts after the play of the same name by Walter Hasenklever Libretto by the Composer Origin: 1989-1990

1990

Language: German Cast: Alexander · baritone – the Murderer – actor · the Head / the Guest · character tenor – the Drunkard / the Doctor · bass baritone – the Helper · actor – Lissi · dramatic coloratura soprano – the Fortune Teller / the Mother · alto – the Young Man · dramatic tenor – the Girl · lyric soprano – the old Waiter · bass – the begging Girl · soprano – the Banker / the Public Prosecutor · character tenor – the President · actor – 3 whores · 3 sopranos – 4 Speakers – the Beggar · actor – the Nurse · actress – 3 Thugs · actors – People wearing masks / People being deaf-mute · supernumeraries – the Gentlemen / the Shadows / the Jury · chorus Orchestra: 3 (alle auch Picc.) · 3 (3. auch Engl. Hr.) · 3 (3. auch Bassklar.) · 3 (2. u. 3. auch Kfg.) – 4 · 2 · 3 · 1 – S. (I: P. · Beck. · Tamt. · Tomt. · 4 Tempelbl. · Metallplatte · Mar. · Glspl. · Xyl.; II: Beck. · Röhrengl. · Tamt. · 3 Tomt. · Metallplatte · Lotusfl. · Mar.; III: Röhrengl. · 3 Bong. · gr. Tr. · Mar. · Woodbl. · Clav. · Glspl.; IV: Beck. · 2 Cong. · kl. Tr. · gr. Tr. · Vibr.) (4 Spieler [Tamt., gr. Tr., Metallplatte, Röhrengl. und Glspl. sind jeweils nur einzeln vorhanden und werden von den Schlagzeugern abwechselnd bedient]) – Str. Auf der Bühne („Bar-Trio”): Es-Klar. – Klav. – Kb. Duration: 90‘ Libretto BN 3550-50 · Recording CD WERGO 6253 · Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 18.11.1990 Nationaltheater Mannheim (WP) Jun Märkl · Christine Mielitz · Peter Heilein 17.01.1993 Theater Basel Michael Boder · Michael Simon 30.04.2005 Theater Aachen Jeremy Hulin · Barbara Beyer · Lothar Baumgarte · Barbara Aigner

14

Synopsis “A murdered victim climbs out of the grave … He travels through the world carrying his head, presented to him by his murderer, seeking atonement as a doppelgänger in place of the murderer until he finds eternal peace.” This is Walter Hasenclever’s summary of the plot for his expressionistic drama Die Menschen. Birth, death, power, oppression, law, murder, fear and loneliness – Detlev Müller-Siemens was drawn to the spareness of the text, which often reveals only a hint of the plot. In his own adaptation, however, he eliminates Hasenclever’s intended theme of redemption and the occasionally theosophical colouring of the work. The music conjures up an atmosphere of permanent violence, both latent and direct, in which events simply occur – non-psychologically, factually, drastically, directly and grotesquely. In contrast, there are phases of repose and peace in which the music primarily develops in a linear and seemingly weightless fashion. The composer characterised his work as a “vertiginous panopticon in which dreamlike images rush past, burst explosively in the light and sink back into darkness.”

Die Menschen 18.11.1990 Nationaltheater Mannheim

The experience is profound and its effect utterly overwhelming. […] One listens captivated, the one-and-a-half hours fly past in a twinkling and, on leaving the theatre, one feels a different person. […] The longer one listens to the work, the more avid one becomes: avid for the razorsharp sounds with which time is paced in the work. Anyone who wishes to discover theatre and music theatre in an all-embracing sense can experience this in the new production of the opera Die Menschen […]. (Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 19.01.1993)

15

Dieter Schnebel

St. Jago Music and Pictures to Kleist After Texts by Heinrich von Kleist Origin: 1990-1991 | 1995 (revised version) Language: German

1991

Cast: 4 singing voices (soprano · alto · tenor · bass) – 3 speakers (male voice, female voice, low male voice) Orchestra: Altfl. (auch Picc.) · 0 · 1 · Bassklar. (auch Kb.-Klar.) · 0 – 0 · 1 · 1 · 0 – S. (Messgl. · Röhrengl. · 3 Beck. · Tamt. · 3 Tomt. · 2 Bong. · kl. Tr. · gr. Tr. · Kast. · Besteck · 2 Clav. · Dose mit Kugeln · Donnerblech · Glas-chimes · Guiro · Gummibälle in Handtr. · Holzbehälter mit Holzkugeln · Hyoshigi · Löwengebrüll · Mar. · Metallfolien · Metallinstr. · Peitsche · Pistolenschuss · Porzellan · Rainmaker · Ratsche · Papiere · Sandbl. · Sistr. · Steine · Schotter im Kasten · iberische und lat.-amerik. Schüttelinstr. · Tempelbl. · Vogelpfeife · Wasser · Waldteufel · Windchimes · Windmasch. · 2 Woodbl. · Zweige · Glspl. · Vibr. · Marimba) (2 Spieler) – Hfe. · Cemb. · Synth. · elektr. Git. – Str. Duration: 85‘ Performance material on hire Remarks: The first version entitled Chili – Music and pictures to Kleist had its World Première in 1991 together with Schnebel’s Jowaegerli on the occasion of a double bill “Vergänglichkeit” (“Transience”) at the Hamburg State Opera. In the course of the revision of the work in 1995 the title was changed into St. Jago – Music and Pictures to Kleist.

Selected Productions 12.05.1991 Hamburgische Staatsoper (WP) Marc Albrecht · Achim Freyer | Johannes Grebert · Maria-Elena Amos · Virginia Arndt 16.01.2005 Konzerthaus Berlin Steffen Tast · Cornelia Heger · Fred Pommerehn · Elke von Sivers

16

Dieter Schnebel · Photo: Peter Andersen

Synopsis The principal voice in the musical-dramatic tale is the language of Kleist, in itself already highly musical in timbre and syntactic structure. […] The novella Das Erdbeben in Chili [The Earthquake in Chile] forms a quasi recurrent theme. The text is not transformed musically, for example incorporated in a musical setting, but is presented in musical form: in a particular tempo and dynamic level and also in a particular tonal colouring. This transformation occurs on the one hand according to musical criteria, e.g. a serial order of the types of speech and motif-like relationships on a higher level – on the other hand, psychic moods – ‘atmospheres’ – are conveyed though musical rhetoric. […] Each individual section has a particular method of performance in which its innermost content is expressed. Thus in the first section, the text of the tale ‘Der Todesschuss’ [The Fatal Shot] is spoken hesitatingly and softly; in the second section, ‘Das Geheimnis’ [The Secret], whispered rapidly, in the following section, ‘Der Skandal’ [The Scandal], sonorously, but in a sneering tone. Through this manner of expression, undertones come to the surface and deeper layers of the text are made accessible. […] The four sections of the ‘musical action’ depict essential moments of the novella and also utilise Kleist’s poetry: ‘Tremors’, ‘Night of Love’, ‘Day of Peace’ and ‘Death Orgy’.

These are interludes which act as summaries. Words and music are combined in the prelude and postlude in which the subject is the poet himself. Extracts from Kleist’s letters from his later period run through the prelude ‘End of Kleist’ and utopian passages from his wonderful essay ‘On Marionette Theatre’ are quoted throughout the postlude.

(Dieter Schnebel. Source: Hamburg State Opera 1991)

Musically, Schnebel has formed Kleist’s and his two lovers’ journey towards death into an incredibly compact and disturbingly lurid current of emotion and moods; he creates an utterly contemporary and ominously threatening atmosphere through the chordal structure and the tense alternation between the spoken Kleist texts and the screams and panting of the vocalists. Thankfully, there are also idyllic highlights within this at times operatically lavish musical creation: refined and alienated “re-visions” of Romanticism and the art of motets, chorales and Carmina Burana.

(Die Welt, 14.04.1991)

17

Krzysztof Penderecki

Ubu Rex (King Ubu) Opera buffa in two acts Libretto by Jerzy Jarocki and Krzysztof Penderecki after the play „Ubu Roi“ by Alfred Jarry Origin: between 1990 and 1991

1991

Language: German Cast: Father Ubu · character tenor – Mother Ubu · coloratura mezzo soprano – King Wenzel · bass buffo – Queen Rosamunde · soprano – Boleslaus (Son of the King) · soprano – Ladislaus (Son of the King) soprano – Bougrelas (Son of the King) · tenor – the Tsar (double role) · 2 basses – Bordure · bass buffo – General Lascy · bass – Stanislaw Leczinski, a Farmer · bass – 7 Touts (also Polish Army, Boyars, 2 Guests): Pile (1. Tout) · soprano – Cotice (2. Tout) · tenor – Giron (3. Tout) · bass – 4 Touts · 1 tenor, 3 basses – Russian Army (Boyars, 3 farmers) · 3 tenors, 4 basses – 3 Judges, 3 Financial Administrators, 4 Noble Men, a Messenger, Michael Fedorowitsch, Folk · Speaking roles (actors) Orchestra: Picc. · 2 (2. auch Picc.) · 2 (2. auch Engl. Hr.) · Klar. in Es · 2 · Bassklar. · 2 (2. auch Kfg.) – 2 · 2 · 2 · 1 – P. S. (Trgl.-Baum · 1 Paar Beck. · 6 hg. Beck. · 2 Tamt. · Mil. Tr. · Rührtr. · Schellentr. · gr. Tr. m. Beck. · 5 Tomt. · 5 Timb. · Schellen · Crotalenb. · Tempelbl. · Röhrengl. · Kirchengl. · Peitsche · Guiro · Säge · Windmasch. · Glsp. · Marimb. · Xyl.) (4 Spieler) – Cel. – Str. Bühnenmusik: 2 Fl. (auch Picc.) · 2 Klar. · 2 Trp. · 2 Flügelhr. · 2 Hr. · 2 Pos. · 1 Tenorhr. · 1 Bariton · 1 Helikon (oder Sousaphon) – S. (Mil. Tr. · Rührtr. · gr. Tr. m. Beck. · Beckentr. · Lyra) – im Saal: 2 Trp. Duration: 120‘ Libretto BN 3652-80 · Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 06.07.1991 Bayerische Staatsoper München (WP) Michael Boder · August Everding · Roland Topor 06.11.1993 Teatr Wielki Lodz Antoni Wicherek · Lech Majewski · Francisezek Starowieyski 02.10.2003 Moniuszko Auditorium Warschau · Polish National Opera Jacek Kaspszyk · Krzysztof Warlikowski · Malgorzata Szczesniak 05.08.2004 Teatro Colón Buenos Aires Jacek Kaspszyk · Georges Delnon

18

Synopsis Ubu is greedy for power, money and blood sausage. Spurred on by his wife, he plans an assassination attempt on the Polish King Wenzel: in his unlimited sense of self-importance, Ubu is deeply convinced that he is the only one worthy of being king. With the aid of a gang of louts, the treacherous assassination is successful and Ubu proclaims himself as the new ruler to the jubilation of the blinded masses. From this point on, his sole occupation is to gain unlimited wealth. Without further ado, he hurls all major figures of his state – the aristocracy, judges and financiers – into a highly effective brain-smashing machine and seizes their riches. Ubu’s reign of terror is however of short duration: when the Russian Tsar deploys his army against the usurper, Ubu chooses to retreat from the superior military force and escape to safety.

Alfred Jarry’s scandalous work of 1896, Ubu Roi, has not lost any of its original explosiveness.

Jarry depicts the prophetic image of a proletarian Philistine who – as soon as he has seized power – immediately initiates anarchistic acts of violence. Through parody and caricature, this primitive, power-hungry individual is however unmasked and revealed as a ridiculous figure – but in a tone of humour that freezes laughter in the throat. Krzysztof Penderecki chose Jarry’s timeless text as the basis for his fourth full-length stage work, following The Devils of Loudon, Paradise Lost and The Black Mask.

Ubu Rex 28.05.2004 Lithuanian National Opera Vilnius

In a radical renunciation of his previous operas, which were characterised by monumental content and profound tonal sonority, Penderecki’s initial starting point in this work was the image of a buffoon. The music is determined by a vivid characterisation on the one hand, and on the other by an informal tone which enables the text to be easily heard and appreciated. The individual figures are assigned recognisable […] motifs and gestures and the […] orchestra is utilised with an economy more usually found in chamber music. (Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 09.07.1991)

19

Giovanni Paisiello | Hans Werner Henze

Il Re Teodoro in Venezia (King Theodore in Venice) Dramatic and heroic comedy in two acts by Giovanni Battista Casti New orchestration and new recitatives by Hans Werner Henze (in collaboration with David Paul Graham) · Stage version by Lorenzo Mariani Origin: around 1784 | 1991-1992

1992

Language: Italian Cast: Lisetta · soprano – Belisa · mezzo soprano – Gafforio · tenor – Sandrino · tenor – Teodoro · baritone – Akmet III · baritone – Taddeo · bass – Messer grande · bass Orchestra: 2 (auch Picc.) · 2 (auch Engl. Hr.) · 2 (auch Bassklar.) · 2 (auch Kfg.) – 2 · 1 · 1 · 0 – P. S. (Fingerzimb. [oder Trgl] · Tamt. [oder Beck.] · Tamb. · Mil. Tr. · gr. Tr. mit Beck. · Glspl. · Vibr.) (1 Spieler) – Klav. (auch Cel. ad lib.) · Git. · Mand. · Akk. (oder Harm.) – Str. (1 · 1 · 2 · 1 · 1) Duration: 150‘ Libretto (it.) BN 3366-90 · Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 16.07.1992 Montepulciano · Cantiere Internazionale d‘Arte (WP) Giuseppe Mega · Lorenzo Mariani · Pasquale Grossi 06.06.2004 Rokokotheater · Schwetzinger Festspiele Alicja Mounk · Andrea Raabe · Tobias Dinslage 22.07.2006 Teatro Poliziano Montepulciano Stephan E. Wehr · Igor Folwill

20

Synopsis

© fotofrank - Fotolia.com

The penniless adventurer Teodoro, in reality a Westphalian baron named Theodor von Neuhoff, falls in love with the innkeeper’s daughter Lisetta. As he is up to his ears in debt, he is however far more enamoured of her father’s stable income. Although Lisetta’s heart belongs to another, she allows herself to be led on by the prospect of becoming Teodoro’s queen – the fact that he has only assumed a regal state does not at present have to concern anybody… Lisetta’s original fiancé however, Sandrino, is not going to give up easily: his jealousy leads him to begin his counter-offensive by sending the debt collectors to King Teodoro. Although Teodoro has promoted the vain innkeeper to the rank of general, this can no longer save him. Arrested, maligned and now in a state of total bankruptcy, the unmasked imposter comes round to the bitter and ironic opinion that there is no ultimate security for anyone in the whole world. He accepts his fate heroically: ‘Whoever has sunk to the depths will eventually return to the top...’.

I have taken the liberty of undertaking various rhythmic, tonal and also melodic alterations with loving care and respect. Many of these alterations have originated out of my mania for variation which is shared by many German composers. […] Ferruccio Busoni taught us that each epoch must reinterpret the works of past eras. I developed a great interest in the idea of devoting myself to Paisiello and revising his works in order to emphasise the vivacity, humour and tenderness inherent in his music […]. (Hans Werner Henze)

21

Hans Werner Henze

Der Prinz von Homburg (The Prince of Homburg) Opera in three acts (9 pictures) after the play of the same name by Heinrich von Kleist Adapted for the opera by Ingeborg Bachmann Origin: 1958-1959 | 1991 (revised version)

1992

Language: German | French | English Cast: Princess Natalie of Oranien · soprano – 1st Court Lady · soprano – 2nd Court Lady · mezzo soprano – 3rd Court Lady · alto – the Princess Elector · alto – Friedrich Wilhelm, Elector of Brandenburg · heroic tenor – the Earl of Hohenzollern · lyric tenor – Field Marshal Dörfling · baritone – Prince Friedrich Artur of Homburg · high baritone – Colonel Kottwitz · bass – 1st Officer · tenor – 2nd Officer · baritone – 3rd Officer · bass – 1st Heiduck (Cavalryman) · tenor – 2nd Heiduck (Cavalryman) · baritone – chorus of Officers (ad lib.) – Pages, Servants, Guards, Messengers, Standard Bearers, Soldiers · supernumeraries Orchestra: 2 (2. auch Picc. und Altfl.) · 1 · Engl. Hr. · 1 · Bassklar. · 2 (2. auch Kfg.) – 2 · 2 · 2 · 0 – P. S. (Trgl. · Röhrengl. · 2 Almgl. · hg. Beck. · Beckenpaar · 3 Tamt. · 3 Tomt. · Schellentr. · Mil.Tr. · 2 Rührtr. · gr. Tr. · Rute · Glsp.) (3 Spieler) – Hfe. · Klav. – Str. Auf der Bühne: 1 · 1 · 1 · 1 – 1 · 2 · 0 · 0 – S. (Rührtr. · kl. Tr. [ad lib.]) – Vl. · Va. · Vc. Duration: 130‘ Study score ED 9102 · Libretto BN 3360-10 · Vocal score (G./F.) ED 5080 Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 22.05.1960 Hamburgische Staatsoper (WP) Leopold Ludwig · Helmut Käutner · Alfred Siercke 24.07.1992 Cuvilliés-Theater Munich · Bayerische Staatsoper (WP of the revised version) Wolfgang Sawallisch · Nikolaus Lehnhoff · Gottfried Pilz 14.11.2009 Theater an der Wien, Vienna Marc Albrecht · Christof Loy · Dirk Becker

22

Synopsis The opera is set in Fehrbellin in Brandenburg during the Prusso-Swedish Wars in the seventeenth century, immediately around the Swedish defeat at the battle of Fehrbellin 1675 Prince Friedrich and Princess Natalie are in love, and she is promised to him by the Elector.

Field Marshal Dörfling outlines the plan of battle, but the Prince daydreams about the princess.

During the battle, not having listened to the orders he was given, he attacks prematurely, endangering the outcome by sending his cavalry after retreating Swedes. Nevertheless, the attack is successful. The Elector orders the arrest of the disobedient officer. The Prince is imprisoned, and the Elector is expected to ratify the sentence of death. The Prince appeals through Princess Natalie, but she is told that the Prince must comply with the sentence. Natalie uses her Dragoons to free the Prince. Meanwhile, the Elector, knowing that he has taught the Prince his lesson, decides to pardon him. Blindfolded, the Prince is led towards his execution, but when the blindfold is removed, the Elector gives him the hand of the Princess.

Der Prinz von Homburg 24.07.1992 Bayerische Staatsoper München

In this way the prince appears as the first modern protagonist, passive, his fate decided by events, on his own in a fragile world and therefore close to us, not a hero any longer but instead both a complex ego and suffering creature, an “unmentionable human” as Kleist called himself, a dreamer, sleep walker who becomes self-aware. (Ingeborg Bachmann)

23

Harald Weiss

Amandas Traum (Amanda‘s Dream) Music theatre in two acts and one intermission Libretto by the Composer Origin: 1988-1991

1992

Language: German Cast: Amanda, retired Opera Diva · coloratura soprano – Edgar, retired Agent of Amanda · actor – Caroppo, Singer · tenor – Imagination · lyric soprano – Female Dwarf (in the beginning as Child) · actress – Espe, Costume of Amanda and her ‘alter ego’ · actress – Gordon B., Critic · actor – Doctors, Hostesses, Security Men · supernumeraries (ca. 10 persons) Orchestra: 1 · 1 (auch Engl. Hr.) · 1 · 0 – 2 · 0 · 0 · 0 – Hfe. – Str. (1 Vl. [verstärkt] · 2 Vla. · 2 Vc. · 1 Kb.) On the side stage: Gongs · Tamt.

Electro-acoustic supplies Duration: 120‘ Libretto BN 3932-20 · Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 16.08.1992 Frankfurt, Alte Oper, Frankfurt Feste 1992 (WP) Harald Weiss 15.06.1993 Hannover, Niedersächsisches Staatstheater Hannover Ulrich Windfuhr · Harald Weiss · Ben Willikens · Barbara Brokate 16.10.1996 Mannheim, Nationaltheater Wolfram Koloseus · Harald Weiss 28.03.1997 Cottbus, Staatstheater Adrian Stern · Sebastian Baumgarten · Thilo Reuther

24

Synopsis The plot is imaginary, and takes place somewhere at the beginning of the next century. The art form ‘opera’ no longer exists and all cultural life has been suspended. The aged diva Donna Amanda lives isolated in an old disused opera-house and her only contact with the outside world is her former agent Edgar, who supplies her with no more than what is absolutely necessary. Donna Amanda is lost in her dreams – memories of better times and hopes for better times in the future. Her hallucinations coalesce into the idea that she must sing before an audience once again.

Amandas Traum 28.03.1997 Cottbus, Staatstheater

Amanda’s Dream is both a play about opera and an opera in itself. Through the collision of three time levels, spaces for fantasy and mental images arise. Viewing and listening habits will be encouraged and undermined at the same time. Game and reality, present and future merge almost imperceptibly and fluently – brilliant theatre, brilliant opera... (Cellesche Zeitung)

25

Aribert Reimann

Das Schloss (The Castle) Opera in two acts (nine scenes) after the novel of the same name by Franz Kafka and the dramatic version by Max Brod Libretto by the Composer Origin: 1989-1992

1992

Language: German Cast: K., a stranger · baritone – the Landlord of the Inn “Zur Brücke” · baritone – the Landlady, his Wife · dramatic mezzo soprano – Schwarzer, Son of a Major Domus at the castle · actor – Artur, the Assistant (Coadjutor) · tenor – Jeremias, Second Assistant (Coadjutor) · bass baritone – Barnabas, Messenger from the castle · tenor – Olga, his Sister · mezzo soprano – Amalia, his Sister · soprano – the Landlord of the Inn “Herrenhof” · bass baritone – Frieda, Servant at the Inn “Herrenhof” · soprano – the Church Warden · bass – Mizzi, his Wife · silent role – the Teacher · tenor – Bürgel, Assistant Clerk · actor – 4 Farmers · 2 tenors, 2 basses · Farmers, Servants at the castle · supernumeraries Orchestra: Picc. · 1 · Altfl. · 1 · Engl. Hr. · Heckelph. · Klar. in Es · 1 · Bassklar. · 2 (2. auch Kfg.) · Kfg. – 4 · 4 · 3 · 1 – P. S. (Röhrengl. · 5 Tomt. · Mil. Tr. · Rührtr. · kl. Tr. · gr. Tr. · Glspl. · Xyl. · Vibr.) (4 Spieler) – 2 Hfn. · Klav. – Str. (12 · 10 · 8 · 6 · 5) Duration: 165‘ Libretto BN 3685-40 · Recording CD WERGO 6614 · Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 02.09.1992 Deutsche Oper Berlin · Berliner Festwochen (WP) 27.07.1995 Bayerische Staatsoper München · Münchner Opernfestspiele (WA) Michael Boder · Willy Decker · Wolfgang Gussmann 14.11.1992 Theater Duisburg · Deutsche Oper am Rhein Janos Kulka · Kurt Horres · Xednia Hausner · Danielle Laurent 17.10.1996 Jugendstiltheater Wien · Wiener Operntheater (NEA) Andreas Mitisek · John Lloyd Davies · Claudia Hannemann 15.05.2005 Deutsche Oper Berlin (WA) Michail Jurowski · Willy Decker · Wolfgang Gussmann

26

Synopsis Aribert Reimann’s opera, based on Franz Kafka’s novel Das Schloss, depicts K.’s various attempts to reach the castle for which he has been appointed as a surveyor. The scenes surround the ultimately inaccessible castle like a moat surrounding high walls. Although the attempts to reach the castle become successively more hopeless and K. swiftly loses his initial optimism as to what is achievable, at every attempt renewed hope is born, with new possibilities of success.

It is however precisely this perpetual desire which alienates K. within a society in which the individuals have already succeeded in finding themselves.

The fundamental characteristic of Reimann’s interpretation is the aspect of superimposition, the permeation through which all actions are depicted in an alienated hue. Reimann viewed this as being his underlying compositional task, to recapture Kafka’s enigmatic character, which had become lost in the dramatised versions, and recreating it in a new medium.

Das Schloss 02.09.1992 Berliner Festwochen · © Deutsche Oper Berlin

The sensitively conceived score, as intimate as chamber music, is […] precisely tailored to each relevant section of K.’s hopeless journey. Figures such as landlady, office secretary or messenger all have the function of impeding and confusing K. Each scene has its own individual tonal language, mode of expression and distinctive instrumentation. (Neue Zeitschrift für Musik 11/1992)

27

Ingomar Grünauer

Die Rache einer russischen Waise (The Revenge of a Russian Orphan) Chamber operetta in 17 sentimental scenes after the play of the same name

by Henri Rousseau Adaptation of the text by Matthias Kaiser and Ingomar Grünauer Origin: 1992

1993

Language: German Personen (the listed parts will be sung by the singers playing different roles): Anna / Nina / Mrs Martin / a Singer · high soprano – Sophie / Hannchen · soprano – Yadwigha / a Waiter / Gaudinet, Servant / Françoise / a Lady / a Singer · mezzo soprano – Heinrich (1.-5. scene) / Gaston / stoutly Peter · tenor – Postman / Heinrich (6.-16. scene) / a Singer · baritone – Ivan / Eduard / General Bosquet / Basilius / a Singer · bass Orchestra: Streichsextett (2 Vl. · 2 Vla. · 2 Vc.) – S. (Röhrengl. · gr. beck. · Tamt. · Sandbl. · Peitsche) (percussion instruments are played by strings) Duration: 90‘ Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 18.03.1993 Saarbrücken, Saarländisches Staatstheater, Alte Feuerwache (WP) Mark Pinzow · Peter Theiler · Gabriele Heimann

28

Synopsis St. Petersburg (1.-3. scene): Sophie, a Russian orphan lives with her aunt Yadwigha. She falls in love with Heinrich, but her aunt forbids her to marry him. So the two of them decide to escape.

Meanwhile Sophie’s aunt dies in St. Petersburg. Heinrich doesn’t really intend to marry Sophie – she is too poor for him. He absconds. Eduard, their wedding witness, has to tell Sophie, who is prostrate and decides to shoot herself. General Bosquet, a veteran of the Crimea war, takes care of her as his own child. Sophie’s friend Nina writes a letter from St. Petersburg to tell Sophie that Heinrich has married a rich woman. When General Bosquet dies Sophie, now an orphan again, goes back to St. Petersburg, and decides to take revenge on Heinirch. He is lured by a trick to a masked ball at Nina’s home, where he is exposed and shot in a duel with Gaston, Sophie’s former devotee.

Die Rache einer russischen Waise 18.03.1993 Saarbrücken, Saarländisches Staatstheater, Alte Feuerwache

Rousseau’s work is a goldmine for satire. Girlish dreams of the fairy prince, love at first sight, a guardian who stands in the way of young love, seduction, escape, unfaithfulness, lovesickness, thoughts of suicide, duel, death: no stereotype is left unexplored. This work is a strange and unconventional presentation of contemporary music theatre. What in Rousseau is still a utopian idyll, becomes in Gruenauer and Kaiser a both pensive and cheerful game, juggling with feeling and expression. (Opernwelt, Mai 1993)

29

Wilfried Hiller

Der Rattenfänger (The Pied Piper) A Hamelin Death Dance in eleven scenes, a prologue and an epilogue Libretto by Michael Ende Origin: 1992-1993

1993

Language: German Cast: the Gleeman · clarinet – Mayor Heiner Gruelhot · bass – Atela, his Wife · dramatic soprano – Magdalena, her Daughter · lyric alto – Amelung Reicke, Reeve · baritone – Abbot Lambert · mezzo soprano – Gottfried Weregesius, the Seer · character tenor – Brother Fuchsgesicht (Foxface) · silent role – the Blind Boy · bright boy voice – the Lame Girl · bright girl voice – 3 Wives · soprano, mezzo soprano, alto – 3 Men · tenor, baritone, bass – the Poor, the Rich, Lansquenets · chorus – Children, Aldermen, Bailiffs, Maidservants, “Rattenkönig” (an oversized bugaboo), Rat Ghosts, Monks · supernumeraries Orchestra: 3 (2. auch Picc., 3. auch Altfl.) · 0 · 0 · 2 · Kfg. – 4 · 4 (1. auch hohe Tr. [ad lib.]) · 3 · 1 – P. S. (Trgl. · Zimb. · Zimbelspiel · 4 hg. Beck. · chin. Gongs · Buckelgongs · 2 Tamt. · 1 gr. balinesischer Gong · 4 Tomt. · Bong. · 6 Cong. · Schellentr. · 6 Holztr. · gr. Tr. · 2 Tempelbl. · Mar. · Clav. · Röhrengl. · gestimmte Weingläser · Steinspiel · Flusssteine · Windmasch. · Glspl. · Xyl. · Bassxyl. · 2 Marimba) (3 Spieler) – Hfe. · Klav. (auch Cel.) – Str. On stage: 1 gr. Mühlstein, mit gestimmten Bambusrohren zu bespielen – 6 Cong. · Messgl. · Tamb. · kl. Tr. · Rührtr. – Harm. – Chor mit Flusssteinen – Pos. – Viol. · Va. · Kb. Duration: 120‘ Libretto BN 3381-20 · Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 26.09.1993 Theater Dortmund, Opernhaus (WP) Laurent Wagner · Heinz Lukas-Kindermann · Hans Georg Schäfer 23.06.1996 Bühnen der Landeshauptstadt Kiel, Opernhaus Lutz de Veer · Katja Czellnik · Susanne Bertram · Elke Lucia Corbach

30

Synopsis The mysterious, disturbing tale of the Pied Piper is revisited in this haunting work. Why did the rat infestation break out? What salary did the Pied Piper want? ‘I was clear’, explains Michael Ende, ‘that the thing which brought the rat infestation into town was what the Pied Piper wanted as his salary.

Something that has to be destroyed, so the town can get well again. To complete the mythos I introduced a kind of “Popanz”, a demonic being which continuously produces money.

Every time it produces money the form of a ghost of death, the smaller double of the Pied Piper, sets off into the world and something has to die. This could be a tree, a river or a child...’

The town of Hamelin is already haunted by these ghosts of death by the beginning of the opera. Nature has been turned into a desert, the river Weser is dry and the trees are dead. To rescue the children from being sacrificed to the town’s wellbeing, the Pied Piper leads them out of the town to the mountain of Calvanien. However, it soon becomes clear that there’s no way out for them.

(Quotation: Theater Dortmund 1993) Der Rattenfänger 26.09.1993 Theater Dortmund

I have dealt intensively with the music of the 13th century and even earlier. You will find passages in the piece which clearly refer to the music of the Gothic period. This means renunciation of thirds, no final resolution in the vocal parts or in the orchestra. The Pied Piper’s world of sounds in my opera is strongly based on Eastern Jewish music such as you can find in Galicia, Bessarabia, Bohemia and Moravia – regions where the historical rat-catcher might have come from.

(Wilfried Hiller)

31

Hans Werner Henze

The Bassarids Music drama in one act by W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman Language: English | German

1994

Origin: 1964-65, 1992 (revised version) Cast: Autonoe, Sister of Agaue · coloratura soprano – Agaue, Daughter of Cadmos and Mother of Pentheus · dramatic mezzo soprano – Beroe, an Old Slave · alto – Dionysus, also Voice and Stranger · tenor – Teiresias, an Old and Blind Seer · tenor – Pentheus, King of Thebes · baritone – Captain of the King’s Guard · lyric baritone – Cadmos, Grandfather of Pentheus · bass – Young Woman, Slave in the Household of Agaue · silent role – Child, her Daughter · silent role – Bassarids (furies and bacchants), Citizens of Thebes · chorus – Guardsmen, Servants · silent roles Orchestra: Revidierte Fassung 1992: 4 (2. mit B-Fuß, 3. auch Picc., 4. auch Altfl. u. Picc.) · 2 · 2 Engl. Hr. · 4 (3., 4. auch Altsax., 4. auch Piccoloklar.) · Bassklar. (auch Altsax. u. Tenorsax.) · 4 (4. auch Kfg.) – 6 · 4 (4. auch Baßtrp.) · 3 · 2 – P. S. (3 Kuhgl. · kl. Trgl. · hg. Beck. · Beckenpaar · 3 Tamt. · kl. Tr. · Mil. Tr. [mit und ohne Schnarrs.] · 3 Tomt. · 3 Bong. · Holztr. · gr. Tr. [mit oder ohne Beck.] · Mar. · Peitsche · Ratsche · Metallbl. · Glspl. · Xyl. · Vibr. · Marimb. · Fingerzimb. · Röhrengl.) (8 Spieler) – 2 Hfn. · Cel. · 2 Klav. – Str. On stage: 4 Hr. (may also be replaced by trumpets form the orchestra) · 2 Git. · 2 Mand. · 3 Kuhgl.

Duration: 120‘ Study score ED 9411 · Vocal score (D/E) ED 8121 · Libretto (G) BN 3348-00 · Libretto (E) BN 3349-90 · Performance material on hire Performance material on hire Remarks: The 20minute intermezzo The Judgement of Caliope was cut in the 1992 version but may be performed within The Bassarids. A reduced orchestral setting is available.

Selected Productions 20.02.1994 Staatsoper Hamburg Markus Stenz · Christine Mielitz · Gottfried Pilz 13.02.1999 Teatro Real Madrid Arturo Tamayo · Gerd Heinz · Rudolf Rischer · Jutta Harnisch 14.12.2005 De Nederlandse Opera, Amsterdam Ingo Metzmacher · Peter Stein · Moidele Bickel

32

Synopsis The setting is ancient Thebes. Prior to the opera, Dionysus has stated that he intends to revenge himself upon Agave and the women of Thebes because they have denied his divinity.

At the start of the opera, Cadmus, King of Thebes, has abdicated his throne in favour of his son Pentheus. Pentheus has learned of the cult of Dionysus, which involves wild and irrational rites, and decides to ban the cult in his city. A stranger arrives and entices the women into increasingly abandoned celebrations of Dionysus. Pentheus, still unwilling to acknowledge his onw Dionysiac impulses, is seduced by the stranger into disguising himself as a woman and going to Mouth Cytheron to observe the women in their sacred revelries. In their frenzy, Agave his mother and Autone his sister sieze Pentheus and tear him limb from limb. Still delirious and unaware, Agave cradles the severed head of her son in her arms. The stranger is revealed to be Dionysus himself.

The Bassarids 14.12.2005 De Nederlandse Opera, Amsterdam

The composer has filled the four symphonic movements of this two-hour long one-act play with sensuous, bewitching and magical music whose beauty, sonic imagination and dramatic power give this work a unique status in the second half of the last century. (Giessener Allgemeine)

33

Kurt Weill

Der Kuhhandel (Horse Trading) Operetta in two acts Book and lyrics by Robert Vambery Currently available for stage performances only in a version with libretto revised by Robert Vambery and music completed and edited by Lys Symonette Origin: 1934 | Edition by Lys Symonette 1978

1994

Language: German | First performed in English Adaptation as A Kingdom for a Cow Cast: Singing roles: Juanita Sanchez · lyric soprano – Juan Santos · lyric tenor – President Mendez of Santa Maria · tenor buffo – Bimbi, the President‘s Son · boy soprano – Ximenez · tenor buffo – Leslie Jones · operetta baritone – General Garcia Conchas · high operetta baritone – Bailiff · tenor buffo – Schoolmaster Emilio Sanchez · bass baritone – Juan‘s Mother · mezzo soprano – Mme. Odette · mezzo soprano – Soldiers, Guests, Servants · tenors, baritones – chorus (SATB) Speaking roles: P.W. Waterkeyn, Minister of Ucqua, Lieutenant, various small roles Orchestra: 2 (auch Picc.) · 1 · 2 (1. auch Altsax., 2. auch Tenorsax.) · 1 – 1 · 2 · 2 · 1 – P. S. (Trgl. · Gong · Beck. · Tamb. · 3 Tomt. · Rührtr. · Steeldrum · kl. Tr. · gr. Tr. · Kast. · Glspl. · Xyl. · Vibr.)

(4 Spieler) – Git. (auch Banjo, Bassgit.) · Hfe. · Org. oder Harm. (auch Akk.) – Str. Duration: 120‘ Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 28.06.1935 Savoy Theatre London (WP) Muir Matheson 18.06.1994 Deutsch-Sorbisches Volkstheater Bautzen (WP of the Edition Symonette) Dieter Kempe · Wolfgang Poch 19.05.2001 Theater Hagen Arn Goerke · Rainer Friedemann · Hartmut Krügener 13.08.2004 Operette am Kornmarkt · Bregenzer Festspiele 30.03.2006 Alhambra Bradford · Opera North Leeds 05.05.2007 Volksoper Wien (Co-production with Bregenz and the Opera North) Christoph Eberle (Bregenz and Vienna) | Jim Holmes · David Pountney · Duncan Hayler

34

Synopsis The Caribbean island of Santa Maria is the target of an unscrupulous arms dealer, who manages to sell a shipment of weapons to the pacifist president. He then stirs up the neighboring nation, which prepares to invade in order to defend itself. To make sure the war goes forward, the arms dealer organizes a coup in Santa Maria. Meanwhile, the rush to war is resisted by Juan, a humble peasant, whose cow, his sole source of income, is confiscated so the government can pay for the war effort. Sentenced to death, he is saved by the fact that none of the purchased weapons actually works. This discovery effectively halts the threat of war, Juan gets his cow back, and all ends happily, as the bad guys flee the island.

Der Kuhhandel 13.08.2004 Bregenzer Festspiele

The great advantage of this piece lies in the fact that it revives the tradition of operetta, which has been buried for decades, and that it shows current issues (issues which are even more current than the Third Reich) in a friendly and comical way. (Kurt Weill)

35

Ingomar Grünauer

Winterreise (Winter Journey) Opera in 11 scenes Libretto by Francesco Micieli Origin: 1994 | 1996 (revised and reduced version)

1994

Language: German Cast: Walter Benjamin · tenor – Angel · alto – Angelus Novus · counter tenor – Lisa Fittko · soprano – Max · baritone – a Man · tenor – Franz · bass – Hans · baritone – Asja · mezzo soprano – Dora · soprano Orchestra: 2 Picc. · 1 · 1 · Engl. Hr. · Es–Klar (auch Bassetthr.) · 1 · Bassklar. · 1 · Kfg. – 1 · Korn. · 1 · 1 · 1 – S. (Crot. · 3 Beck. · Hi–hat · Tamt. · Steeldrum · Tamb. · 4 Tomt. · kl. Tr. · gr. Tr. [auch m. Fußmasch.] · Ratsche · Hyoshigi · Agogó · Sandbl. · Holzbl. · Frusta · Kast. · Stimmpfeife · Holzlatten · Nagel Chimes · Streichpsalter · Bambus-Pendel­rassel · 2 Flaschen · 2 Steine · 6 Metallstücke · Lithophon · Vibr. · Marimba) (2 Spieler) – Akk. – Banjo – Hfe. · Klav. [präp.] (auch Kinderklav. u. Ratsche) – Str. (6 · 0 · 1 · 4 · 3) Reduced version: Picc. · 1 (auch Picc.) · 1 · 1 (auch Bassklar.) · 1 (auch Kfg.) – 1 · 1 · 0 · 1 – S. (Crot. · 3 Beck. · Hi–hat · Tamt. · Steeldrum · Tamb. · 4 Tomt. · kl. Tr. · gr. Tr. [m. Fußmasch.] · Ratsche · Hyoshigi · Agogó · Sandbl. · Holzbl. · Frusta · Kast. · Stimmpfeife · Holzlatten · Nagel Chimes · Streichpsalter · Bambus–Pendel–Rassel · 2 Flaschen · 2 Steine · 6 Metallstücke · Lithophon · Vibr. · Marimba) (2 Spieler) – Akk. – Banjo – Keyboard · Hfe. · Klav. [präp.] (auch Kinderklav. u. Ratsche) – Str. (1 · 0 · 1 · 1 · 2) Duration: 90‘ Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 24.08.1994 Internationale Musikfestwochen Luzern (WP) Roger Epple · Philipp Himmelmann · Muriel Gerstner | Thomas Hamann 15.03.1997 Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden, Kleines Haus (WP of the revised and reduced version) Marcus R. Bosch · Georg Köhl · Norbert Ziermann · Ute Frühling

36

Synopsis In the early hours of September 25th 1940: Walter Benjamin and Lisa Fittko escape from the Fascists and find their way to Port Bou on the Spanish border. Exhausted by the arduous climb across the Pyrenees, Lisa leaves Benjamin as night sets in, intending to return the next morning in the hope of leading him over the mountains to safety.

Left on his own Benjamin suppresses his fear with morphine. He spends his last night before committing suicide in a waking dream. Images of his past haunt him: his imprisonment in Paris, the evacuation to the camps and his childhood. Benjamin realizes that he has always been an outsider. Two angels, as in Paul Klee’s drawing, face him with the choice between life and death. One promises him freedom and the chance of a new life (from which he is only a few hours away). But the other angel, Klee’s ‘Angelus Novus’, draws him closer: Benjamin can’t escape the destructive power of the angel of death.

Winterreise 24.08.1994 Internationale Musikfestwochen Luzern

Isolation, cold, homelessness: Benjamin the hopeless non-conformist, both the eternal outsider and observer, aware of both himself and his environment, a man who suffers from his hopelessness, but also exploits it [...] The heart of the musical material is an altered motive of the “Wegweiser” (Song 20 of Franz Schubert’s Winterreise).

(Ingomar Grünauer, Source: Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden 1997)

37

Rodion Shchedrin

Lolita Opera in two acts after the novel of the same name by Vladimir Nabokov Libretto by the composer Origin: 1992–1993

1994

Language: Russian | Swedish text version by Lasse Zilliacus | English text version by Ariane Comstock Cast: Lolita · lyric coloratura soprano – Humbert Humbert · baritone – Clare Quilty · high tenor – Charlotte, Lolita’s Mother · mezzo soprano – Citizens of Ramsdale: Mrs Chatfield · mezzo soprano – her Husband · light, high bass – Citizens of Beardsley: Ms Pratt · mezzo soprano – Neighbour in the East · soprano – Music Teacher · mezzo soprano – Church Warden · tenor – Red Pullover · bass – Reception Manager · low bass – black Maidservant · alto – 1. Drunkard · tenor – 2. Drunkard · bass – two black Girls on advertising boards on the street · soprano, mezzo soprano – Boy in the church · boy soprano – Boy’s Choir in the church · Boy’s Chorus – Chorus of the Judges · Basses Orchestra: 4 (3. auch Altfl., 4. auch Picc.) · 2 · Engl. Hr. · 3 (3. auch Altsax.) · 2 · Kfg. – 4 · 3 · 3 · 1 – P. S. (hg. Crot. · Gl. · Sonagli · Hi-Hat · Tamt. · 2 Bong. · kl. Tr. · gr. Tr. · Choclo · Glass-Chimes · Sirene · Wind-Chimes · Plattengl. · Tin-Whistle · Flex. · Xyl.) (3 Spieler) – Hfe. · Cel. · Cemb. – Str. Duration: 180‘ Vocal score ED 9894 · Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 14.12.1994 Royal Opera Stockholm (WP in Swedish) Mstislav Rostropovitch · Ann-Margret Pettersson · John Conklin 12.05.2003 Academic State Theatre Perm (WP of the Russian version) Valerij Platonov · Georgij Isaakjan · Jelena Solowjewa · Tatjana Parfenowa 30.10.2008 Marinsky Theatre St. Petersburg (concert performance) Valery Gergiev

38

Synopsis Rodion Shchedrin’s Lolita is the only staged opera based on Nabokov’s famous and infamous novel. Humbert Humbert, professor of literature and sophisticate, is obsessed with 12-year-old fatherless Lolita. He seduces the girl and lives with her for some time after marrying pro forma her mother (who dies shortly after). Three years after the end of their increasingly fraught relationship, Humbert meets Lolita again, now married to another man and expecting his baby.

Humbert’s jealousy, however, is not directed towards Lolita or her husband, but towards the Mephistophelian film director Quilty who has used Lolita for porn films. Humbert takes bloody revenge on Quilty – and is sentenced to death in the electric chair.

Lolita 14.12.1994 Königliche Oper Stockholm

A particular quality of Shchedrin’s opera is that he does not trivialise the plot and channel it one-dimensionally onto an erotic plane, but instead fragments it into the numerous relationship levels and possibilities of reaction between the child-woman Lolita and Humbert the mature man.

(Walter Kläy, Swiss Radio DRS)

39

Volker David Kirchner

Inferno d‘amore (Shakespearion I) Scenic moments after texts from ‘Romeo and Juliet’ by William Shakespeare and a sonnet by Michelangelo Origin: 1992-1994 Language: German, Italian (Michelangelo)

1994

Cast: Romeo · actor – Julia · actress – Foster Mother / Countess · actress – Capulet / Mercutio · actor – two sopranos Pre-recorded: 2 sopranos, 2 tenors, 1 baritone, 1 bass Orchestra: 1 (auch Picc. und Altfl.) · 2 (2. auch Engl. Hr.) · 1 (auch Bassklar.) · Kfg. – 2 · 1 · 2 · 1 – S. (Trgl. · 3 Beck. · ant. Zimb. · 3 Tamt. · 4 Tempelbl. · O-Daiko · gr. Tr.) (2 Spieler) – Hfe. · Klav. (auch Cel.) – Str. (0 · 0 · 3 · 3 · 1) Duration: 60‘ Performance material (including re-recorded chorus parts) on hire Remarks: The work can be performed in two versions: I. Scenic performance: The spoken texts are recited off stage (from the side stage or from the pit). The scenes are played in the centre of the stage.

II. Concert version: All spoken texts are cut. Only the orchestral parts are played, including the pre-recorded chorus parts.

Selected Productions 04.09.1994 Musiksaal des Hessischen Landtages Wiesbaden · Rheingau Musik Festival (WP, concert performance) Anthony Bramall · Niedersächsisches Staatsorchester Hannover 12.03.1995 Ballhof Hannover (WP, scenic production) Anthony Bramall · Kirsten Harms · Maria Johanna Fischer

40

Synopsis Volker David Kirchner gave his seventh work for the stage the subtitle “Scenic Moments”. The texts are compiled from Shakespeare’s tragedy ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and sonnets by Michelangelo. Kirchner’s Inferno d’amore entwines the language of music and the musical language of the lyrical styles of Shakespeare and Michelangelo. Kirchner has largely reduced Shakespeare’s well-known drama to the love scenes between Romeo and Juliet; this allows the theme of “love and death” to take centre stage with the result that the family conflicts between the Montagues and Capulets and their effects on the pair of lovers are largely shaded out. Inferno d’amore is primarily focused on the central theme of the unfulfilled yearning for love, the burning desire to be consumed by each other – nirvana achieved in a kiss.

Inferno d‘amore 12.03.1995 Ballhof Hannover

The composer’s central aim was to display the lovers’ wish to be consumed by each other – and how this wish leads them to be devoured by the flame. The underlying style of the music is therefore dark in tone, saturated with yearning and a madrigalistic solemnity (only occasionally is one startled by sharp accents). […] Kirchner provides […] a mellow intermezzo: a new view of an old and vernally uplifting love story. (Neue Zeitschrift für Musik 03/1995)

41

Viktor Ullmann

Der Sturz des Antichrist (The Fall of the Antichrist) Opera (Bühnenweihefestspiel - “A Festival Play for the Consecration of the Stage”) in three acts Libretto by Albert Steffen Origin: 1934-1936

1995

Language: German | English translation by Daniel Marston Cast: the Regent · heroic tenor – the Priest · tenor – the Technocrat · baritone – the Poet · lyric tenor – the Old Jailor · bass – the Demon of the Regent · tenor – the Imperfect Angel of the Priest · mezzo soprano – the Ghost of the Technocrat · baritone – the Barker · tenor – the Crowd · chorus (in the third act only) Orchestra: 3 (3. auch Picc.) · 2 · Engl. Hr. · 2 (1. auch Bassetthr., 2. auch Bassklar. und Bassetthr.) · Bassklar. · 2 (2. auch Kfg.) · Kfg. – 4 · 3 · 3 · 1 – P. S. (Trgl. · Beck. · tiefes Tamt. · kl. Tr · Xyl.) – Org. · Hfe. – Str. Stage music (in the 3. act, can be cut if not available): Picc. · 2 · 0 · 2 Klar. in Es · 0 – 3 · 3 · 3 · 1 – S. (gr. Tr. mit Beck. · kl. Tr.) Duration: 110‘ Recording CD CPO 999 321 · Performance material on hire Remarks: Ullmann’s opera Der Sturz des Antichrist (The Fall of the Antichrist) was never performed in the composer‘s lifetime who was murdered at Auschwitz in 1944. The posthumous World Première in 1994 was made possible by the 1994 edition of the musical material that had fortunately survived.

Selected Productions 07.01.1995 Theater Bielefeld (WP) Rainer Koch · John Dew · Thomas Gruber 19.01.2007 Theater Hof

Karl Prokopetz · Anton Nekovar · Daniel Dvorak

42

Synopsis A power-hungry Regent strives to attain world domination. He has already subdued the masses and only three figures resist his power: the technocrat, the priest and the poet – personifications of knowledge, religion and art. The technocrat is instructed to master gravity with his specialised knowledge, to construct a spacecraft and conquer the universe; the priest is ordered to create synthetic food out of stones and the poet is entrusted to extol the greatness of the tyrant in words.

The technocrat and priest are easily won over, but the poet refuses to carry out his task and is thrown into prison. However he is saved by the jailor, in defiance of the Regent, in an initiation and re-birthing ritual. As the technocrat and priest both fail in their insoluble tasks, the Regent passes sentence on them. He in turn is outwitted by the poet who relies on the strength of the word: the logos in human hearts. The Regent who, in his delusion, would have unhinged the entire world finally crashes into the depths with his spacecraft.

Der Sturz des Antichrist 19.01.2007 Theater Hof

Ullmann’s music for the Antichrist is stringently organised throughout. Although the formal aspects are not necessarily new, they are utilised with intense dramatic consistency. Even those who do not immediately recognise that the entire second act is constructed as a large-scale fugue […], will be unavoidably caught in the grip of its mighty maelstrom and will hear two principles clashing and disengaging from one contradiction to the next and speeding down the final home stretch to the climax and the work’s culmination. (Die Zeit, 13.01.1995)

43

Erwin Schulhoff

Flammen (Flames) A musical tragic comedy in two acts Libretto by Karel Josef Beneš · German translation by Max Brod Edited by Andreas Krause Origin: 1923-1929 | 1932 (Revision)

1995

Language: German | Czech Cast: Don Juan · heroic tenor – a Woman / a Nun · mezzo soprano – Margarethe · soprano – La Morte · mezzo soprano – 6 Female Shadows · 3 sopranos, 3 altos – female chorus behind the scene Orchestra: Picc. · 1 · 1 · Engl. Hr. · 1 (auch Es-Klar.) · Bassklar. · 1 · Kfg. – 4 · 1 · 0 · 0 – P. S. (Trgl. · Gl. · Schellen · Beckenpaar · Tamt. · Schellentr. · Tomt. · Mil. Tr. · kl. Tr. · gr. Tr. m. Beck. · Kast. · Ratsche · Guiro · Sirene (Torpedo) · Klaviaturglspl. · Xyl. · Vibr.) (5 Spieler) – Hfe. · Cel. · Org. (hinter der Szene) – Str. (12 · 10 · 8 · 6 · 6) Stage music: Jazzband I (Sopransax. · Tenorsax. – 3 Trp. · Pist. – Jazz(Traps)-Schlagzeug: Beckenteller · 2 Tomt. · 2 Holztr. · Mil. Tr. · gr. Tr.) – Tenorbanjo · Klav. oder Jazzband II (Altsax. · Tenorsax. – Traps – Tenorbanjo) · Klav. – Vl. (obligat) Duration: 140‘ Recording CD DECCA 444 630 · Performance material on hire Remarks: The performance material documents all versions of the opera prepared by Schulhoff on various occasions in updated performance versions.

Selected Productions 16.04.1994 Großer Sendesaal des SFB (WP of the full opera, concert performance) John Mauceri · Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin 17.03.1995 Oper Leipzig (WP, scenic production) Jörg Krüger · Uwe Wand · Johannes Conen · Johannes Conen 21.05.2005 Concertgebouw Amsterdam Edo de Waart · Radio Filharmonisch Orkest Holland 07.08.2006 Theater an der Wien Bertrand de Billy · Keith Warner · Es Devlin 19.04.2008 Pfalztheater Kaiserslautern Uwe Sandner · Urs Häberli · Thomas Dörfler · Ursula Beutler

44

Synopsis Homage to Mozart of a special kind: in his approach to the Don Juan myth, Schulhoff does not portray the libertine as a sexual predator, but as a figure eternally driven by desire. In contrast to Mozart’s Don Giovanni, the hero is not sent to hell but, like Wagner’s Flying Dutchman, is condemned to an eternal search for love and redemption. Two archaic principles, the “flames” of life (symbolised by the male figure of Don Juan) and the “flames” of death (represented by the female figure La Morte), yearn to be unified, but mutually repel each other. Man and woman, life and death, yearning and fulfilment and hope and resignation are set in Schulhoff’s only work for the stage as bold dualisms in a fascinating interplay.

Flammen 07.08.2006 Theater an der Wien

Schulhoff has composed the eleven scenes with a random virtuosity. A shadow-like flute solo is followed by glittering orchestral waves in which the presence of […]Debussy and Strauss can be discerned […]. A moaning Tristanic suspended second is utilised to symbolise love, […] the smouldering fire from Don Giovanni is integrated into the composer’s stylistic layered cake and the masked ball is as bombastic as Ben Hur. Music which is simultaneously intelligent and obsessive.

(Leipziger Volkszeitung, 20.03.1995)

45

Stewart Wallace

Harvey Milk Opera in three acts Libretto by Michael Korie Origin: 1994

1995

Language: English Cast: Harvey Milk, City Counsellor of San Fancisco · high baritone – Dan White, Murderer of Harvey Milk and George Moscone · tenor – Scott Smith, Harvey Milk’s partner · tenor – Diane Feinstein, Head of the Board of Supervisors of San Francisco · soprano – George Moscone, Mayor of San Francisco · bass – Anne Kronenberg, Election Campaign Manager for Harvey Milk · mezzo soprano – Henry Wong · male soprano – Messenger · high baritone – Young Harvey · boy tenor – Medora · girl soprano – mixed chorus Orchestra: 2(2pic).2(2.ca).2(2.Eb cl).bcl(cl).2(2.cbsn)-4.3.3.2-timp.3perc(glsp, mar, avnil, wdbl, police whistle, tri, timbales, agogo bells, xyl, cimbalon, tam-t, vib, tub bells, sus cym, h.h, s.d, 4 tom-t, cow bell, tempbl, cym, sirene, samba whistle, pic wdbl)-keyboard-str Duration: 180‘

Performance Material on hire Also available: Kaddish for Harvey Milk for soprano, mezzo soprano, high baritone, large chorus and orchestra

Selected Productions 19.01.1995 Houston Grand Opera, Wortham Theater, Houston, TE (WP) Ward Holmquist · Christopher Alden 24.02.1996 Theater Dortmund, Dortmund Daniel Klayner · John Dew 09.11.1996 San Francisco Opera, San Francisco, CA Donald Runnicles · Christopher Alden · Paul Steinberg · Gabriel Berry

46

Synopsis Harvey Milk is inspired by the life and martyrdom of San Francisco‘s first openly gay elected public official. Harvey Milk had a foot in two separate ghettos: one gay, one Jewish. He was a boy in Long Island at the time of the liberation of the concentration camps in Europe at the end of World War II. Like many Jews of his generation, he clearly saw that remaining silent was no longer a moral option. His sense of moral outrage and courage stems from this time. When he began to transfer these lessons to himself as a gay man, he transformed himself from a closeted Wall Street businessman into an outspoken leader of the gay community.

Harvey Milk 19.01.1995 Houston Grand Opera

Harvey Milk contains moments that are touching and zany and contemporary in ways that we are used to on the stage but hardly ever encounter in the opera house. And as it reaches its tragic conclusion, the opera suddenly feels both wrenching in its pain and heroic in its politics. At these moments Harvey Milk seems to open possibilities for a vital, risk-taking musical theater, free from the oppressions of tradition, good taste, and Masterpiece Theater restorationism.

(David Schiff, The New York Times)

47

Viktor Ullmann

Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des Cornets Christoph Rilke (The Melody of Love and Death of the Standard Bearer Christoph Rilke) Twelve scenes from the novel by Rainer Maria Rilke Reconstructed from fragments of the full score and the piano score by Henning Brauel

1995

Origin: 1944 | 1995 (Reconstruction) Language: German Cast: Narrator Orchestra: 3 (3. auch Picc.) · 2 · Engl. Hr. · 2 · Bassklar. · 2 · Kfg. – 4 · 2 · 3 · 1 – P. S. (Trgl. · Röhrengl. · ant. Cymb. · 3 hg. Beck. · 3 Tamt. [h/m/t] · kl. Tr. · Mil.tr. · Rührtr. · gr. Tr. · Glspl.)

(3 Spieler) – Hfe. · Klav. (auch Cel.) – Str. Duration: 25‘ Recording CD ORFEO C 366 951 A · Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 27.05.1995 Prag, Prager Frühling (WP, concert performance) 28.05.1995 Konzerthaus Wien 06.07.1995 Deutsches Haus Flensburg 02.09.1995 Kunsthaus Luzern 08.07.1998 Semperoper Dresden · MDR-Musiksommer Gerd Albrecht · Tschechische Philharmonie 25.06.1998 Kraftwerk Salzburg-Hallein (WP, scenic production) Alexander Drcar · Herbert Gantschacher · Erich Heyduck | Eva-Maria Schön 27.02.1999 Nationaltheater Weimar George Alexander Albrecht · Staatskapelle Weimar 17.02.2007 Theater Rudolstadt Oliver Weder · Christian Marten-Molnár · Nikolaus Porz

48

Synopsis Rainer Maria Rilke depicts in his text the events and scenes from the final days in the life of an imaginary ancestor, the young standard bearer (Cornet) Christoph Rilke, master of Langenau.

We follow the progress of the Cornet against the background of the first Turkish War (16631664) through the vastness of the Hungarian plain, are witness to a love episode and finally experience his death in combat with his opponent.

Ullmann selected 15 text extracts from the original collection of 28 for his opera and arranged them in two sections. Through alteration, abridgement and reductions, he produced a coherent, taut and continuous storyline. Although Ullmann’s composition received its first performance in 1944 in a version for narrator and piano in the concentration camp Theresienstadt, the manuscript dated July 1944 reveals that Ullmann had planned his work for a large-scale orchestra.

The unfinished orchestration was completed by Henning Brauel in 1994.

Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des Cornets Christoph Rilke 12.02.2007 Theater Rudolstadt

Against the background of the reality of Theresienstadt, the constant threat and eventual murder of Ullmann in the extermination camp, Rilke’s already fragmented lyrical celebration, even eroticisation, of death becomes a manifesto of yearning for peace, love and serenity and mourning for their absence. (Dominik Schweiger, Wien 1995)

49

Stephen Paulus

The Woman at Otowi Crossing Opera in two acts Libretto by Joan Vail Thorne, based on the novel by Frank Waters Origin: 1994-1995

1995

Language: English Cast: Helen Chalmers · soprano – Emily Chalmers, her Daughter · mezzo soprano – Jack Turner, a Journalist · baritone – Tilano, an old Indian · bass baritone – Dr. Joel Edmund, a Young Scientist · tenor – Tranquillino, an old Indian · baritone Smaller parts: FBI-Agent · baritone – Soldier · baritone – two Brujas, religious Zealots · mezzo sopranos – three Scientists: ‘Mr Baker’ (Code name for Nils Bohr) · baritone – ‘Mr Farmer’ (Code name for Enrico Fermi) · bass baritone – Dr. Breslau · baritone – the Scientist’s Wifes (the ‘Women from the Hill’): Lucy · soprano – Martha · soprano – Harriet · mezzo soprano – Maria, Tranquillino’s Wife · soprano – chorus of Indian Spirits · mixed chorus (10.8.6.6.4) Orchestra: 2(2.pic)2.2.2-2.2.1.1(btbn)-timp.2perc-hp.cel-str(10.8.6.6.4) Duration: 120‘ Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 15.06.1995 Opera Theatre of St. Louis (WP) Dirigent Richard Buckley

50

Synopsis This is a story based on the life of Edith Warner, who lived at Otowi Crossing in New Mexico from 1928 to 1951. The tea room of Edith’s character, Helen Chalmers, at the old railway station serves as a metaphorical bridge between the ancient Pueblo culture and the U.S. government installation at Los Alamos where the atom bomb is being developed.

In the course of the parable like story describing the long lasting process of Helen’s passing away, Helen becomes a person of insight into the unity and harmony of all life as those first atomic scientists take from her hope that people of intelligence and goodwill understand their sense of crisis.

The Woman at Otowi Crossing 15.06.1995 Opera Theatre of St. Louis, © Ken Howard

51

Alexander Goehr | Claudio Monteverdi

Arianna Lost opera by Monteverdi in eight scenes newly composed (1995) Text by Ottavio Rinuccini · English text version by Patrick Boyde Op. 58 Origin: 1994-1995

1995

Language: Italian Cast: Arianna · mezzo soprano – Dorilla / Venere · contralto – Amore · soprano – Bacco / Coro · altus – Teseo / Coro · tenor 1 – Nunzio 2 / 1. Soldier / Coro · tenor 2 – 2. Soldier / Messenger / Coro · tenor 3 (or baritone) – Counsellor / Coro · baritone – Nunzio 1 / Giove / Coro · bass Orchestra: fl. (soprec) · afl (soprec) · 2 ssax. (2Bbcl, 2bcl; 1:Ebcl) · bcl (cbcl) · bn. (cbn)-2ttbn. (atbn) - perc. (2 baroque timp., t.d., small cym., hi-hat, w.bl., 3 tabors, tamb., small tamb., casts., tri., small tam-tam, small jingle stick, xyl., glock.l, vib. (3 octaves), tub.bells, antique cym., small gng pitched at middle C, rainstick)(4 players) - hp. (medieval hp) · sampler (AKAI S1000 or AKAI S3200) · gtr. (amplified) - vn.I · vn II · va.

Duration: 130‘ Vocal score ED 12457 · Recording CD NMC D054 · Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 15.09.1995 Royal Opera House Covent Garden London (WP) Ivor Bolton · Francesca Zambello · Alison Chitty 14.08.1996 Kammeroper im Rathaushof Konstanz Peter Bauer · Mauro Guindani · Marcel Zaba 04.10.1996 West Road Concert Hall Cambridge William Lacey · Annilese Miskimmon · Francio Terry 07.06.1998 Opera Theatre Saint Louis Grant Llewellyn · Tim Ocel · Leslie Taylor · Robin Verhage-Abrams

52

Synopsis It was surely an act of faith - if not of folly - for me to choose Rinuccini’s old Arianna libretto, when I could barely make out the meaning of the words. Yet I knew it was right for me, just as I would have known that Orfeo or Poppea or, for that matter, La Traviata or Lohengrin (had they been so unfortunate as to lose their music) would not be right. I also knew and this may seem almost perverse, that it was to be Arianna and not Ariadne - that is Italian and not English.

Common sense led me to experiment with the possibility of an English version, for it would certainly have made things a lot easier; but in this case I knew that my attraction had as much to do with the sound as the meaning of the antique Italian [...] My final score is deliberately patchy: some parts are highly worked, polyphonically and instrumentally; elsewhere the bare bones of the original are left to stand. The impression I aim to create is one of transparency: the listener should perceive, both in the successive and simultaneous dimensions of the score, the old beneath the new and the new arising from the old. We are to see a mythological and ancient action, interpreted by a 17th-century poet in a modern theatre. My hope, as expressed

by Rinuccini’s Apollo in the (unset) prologue of Arianna, is that ‘it will come to pass that in these new songs you will admire the ancient glory of the Grecian stage’. (Alexander Goehr, Royal Opera House programme, 1995)

Arianna 15.09.1995 Royal Opera House Covent Garden © Cliver Barder/Arenapal.com

The eight scenes from Rinuccini’s text in Goehr’s musical adaptation give the impression that Monteverdi has come back to life 356 years after his death and, still familiar with his own idiom, is attempting to find himself somewhere between the Second Viennese School and Goehr’s teacher, Olivier Messiaen. Unlike Alfred Schnittke, Goehr does not assemble or alienate quotations or pseudo-quotations; in fact, he transforms precisely observed stylistic characteristics of Monteverdi in the light of his experiences with Schoenberg, Webern, Berg and Messiaen into his own tonal language. Thus his concentrated, quasi pointillist instrumentation is both reminiscent of the brilliant Spaltklang ensemble of the Early Baroque period and also of Webern’s structural colouring of Bach’s Ricercare. (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 23.04.1999)

53

Hans Werner Henze | Jörg Widmann

Knastgesänge (Songs from the Prison) Three music theatre works for puppet players, singers and instrumentalists Variations on four songs by Hans Werner Henze Composed by Jörg Widmann Texts by Hans-Ulrich Treichel Origin: 1984 (Henze) / 1995 (Widmann)

1996

Language: German Cast: I Antonio der Dieb (Antonio the Thief): Antonio · tenor – Nero · bass – Signora Rossi · actress – Gianluca · tenor – Paolo · baritone – Renzo · bass – two Carabinieri · silent roles II Rodolfo Foscati: Rodolfo Foscati · tenor – Vittoria · soprano – Giovanni · tenor – Roberto · baritone – Piero · bass – Count Foscati, Lieutenant Franz von Brück, Lady’s Maid, Prison Guard · actors – Fairies · 3 children’s voices (or chorus) – Austrian soldiers · silent roles III Pantelleria – Insel der Schmerzen (Pantelleria – Island of Pains): Francesco Petuso · tenor – Giorgetta · soprano – Giacomo · tenor – Giorgio · baritone – Mother Petuso, Paolo, Pietro, Vito Tavese, Lawyer, Merchant, Waiter · actors Orchestra: 4 Blockfl. (Sopran, Alt, Tenor, Bass) · 2 Fl. · Klar. – Krummhorn · Trp. · Pos. – Orff-Instrumentarium (Glsp. · Sopranxyl. · Altxyl. · Bassxyl. · Bassmetalloph.) – P. S. (3 hg. Beck. · gr. Tr. · Basstamt. · 5 Tomt. · Mil.-Tr. · 2 Bong. · Mar. · Guiro · Wassergong · Löwengebrüll) (4 Spieler) – Konzert-Git. · elektr. Git. · elektr. Bass · Akk. – Vl. · 3 Psalter · Kb. Duration: 70‘ Performance material on hire Remarks: In his three music theatre works which are combined under the general title Knastgesänge (Songs from the Prison), Jörg Widmann uses musical sketches by Hans Werner Henze, transforming them into a self-contained music theatre work.

Selected Productions 23. März 1996 Theater Basel, Theaterfoyer (WP) Graziella Contratto · Susanne Iphigenie Rost · Stefan Bullerkotte

54

Synopsis

„Prisoner“ © LOU OATES - Fotolia.com

In Antonio der Dieb [Antonio the Thief], set in contemporary Venice, the title figure follows the insinuations of the Devil, becomes a thief in order to satisfy his piercing hunger and subsequently discovers that a devil can simultaneously be crook, prison warden, innkeeper and priest in one.

Rodolfo Foscati is set in the historical period of the Italian campaign against the Hapsburgs in 1821 in Milan and is an enthralling tale of injured pride, revenge and betrayal.

Pantelleria – Die Insel der Schmerzen [Pantelleria – Island of Pain] is based in the contemporary Mafia and drug-dealing world of Catania and relates the story of a respectable young man who through a false female friend becomes involved with the dealings of her protector, a drug boss.

The tale ends with prison and hopelessness.

In the manner of Virginia Woolf’s “progression” through the ages as shown in her novel Orlando, these three individual pieces depict how an innocent person loses his innocence: the Devil as enticer, political pressure as provocation and finally the Mafia as a blackmailer in times of need.[…]

I decided on a variation technique […] which addresses Henze’s songs and also follows on from them. In my work, all scenes and interludes process melodic, rhythmic and tonal motifs which are present in the Henze originals – these naturally set the tone in attitude, atmosphere and instrumentation. (Jörg Widmann)

55

Herbert Willi

Schlafes Bruder (Brother of Sleep) Opera in a prologue, eight scenes and an epilogue Libretto by Robert Schneider in collaboration with Herbert Willi Origin: 1994-1996 | 2006 (revised version)

1996

Language: German Cast: Eliaskind [Elias as a Child] · boy soprano – Elias · tenor – Elsbeth · mezzo soprano – Lukas, her Fiancé · baritone – Peter · low bass – Seff, his Father · counter tenor – Seffin, his Wife · alto – Haintzin · coloratura soprano – Corvinius, a Preacher · tenor – Kurat · bass – Schlafes Bruder (Brother of Sleep) · chorus, invisible – chorus of the Village People · chorus (SSSAAATTTBBB), on stage – 4 Village People · mezzo soprano, tenor, baritone, bass – a solo Speaker Orchestra: 3 (1. auch Altfl.; 2., 3. auch Picc.) · 1 · Engl. Hr. · 2 (2. auch Bassklar.) · Sopran­sax. · 2 (2. auch Kfg.) – 2 · 2 · 2 · 1 – P. S. (Trgl. · Crot. · 3 Bong. · Mil. Tr. · Holzblocktr. · Pedalglspl. · Xyl. · Vibr. · Marimba) (2 Spieler) – Hfe. · Klav. (auch Cel.) – Str. (7 · 6 · 5 · 4 · 3) Duration: 80‘ Performance material on hire Remarks: In his revision (finished in 2006) Herbert Willi added new music, especially for the ‘Hörwunder’ (‘Miracle of Listening’) described in the libretto; in addition he reworked the prologue and made some minor cuts in the libretto, thus improving the balance of instrumental, vocal and spoken parts.

Selected Productions 28.04.1996 Opernhaus Zürich (WP) 19.05.1996 Theater an der Wien · Wiener Festwochen (Guest performance) Manfred Honeck · Cesare Lievi · Erich Wonder · Florence von Gerkan 03.11.1996 Tiroler Landestheater Innsbruck Arend Wehrkamp · Dominique Mentha · Werner Hutterli · Birgit Edelbauer 10.12.1997 Mozarteum Salzburg (concert performance) Peter Keuschnig · Camerata Academica Salzburg 29.03.2008 Stadttheater Klagenfurt (WP of the revised version) Michael Brandstätter · Aron Stiehl · Jürgen Kirner

56

Synopsis In the manuscript of the then unpublished debut novel Schlafes Bruder [Brother of Sleep] by Robert Schneider, the Austrian composer Herbert Willi discovered a plot which was particularly suitable for a musical setting and which in certain key passages was literally ‘crying out to be set to music’ (Willi). The composer also discovered startling parallels between the story and his own biography. In intensive cooperation with the author, an independent libretto was compiled which in form and partially also in content diverged from the novel for Herbert Willi’s first work for the stage. This libretto does however also incorporate core motifs from the novel (which has subsequently received numerous awards and been transformed into an opulent film by Josef Vilsmaier).

Johannes Elias Alder, an exceptionally gifted musician, lives in an isolated mountain community and is destroyed by the wordless villagers and their inability to relate to each other. Ultimately he takes his own life by depriving himself of sleep. However, the composer has replaced Schneider’s bleak conclusion with a positive final twist incorporating the concept of love and hope.

Schlafes Bruder 29.03.2008 Stadttheater Klagenfurt

Herbert Willi has produced one aural miracle after another; the result is a remarkable and fascinating piece of music theatre – dramatically conceived and imaginatively created: […] a superb mixture of lyricism and intoxication. (Der Spiegel 17/1996)

57

Viktor Ullmann

Der zerbrochene Krug (The Broken Pitcher) Opera in one act Libretto by Viktor Ullmann after the play by Heinrich von Kleist, Op. 36 Origin: 1942

1996

Language: German Cast: Walter, Court Inspector · bass – Adam, Village Judge · high bass buffo – Licht, Court Clerk · tenor buffo – Mrs Marthe Rull · low alto – Eve, her Daughter · lyric soprano – Veit Tümpel, a Farmer · baritone – Ruprecht, his Son · heroic tenor – Mrs Brigitte · alto – 1. Maidservant · soprano – 2. Maidservant · alto – a Bailiff · silent role Orchestra: Orchestra: 2 (2. auch Picc.) · 2 (2. auch Engl. Hr.) · 2 · Bassklar. · Ten. Sax. · 2 · Kfg. – 3 · 2 · 1 · 0 – P. S. (Trgl. · hg. Beck. · Beckenpaar · Schellen · Tamb. · kl. Tr. · gr. Tr. mit Beck. · Kast. · Ratsche · Glspl. · Xyl) (3 Spieler) – Cemb. · Tenor-Banjo – Str. Duration: 50‘ Vocal score ED 8434 · Recording CD ORFEO C 419 981 A · Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 17.05.1996 Dresdner Musikfestspiele · Nationaltheater Weimar (WP) 25.05.1996 Nationaltheater Weimar Israel Yinon · Ehrhard Warneke · Dieter Lange 29.04.2007 Städtische Bühnen Münster, Kleines Haus Peter Meiser · Axel Kresin · Martina Toeberg 17.02.2008 Dorothy Chandler Pavilion · Los Angeles Opera James Conlon · Darko Tresnjak · Ralph Funicello · Linda Cho

58

Synopsis Viktor Ullmann composed his setting of Kleist’s popular dramatic comedy in 1942 between his two operas Der Sturz des Antichrist [The Fall of Antichrist] (1936) and Der Kaiser von Atlantis [The Emperor of Atlantis] (1943) against the background of an increasingly bleak political situation. The score was completed only a few weeks prior to Ullmann’s deportation to the concentration camp Theresienstadt. Nonetheless, these tragic omens appear only to have had an underlying effect on the humorous and trenchant work. On a superficial level, Ullmann largely adheres to Kleist’s text (albeit with highly effective abridgements) and concisely relates the story of the village judge Adam who has to pass judgement on his own misdeed – the broken pitcher of Marthe – and is ultimately unmasked as the true culprit.

Closer study of the text reveals several passages which can clearly be interpreted as a commentary on the iniquities of the justice system under the Third Reich. Specifically, the final verse, written by Ullmann himself, is set in the context of the Nazi’s Volksgerichtshof (People’s Court) and its henchmen in the red robes of judges, a witty but undisguised warning: ‘Fiat justitia, | damals wie ebenda: | Richter soll keiner sein, | ist nicht sein Herze rein.’ (Fiat justitia: then as now, no-one should be a judge if his heart is not pure).

Der zerbrochene Krug 17.02.2008 Los Angeles Opera

Ullmann combines references to18th century opera buffo with the tonal language of his own time. A harpsichord is alienated by its modernistic plucked chords, in the background a sultry string cantilena and brass soli clumsily interrupt the emotional operetta-like melodies. Here comedy is created through the overlapping of perfectly imitated musical fashions. […] Ullmann creates an ideal comic tempo with his rhythmical sprechgesang: the nimble post-Rossini parlando which is the motor of numerous German “comic” operas. (Der Tagesspiegel, 21.05.1996)

59

Tobias Picker

Emmeline Opera in two acts Libretto by J.D. McClatchy, based on the novel by Judith Rossner Origin: 1994-1995

1996

Language: English Cast: Emmeline Mosher · soprano – Sophie, an Elderly Girl at the mill · soprano – Harriet Mosher · soprano – Ella Burling · soprano – Mrs. Bass · mezzo soprano – Aunt Hannah Watkins, Henry’s Sister · dramatic contralto – Matthew Gurney, a Railway Worker · tenor – Mr. Maguire, a Checker · baritone – Hooker · tenor – Simon Fenton · baritone – Henry Mosher, Emmeline’s Father · bass – Pastor Avery · bass – Sarah Mosher, Mr Summers, Mrs Maguire · speaking roles – Women’s chorus – Children’s voices (2 to 12 years old) Orchestra: 2(2. pic).2(2. ca).2.2-4.2.2.0-timp-hp.harm.str(10.8.6.6.3) Duration: 115‘ Vocal score EA 818 · Recording CD Albany Records ASIN B000006A6Q · Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 27.07.1996 Santa Fe Opera (WP) George Manahan · Francesca Zambello · Robert Israel · Dunya Ramicova

60

Synopsis Emmeline Mosher is only 13 when she is sent away from her home town of Fayette, Maine to work in the cotton mills of Lynn, Massachusetts. Falling prey to the advances of her boss’ son, Mathew Gurney, she becomes pregnant and is again sent out of town to have the child. What follows is a series of catastrophic events in Emmeline’s life that ultimately lead to her ostracism from the community.

Emmeline 27.07.1996 Santa Fe Opera

The City Opera should put Emmeline in its permanent repertory. It is a model of its kind.

(Bernard Holland, The New York Times) Aside from being a new opera that, for once, is defined and driven by music of quality, Emmeline is remarkable for containing a central role designed to flatter the voice and probe a character‘s emotional dilemma through flexibly contoured, expressively exploratory vocal lines.

(Peter G. Davis, New York Magazine) Have you ever heard of a contemporary opera where the audience stands up and cheers when the composer takes his bow? That‘s what happened at the Santa Fe Opera this summer after the final performance of Emmeline by composer Tobias Picker. (Heidi Waleson, Billboard Magazine)

61

Hans Werner Henze

Ein Landarzt (A Country Doctor) Radio opera based on the novella by Franz Kafka Origin: 1951 (Radio opera) | 1964 (Stage version) | 1965 (alternative version as Monodrama for baritone and orchestra) | 1994 (revised stage version)

1996

Language: German | English version by Wesley Balk Cast: the Country Doctor · baritone – Rosa · light soprano – the Daughter · soprano – the Mother · alto – the Groom · tenor – the Patient · low boy‘s voice – the Father · bass – children’s chorus (SA) Orchestra: 1 (auch Picc.) · 1 · Engl. Hr. · 1 · Bassklar. · 1 · Kfg. – 2 · 2 · 1 · 1 – S. (Trgl. · hg. Beck. · Beckenpaar · Tamt. · Tomt. · kl. Tr. · gr. Tr. m. Beck. · Clav. · Guiro · Mar. · kl. Glspl. · Xyl. · Vibr. · 6 Röhrengl.) (5 Spieler) – Hfe. · Cel. · 3 Klav. (1. u. 2. präp. Klav.) · Org. – Str. Duration: 33‘ Vocal score (D/E) ED 5674 · Study score ED 8481 · Recording CD WERGO 66662 (together with Das Ende einer Welt) · Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 19.11.1951 Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk, Hamburg (public broadcast of the studio production) Harry Hermann Spitz · Orchester des NWDR · Otto Kurth (director) 30.11.1965 Städtische Bühnen Frankfurt am Main (WP of the Stage version) Wolfgang Rennert · Hans Neugebauer · Jacques Camurati 27.09.1996 Studio für Elektronische Musik des WDR Köln (WP of the revised version) Markus Stenz · Kölner Rundfunk-Sinfonie-Orchester 17.11.2006 Prinzregententheater München Ulf Schirmer · Christof Nel · Marc Weeger · Silke Willrett

62

Synopsis A country doctor is called to a patient. For the journey, a shadowy carriage unexpectedly awaits. While Rosa the housemaid is being threatened by the coachman, the horses as if by magic sweep off with the doctor before he can come to the aid of his housemaid. The patient is a boy who does not appear to be ill, but is actually close to death. He has a palm-sized open wound in the region of his hip in which bloody worms are visible. The doctor cannot offer any help and is thus transformed into a patient himself. He lies down with the boy and has to listen to his accusation: ‘Instead of helping me, you take up space in my deathbed.’ The open wound as a symbol of human indebtedness returns the doctor-patient’s thoughts to Rosa, the housemaid who is in danger at home. He wishes to return home swiftly, but the horses now walk extremely slowly at the pace of old men. He abandons all hope, ‘naked and exposed to the frost of these ill-fated times’. (Source: WDR)

Ein Landarzt 17.11.2006 Prinzregententheater München

There is on the one hand the state of having been deserted by all good spirits, of having been cast out and exposed to the most terrible loneliness which appears to have been “ordered” by unseen powers operating in “higher places”. There is deception, self-deception, deceit and having been deceived, the fathomlessness and unreliability of everyday things, beginning with the most simple (or banal) and rising to the metaphysical and grotesque. (Hans Werner Henze)

63

Hans Werner Henze

Das Ende einer Welt (The End of a World) Radio opera | Opera buffa in two acts with prologue and epilogue Libretto by Wolfgang Hildesheimer Origin: 1953 (Radio opera) | 1964 (Stage version as opera buffa) | 1993 (revised version of the radio opera)

1996

Language: German | English version available Cast: Mr Fallersleben · tenor – Marchesa Montetristo · alto – Dombrowska, a Multi-talent · high tenor – La signora Sgambati, Astrologer · coloratura soprano – Professor Kuntz-Sartori, Politician · baritone – Golch, Man of culture · bass – Maggiordomo · baritone – the Narrator · actor – chorus of Guests · mixed chorus Orchestra: Blockfl. · Fl. · Okar. (Sopran u. Alt) · Fag. – 4 Jazztrp. · 4 Pos. – P. S. (2 hg. Beck. · Tamt. · kl. Tr. · 2 Tomt · gr. Tr · Clav. · Mar. · Glspl. · Xyl. · Vibr. · Röhrengl. · 3 Autohupen · Nebelgl. · Nebelhorn · Morseapp.) (4 Spieler) – Hfe. · Klav. · Harmon. · Akk. · Cemb. · Mandol. · Git. (mit Verstärker, auch E-Git.) · E-Bass – Str. – 3 Tonbänder (pre-recorded) Duration: 40‘ Vocal score ED 5673 · Study score ED 8480 · Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 04.12.1953 Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk, Hamburg (WP broadcasting) Harry Hermann Spitz · Orchester des NWDR · Curt Reiss 30.11.1965 Städtische Bühnen Frankfurt am Main (WP of the Stage version) Wolfgang Rennert · Hans Neugebauer · Jacques Camurati 27.09.1996 Studio für Elektronische Musik des WDR, Köln (WP of the revised version) Markus Stenz · Kölner Rundfunk-Sinfonie-Orchester 17.11.2006 Prinzregententheater München Ulf Schirmer · Christof Nel · Marc Weeger · Silke Willrett

64

Synopsis The immensely rich Marchesa Montetristo has ordered an artificial island to be created in the lagoon near Venice, as she feels the mainland a threat to her mental equilibrium and she has found nothing suitable among the existing islands.

She is now esconced on “San Amerigo” and celebrates ‘culture’. She has issued invitations to one of her celebrated soirées: her guest list includes illustrious names from the spheres of art, science and politics. Not included in any of these circles, but also among today’s invited guests, is Mr Fallersleben to whom the Marchesa is particularly indebted as he has recently sold her the very bathtub in which the famous Marat was murdered.

The highlight of the evening is the performance of a reputedly rediscovered flute sonata from the 18th century, actually a fake. The Marchesa herself accompanies the flautist Beranger on the harpsichord. During the concert, a tremor is felt through the palazzo: its fortifications have been washed away by the sea, but the musical performance continues regardless. “San Amerigo”, the artificial island and its world of artificiality sinks slowly – and with it all the illustrious guests.

Only Fallersleben is able to save himself – in Marat’s bathtub.

Das Ende einer Welt 17.11.2006 Prinzregententheater München

The world in which Wolfgang Hildesheimer’s loveless novella is set only sank in part at the time; the number of artificial islands has been reduced, but snobs are ubiquitous […] To Hildesheimer’s uncharitableness, my own is added which is not dissimilar to that of the poet. It is not the world itself which is sinking, but a particular world which is minutely and accurately depicted and it is this world which infuriates us as it provokes unease and even horror. (Hans Werner Henze)

65

Hans Werner Henze

Venus und Adonis (Venus and Adonis) Opera in one act for singers and dancers Libretto by Hans-Ulrich Treichel Origin: 1993-1995

1997

Language: German Cast: the Prima Donna · soprano – Clemente, a young Opera Singer · tenor – the Actor playing the Hero’s role · baritone – 6 Shepherds · 2 sopranos, mezzo soprano, tenor, baritone, bass – Venus, Adonis, Mars, the Mare, the Stallion, the Boar · dancers Orchestra I (‘Venus’): 3 Fl. (2., 3. auch Picc., 3. auch Altfl.) · Altsax. (auch Sopransax.) – Alttrp. · Tenortrp. · Basstrp. · Tb. – S. (Tamb. · Trinidad steel-drum · chin. Bl. · Peitsche · Vibr. · Flex. · Tempelbl. · Cymb. · Vibr.) (2 Spieler) – Hfe. – Str. (4 · 0 · 3 · 3 · 1) Orchestra II (‘Adonis’): 3 Ob. (2. auch Engl. Hr.) · 2 Fag. (3. auch Kfg.) – 4 Hr. – S. (Pk. · 4 Tomt. · 4 Holzbl. · Kast.) (2 Spieler) – Cel. – Str. (4 · 0 · 3 · 3 · 1) Orchestra III (‘Mars’): 3 Klar. (2. auch Es-Klar., 3. auch Bassklar.) – 3 Trp. · Basstrp. – S. (P. · 3 hg. Beck. · 3 Tamt. · chin. Gong · kl. Tr. · gr. Tr. mit Beck. · Marimb.) (2 Spieler) – Klav. – Str. (4 · 0 · 3 · 3 · 1) Duration: 70‘ Study score ED 8722 · Libretto BN 3367 · Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 11.01.1997 Bayerische Staatsoper München (WP) 20.03.1998 Teatro Carlo Felice, Genua 31.03.1999 Nationaltheater Mannheim Markus Stenz (München) | Jan Latham-Koenig (Genua) | Jun Märkl (Mannheim) · Pierre Audi · Chloë Obolensky 05.09.1997 Roayal Albert Hall · BBC Proms (concert performance) Markus Stenz · BBC Symphony Orchestra 29.07.2000 Santa Fe Opera, USA Richard Bradshaw · Alfred Kirchner · John Conklin · David Woolard 11.01.2001 Suntory Hall Tokyo (concert performance) Jun Märkl · NHK Symphony Orchestra

66

Synopsis The prima donna, the heroic actor and the young tenor Clemente are rehearsing for a performance of the mythical tale of Venus, Adonis and Mars which relates the love between the goddess Venus and the handsome youth Adonis. This incurs the displeasure and jealousy of the god Mars and culminates in the death of Adonis who is attacked by a boar. During the performance, the boundaries between the myth and the singers’ private conflicts become blurred: the heroic actor is just as enamoured of the prima donna as his persona Mars is of Venus. Following initial resistance, a relationship between them develops, causing the heroic actor to be as outraged as was Mars at the sight of Venus and Adonis together. In the same moment as Adonis is killed by the boar, the heroic actor stabs Clemente. In death, Clemente and Adonis become one.

Accompanied by shepherd song, Adonis is transported to the planet Venus. (Source: Bavarian State Opera Munich, season 1996| 1997)

Venus und Adonis 11.01.1997 Bayerische Staatsoper München

Venus and Adonis is a modern treatise on love: the love of two ageing persons for an adolescent boy, a youth. […] I describe great currents of emotion which have probably always been familiar to humans, but are possibly now portrayed differently in our time. This begins with their tonal representation. I also attempt – and this has been of special interest to me – to create music of our time in its unmitigated vehemence (and also in its entire range) on the basis of a generally familiar plot with the aid of a simple, classical formal vehicle.

(Hans Werner Henze, Source: Bayerische Staatsoper 1997)

67

Harald Weiss

Das Gespenst (The Ghost) Music theatre for children and adults in two acts and an intermission Libretto by the composer Origin: 1995-1996

1997

Language: German Cast: The Theatre Company: Milan Smetak, Opera Singer · tenor – Ana von Velde, Opera Diva · mezzo soprano – Leslie Tyler, youngest Member of the Ensemble · soprano – Mick, Assistant and Stage Manager · sprechgesang [rap style] – Carlos Graun, Stage Director and Company Manager · baritone – Anton Pfaff, Répétiteur and Pianist · pianist The City Representatives (all acting roles): Karl-Heinz Schroff, Assistant Head of Cultural Administration – Mechthild Oberwasser-Lautenthal, M.P for the Green Party and Vice President of the Citizen’s Action Committee ‘Support the refurbishment of your local Guildhall’ – Heiner Pevestorf, Chief Supervisor of City Administration The Ghost · coloratura soprano (not acting on stage; voice by microphone or off stage) – Back Stage Personal, Ladies and Gentlemen from the Court · supernumeraries (4 persons, 2 male, 2 female) Orchestra: 1 · 1 (auch Engl. Hr.) · 1 (auch Bassklar.) · 1 – 2 · 0 · 0 · 0 – P. S. (Trgl. · Gl. · Crot. · Gongs · Röhrengl. · 2 hg. Beck. · chin. Beck. · Tamt. · kl. Tr. · gr. Tr. · Donnerblech · Muschelwindspiel · Bambuswindspiel · Xyl.) (2 Spieler) – Klav. – Str. (4 · 0 · 2 · 2 · 1) – Tonbandpart (DAT-Kassette oder CD mit Toneinspielungen ist Teil des Aufführungsmaterials) Duration: 90‘ Libretto BN 3933 · Recording CD ALC 5201 · Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 18.04.1997 Ballhof Hannover · Niedersächsisches Staatstheater (WP) Stephan Tetzlaff · Harald Weiss · Maria Johanna Fischer 21.08.2004 Theater Erfurt Karl Prokopetz · Eva-Maria Abelein · Peter Steineke · Inge Steineke

68

Synopsis Strange things are happening in an old, abandoned theatre: a small opera company has rented the theatre and is attempting to rehearse the fairy tale The Fisherman and his Wife when suddenly a ghost which happens to be lurking in the ancient walls creates a general disturbance, ultimately resulting in total confusion. On top of all this, a small love story is in progress … a great deal of turbulence ensues before the happy end.

Harald Weiss effectively interlinks three levels in his opera: the unreal level of the theatre ghost, the prosaic level of the caricatured and exaggerated representatives of the town and the playful level of the theatre group which sees itself permanently confronted by the other two levels.

The audience should however also be ‘seduced’ from its observer role to participation in the scenario.

Das Gespenst 18.04.1997 Ballhof Hannover · Niedersächsisches Staatstheater

Harald Weiss plays with the various levels which constantly interrupt and overlap each other, inevitably producing both comical and satirical moments. The bureaucracy of public authorities and everyday life in the theatre is lampooned in a play of words. […] The different levels are also defined musically. […] The spectrum ranges from the traditional operatic aria to the jazzed up musical song. For the world of the ghost, the composer employs synthesised sounds, voices and noises.

The whole auditorium is awash with sound. (Neue Musikzeitung 06/1997)

69

Mark-Anthony Turnage

Twice Through the Heart Dramatic scene for mezzo soprano and 16 players Text by Jackie Kay Origin: 1994-1996 Language: English

1997

Cast: the Woman · mezzo soprano Orchestra: 1(afl)1(ca)2(bcl).0-1.1.1.0-perc(8 crot, vib, mar, sus cym, 3 gongs, tam-t, b.d, pedal b.d, ratchet, clav, whip)-hp.pno(cel)-str(1.0.2.2.1) Duration: 30‘ Study score ED 12536 · Recoding LPO 0031 · Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 13.06.1997 Snape Maltings Concert Hall · Aldeburgh Festival (WP) Nicholas Kok · Orchestra of English National Opera 24.04.1999 Stadttheater Gießen Herbert Gietzen · Christian Marten-Molnár · Nikolaus Porz 20.05.2006 · Göteborg · Röda Sten Jerker Johansson · Bodø Sinfonietta 06.11.2006 Manchester · Royal Northern College of Music Nicholas Kok · Psappha 11.12.2006 Wiener Musikverein, Brahms-Saal Peter Keuschnig · Ensemble Kontrapunkte 01.12.2006 Adrian Boult Hall Birmingham Nicholas Cleobury · Thallein Ensemble

70

Synopsis A woman has killed her husband with the kitchen knife ‘twice through the heart’ in the heat of the moment. He had abused her mentally and physically for many years. In court however, the woman does not talk about this, and she is given a long prison sentence. ‘I wanted to write a simple voice that was not poetic, literary or polemical. I wanted the voice to be so everyday it would be banal: the language to be flat and ordinary. I wanted to contrast the heightened drama of such domestic violence with plain, unpoetic speech. I was captivated with the idea that both the home and the prison were forms of incarceration for the battered wife. That there was no place she could be free. That the battered wife received a double sentence: the first from the husband and the second from the judge’. (Jackie Kay, ENO programme, 1997).

Twice Through the Heart © Sue Adler/Arenapal.com

The texts are direct and unflinching, their language matter-of-fact; there is no attempt to lyricize what are brutal, appalling experiences. That sometimes makes the words seem flat and banal, and almost deliberately unpoetic, though Turnage’s treatment of them is unfailingly sympathetic and deeply expressive. The kernels of lyricism that were studded through the general declamatory style of Greek now dominate his vocal writing; the lines for the mezzo-soprano move in smooth, grateful curves, supported on instrumental textures (drawn from 16 players) that shift and change colour with astonishing vividness. Turnage’s treatment of his ensemble is intense, by turns fiercely dramatic and lyrical; his tangy writing for wind is a long-standing hallmark, but the succulent, sensuous string parts, sometimes conjuring an almost Straussian warmth, are new.

(Opera, July 1997)

71

Stewart Wallace

Hopper’s Wife opera in five scenes libretto by Michael Korie Origin: 1997 Language: English

1997

Cast: Hopper · baritone – Mrs. Hopper · mezzo soprano – Ava · soprano Orchestra: 1(pic).0.1(cl in A, Ebcl and bcl). ssax.asax.tsax.barsax .1(cbsn)-1(pic tpt).1.0.1-percussion-vn.vc Duration: 90‘ Performance material on hire

Selected Productions June 1997 Long Beach Opera (WP) Michael Barrett

72

Synopsis Hopper’s Wife imagines American scene painter Edward Hopper married to Hollywood gossip columnist Hedda Hopper with Ava Gardner as the artist’s model. The opera explores the conflicts between high art and low art, gossip and pornography - through the prism of a crumbling, competitive marriage.

Edward Hopper and his wife both began as painters at the New York Art Students League.

Competitiveness entered their marriage as Mrs. Hopper’s need for creative expression was subjugated to her husband’s.

Though Hopper is strongly identified with cityscapes of urban America and landscapes of Truro, Cape Cod, he also painted female nudes. He approached his nudes from a characteristically voyeuristic stance, treating the female body as a screen on which to project unconscious desires.

For years, his only model was his wife.

Simultaneously, beginning in the mid-thirties on America’s opposite coast, the vituperative Hedda Hopper became a Hollywood fixture from her radio gossip show, her syndicated column, and her movie appearances in an ever-changing parade of flashy hats. Pandered to and fawned upon by obsequious studios and frightened stars, she wielded great power and venom, eventually cooperating with the reactionary forces behind the blacklist.

Hopper‘s Wife 1997 Long Beach Opera

Dazzling. Wallace and Korie use a peculiar kind of mythic-historic fantasy to heigthen the allegorical dimension of Edward Hopper‘s real-life domination of his bitter and frustrated wife. With its odd and sophisticated premise, the production makes a case for opera as a genuinely adult art form, one able to confront and decry the current „dumbed-down“ state of American culture.

(Michael Duncan, Art in America)

73

György Ligeti

Le Grand Macabre (The Grand Macabre) Opera in four scenes After the play “La Balade du Grand Macabre” (“The Ballad of the Grand Macabre”) by Michel de Ghelderode Text by György Ligeti and Michael Meschke Origin: 1974-1977 | 1995-1996 (new version)

1997

Language: German | English translation of the revised version by Geoffrey Skelton Cast: Chief of the Secret Political Police · coloratura soprano – Venus · high soprano – Amanda · soprano – Amando · mezzo soprano – count Go-Go · boy soprano, soprano or counter tenor – Mescalina · dramatic mezzo soprano – Piet vom Fass · high tenor buffo – Nekrotzar · character baritone – Astradamors · bass – Ruffiak · baritone – Schobiak · baritone – Schabernack · baritone – White Minister · tenor – Black Minister · baritone – Secret Police officers and hangmen (assistants of Secret Police), Master of Ceremonies of count Go-Go (a person of short stature, if possible), Pages and Servants at the Court of count Go-Go, Hellish Entourage of Nekrotzar during his entering the Court of count Go-Go · silent roles – Chorus: mixed chorus backstage (‘Echo of Venus’ [female chorus], ‘Choral of ghosts’, ‘The Whispering of the Walls’ and the Folk of Breughelland I) – mixed chorus in the auditorium (the Folk of Breughelland II) Orchestra: 3 (2. u. 3. auch Picc.) · 3 (2. auch Ob. d’am., 3. auch Engl. Hr.) · 3 (2. auch Klar. in Es und Altsax. in Es, 3. auch Bassklar. in B) · 3 (3. auch Kontrafag.) – 4 · 4 Tromp. in C (1. u. 2. ad lib. auch kl. Tromp. in D) · 1 Basstromp. in C · 3 Pos. (Tenor, Tenor-Bass, Kontrabass) · Kb.-Tb. – P. S. (Xyl. · Vibr. · Glspl. · Marimb. · 12 mechan. Autohupen · 4 Spieluhren · 6 elektr. Türklingeln · 2 Schellentr. · Militärtr. · 2 kl. Tr. · 3 Bong. · Conga · Rührtr. · Paradetr. · 4 Tomt. · 2 gr. Tr. · 2 Trgl. · 3 Paar Crot. · 3 hg. Beck. · 1 Paar kl. Beck. · 2 Paar norm. Beck. · Gong · 2 Tamt. · Röhrengl. · 2 jap. Tempelgl. [Rin] · Mar. · 2 Gueros · 2 Peitschen · 1 Paar Claves · 1 Paar Kast. · Ratsche · 3 Woodbl. · Holztr. · 5 Tempelbl. · gr. Holzhammer · Holzlatten · Lotosfl. · Trillerpfeife · Kuckuckspfeife · Signalpfeife · Sirenenpfeife · Dampfschiffpfeife · 2 Sirenen · 2 Flex. · Entengequake · 2 Brummtöpfe · gr. Weckeruhr · gr. pyramidenförm. Metronom · Papierbögen, Seidenoder Zeitungspapier · 1 Paar Sandpapierblöcke · Windmaschine · Papiertüte · Tablett voll Geschirr · Kochtopf · Pistole) (4 Spieler) – 3 chrom. Mundharmonikas (werden von den Bläsern oder Schlagzeugern gespielt) · Cel. (auch Cemb.) · Konzertflügel (auch elektr. Klav.) · elektr. Org. (nur Manual) (auch Regal) · Mand. · Hfe. – Str. (3 · 0 · 2 · 6 · 4) Stage music: Instrumentalists from the pit Duration: 120‘ Study Score ED 8522 · Libretto (G/E) BN 3502 · Recordings CD WERGO 61702 (first version) / CD SONY S2K 62312 (revised version) · Performance material on hire

74

Synopsis ‘The opera takes place in the completely degenerate but recklessly flourishing dukedom of Breugelland. […] The opera’s main character is Nekrozar, the Grand Macabre, a sinister, demagogic and dubious figure with an unshakable sense of mission. He maintains that he is the figure of Death who has come to Breugelland in order to wipe out the entire population and thereby also the whole of mankind with the aid of a comet that very day at midnight. Although he enters the ducal palace with great pomp to proclaim his apocalyptic threats with supreme confidence, he becomes caught up in the maelstrom of the all too worldly goings-on of the people of Breugelland and, with the aid of the court astrologer and his drinking partner Piet vom Fass, becomes so inebriated […] that his loftily declaimed proclamation on the imminent end of the world falls totally flat. The intoxicated people of Breugelland believe themselves to have already arrived in heaven, but it gradually becomes clear that life in heaven is identical to that on earth. Everyone is still alive after all and only Nekrozar, the Grand Macabre, dies from grief that he has failed in his crusade. If he were Death himself, then Death is now dead, eternal life has begun and earth is at one with heaven: the Last Judgement has taken place. Should he however merely have been a conceited charlatan and a dark and false messiah and his mission merely empty words, life will continue as normal – one day everyone will die, but not today, not immediately.’ (György Ligeti; source: Salzburg Festival 1997)

Selected Productions 12.04.1978 Königliche Oper Stockholm (WP of the original version) Elgar Howarth · Michael Meschke · Aliute Meczies 28.07.1997 Salzburger Festspiele (WP of the new version) 05.02.1998 Théâtre du Châtelet Paris Esa-Pekka Salonen · Peter Sellars · George Tsypin · Dunya Ramicova 11.03.1998 Niedersächsisches Staatstheater Hannover Andreas Delfs · Ernst Theo Richter · Hartmut Schörghöfer · Jorge Jara 29.10.2004 War Memorial Opera San Francisco Michael Boder · Kasper Holten · Jesper Kongshaug · Steffen Aarfing 07.02.2009 New National Theatre Tokyo Uri Segal · Yasuki Fujita 17.09.2009 English National Opera tba.

Le Grand Macabre is a unique masterpiece of absurdist opera and one of the few new works of the post-Britten era to establish itself firmly in the international repertoire, thanks to a score of dizzying pace and variety. It begins with a car-horn prelude, a parodic reference to the toccata of Monteverdi’s Orfeo.[...] Juxtaposed with scenes of anarchic, earthy farce are passages of almost Straussian eroto-lyricism — the love-duetting of the androgynous Amanda and Amando, who seek oblivion in sex. (The Sunday Times, March 2009)

75

Volker David Kirchner

Labyrinthos (Shakespearion II) After texts from ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ by William Shakespeare and Claudio Monteverdi’s ‘Guerrieri ed Amorosi’ (La Ninfa) Origin: 1995-1996

1997

Language: German Cast (all actors/actresses): Oberon – Puck – Titania – Lysander – Hermia – Demetrius – Helena – Zettel [Nick Bottom] – Squenz [Peter Quince] – Schnautz [Tom Snout] – Schlucker [Francis Flute] – Pyramus Singers in the pit: 2 sopranos · 1 tenor · 1 baritone · 1 bass Orchestra: 2 (2. auch Picc.) · 2 (2. auch Engl. Hr.) · 2 (2. auch Bassklar.) · 1 (auch Kfg.) – 2 · 1 · 1 · 1 – P. S. (Trgl. · 3 hg. Beck. · Beckenpaar · ant. Cym. · Tamt. · Röhrengl. · Schellentr. · 2 Tomt. · 2 Bong. · 2 kl. Tr. · gr. Tr. · Holzbl. · Solid bar chimes · Gläsersp. · Glsp.) (3 Spieler) – Hfe. · Klav. (auch Cel.) – Str. (1 · 1 · 2 · 2 · 1) Duration: 60‘ Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 17.10.1997 Staatstheater Mainz, Kleines Haus (WP) Stefan Sanderling · Peter Brenner · Waltraud Engelberg

76

Volker David Kirchner · Photo: Peter Andersen

Synopsis Errors and confusion in a shimmering summer night: Oberon, the king of the fairies, and his queen Titania have fallen out with each other and are living apart but in the same forest near Athens.

In the same location, two pairs of lovers have lost their way: Helena who loves Demetrius who loves Hermia who loves Lysander who loves Helena … A plot with great potential for complications. Oberon feels sorry for the lovers – the magic flower belonging to his servant Puck should help to solve all problems. This however has the opposite effect as Puck’s magic causes the person to fall in love with the first creature he or she sees! Thus Titania suddenly regards the simpleton Bottom with the ass’s head as the god of love.

In addition, there is the troupe of craftsmen who rehearse the play ‘Pyramus and Thisbe’ for the wedding of Theseus and thereby initiate further confusion. The midsummer night becomes a labyrinth of encounters and emotions; in culmination, Oberon and Titania are confronted with utter chaos.

“The musicality of Shakespeare’s language in the German translation by Schlegel proved to be a great inspiration for the composer […] Kirchner leaves the speech melody unaltered and intervenes as a commentator. […] He adds colour which appears to influence the events taking place, almost giving the impression that the composer has stepped into the playwright’s shoes, identifying himself with Shakespeare. Kirchner never breaks with tradition, but incorporates it consciously into his music.” (Das Orchester 02/1998)

77

Peter Eötvös

Radames Chamber opera Concept and libretto by Peter Eötvös, based on texts by András Jeles, Lászlo Najmányi, Manfred Niehaus and Antonio Ghislanzoni Origin: 1975 | 1997 (revised version)

1997

Language: German, Italian, English Cast: Radames / Aida · counter tenor – Opera Director · mezzo soprano – Theatre Director · tenor – Film Director · baritone Ensemble: Ssax., Horn, Tuba, E-Piano (Clavinova) Duration: 35‘ Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 05.03.1976 WDR Musiktheater Festival Köln (WP) Peter Eötvös · Peter Eötvös 29.12.1997 Budapest (UA der revidierten Fassung) Gergely Vajda · Péter Halász · Zsolt Csengery · Sári Gerlóczy | Domokos Moldován 12.06.1999 Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe Robin Engelen · Renate Ackermann · Markus Grob | Jai Young Park · Katrin Köhler 10.11.2005 Kulturzentrum Herne Errico Fresis · Ensemble PanArte 29.03.2008 Prinzregententheater München Joachim Tschiedel · Renate Ackermann · Stefan Wintersberger · Lisa Mohini-Müller | Takako Senda

78

Synopsis A rehearsal of the opera Aida is in progress: due to large-scale cost reductions in the orchestral budget, only three musicians are available. The conductor has to direct from the keyboard (or an electric piano). He lives off his income as a pianist in a coffee bar. There is only one counter tenor remaining in the ensemble, a leftover from the Baroque opera craze of the late 20th century. He is able to take both the part of Aida sung falsetto and Radames in his normal vocal range – ideal casting! In contrast, the directors are over-represented: following the amalgamation of the opera house and dramatic theatre, the directors of both houses are available. These are joined by a film director, as the funds for the opera are being financed by a parallel film production. The scene involving the death of Radames is currently in rehearsal and all three directors are attempting to work with the singer at the same time. The singer breaks down under the pressure and simultaneously the operation of the entire opera house collapses. In essence, a death scene in which the actor dies and the actor of the actor dies while he is acting out death: the death of death. Opera dies - is in fact already dead. The film dies - but the directors survive and write their memoirs … (Source: Cultural Centre, Herne, 2005)

Radames 29.03.2008 Prinzregententheater München, Photo: Hilda Lobinger

Eötvös’ chamber opera, perhaps originally conceived as ironical music of the future, has in the meantime become alarmingly up-to-date – a real (cultural-political) tragedy!

(Sabine Radermacher | Errico Fresis, Quelle: Kulturzentrum Herne 2005)

79

Petr Eben

Jeremias (Jeremiah) Church opera in five scenes Libretto after the same-named play by Stefan Zweig, Adapted by the composer Origin: 1996-1997

1997

Language: German Cast: Narrator · tenor – Jeremias · bass baritone – Mother · alto – Baruch · tenor – Zedekia · bass – 2 Assyrian Warriors · tenor, bass – 2 Israelite Warriors · tenor, bass – 2 Men · tenor, bass – chorus Ensemble: 1 · 1 (auch Engl. Hr.) · 1 · 1 – 1 · 1 · 1 · 0 – S. (Trgl. · Gong · Beck. · 4 Tomt.) – Orgel (Org.-positiv) – Str. Duration: 90‘ Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 25.05.1997 St. Vitus Kathedrale (Veitsdom) Prag (WP) Bohumil Kulínsky · Josef Prudek · Irena Janovcová (Choreographie) 12.08.1999 Stiftskirche Ossiach, Österreich Peter Keuschnig · Erwin Ebenbauer · Walter Vogelweider 06.05.2000 Seminarkirche St. Michael Würzburg · Stadttheater Würzburg Sören Eckhoff · Mario Schröder · Werner Pick 03.06.2000 Hauptkirche St. Michaelis Hamburg (concert performance) Christoph Schoener · Choir and Orchester of the Hauptkirche St. Michaelis 29.06.2007 Dominikanerkloster Retz · Festival Retz 2007 (concert performance) Andreas Schüller

80

Synopsis Jeremiah has a vision of the imminent fall of Jerusalem. Not even his mother wants to believe him and she curses him – Jerusalem will last forever. Eager for war, the people are determined to shake off the Assyrian yoke and reject Jeremiah’s warnings.

The Assyrians surround the town. The king of the Israelites, Zedekia, is Jeremiah’s last hope. But Zedekia too does not want to listen to Jeremiah’s warnings. The crowd’s anger is directed at Jeremiah and they threaten to stone him. Zedekia leads his people into war.

Jeremiah returns to his father’s home, where his mother lies dying. She hears the noise of battle close by and knows that Jerusalem is awaiting its downfall. The crowd forces its way into the house and throws Jeremiah into a dung pit. Jerusalem has fallen and king Zedekia blinded. As soon as the enemy’s trumpet call sounds three times the Israelis must leave town. The prophet Jeremiah, whose words have come true, finds words of comfort: ‘God will build a temple in your heart and he will build the eternal Jerusalem in each one of you.’

Jeremias 06.05.2000 Stadttheater Würzburg

Petr Eben has fleshed out the original Old Testament texts into five expressive scenes, [...] each introduced by a sung commentary. In effect, Jeremiah is an opera for baritone and choir. The protagonist finds an equal partner in the choir, which leaves the fallen Jerusalem at the end of the work to begin its everlasting pilgrimage. (Jan Panenka, Prague 1997)

81

Toshio Hosokawa

Vision of Lear Opera in two acts Libretto by Tadashi Suzuki after William Shakespeare Origin: 1997-1998

1998

Language: English Cast: Lear · bass – Goneril · alto – Regan · high soprano – Cordelia · soprano – Albany · low baritone – Cornwall · high baritone – Edgar · high baritone – Edmund · high tenor – Gloucester · deep baritone – Oswald · tenor – Servant / Captain / Gentleman · tenor – Nurses · actors – Children’s or female Chorus (ad lib.)

Orchestra: 1 (auch Altfl., Bassfl., Picc.) · 0 · 1 (auch Bassklar.) · 0 – 0 · 0 · 0 · 0 – P. S. (2 kl. Tr. · 2 gr. Tr. · 2 Tamt. · 3 hg. Becken · 8 Bongos · 2 ant. Cym. · 3 Gongs · 3 Trgl. · 8 Tom-t. · 7 Holzbl. · Löwengebrüll · Xyl. · 2 Mar. · Vibr. · Glsp. · Peitsche) (2 Spieler) – Hfe. – Str. (1 · 1 · 1 · 1 · 1) Duration: 100‘ Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 19.04.1998 Carl-Orff-Saal im Gasteig · Münchener Biennale (WP) 19.06.1999 Bunka Kaikan Tokyo Georges-Elie Octors · Tadashi Suzuki 04.12.1998 Oldenburgisches Staatstheater Raoul Grüneis · Anke Hoffmann · Heike Scheele 31.01.2002 Royal Opera House Covent Garden London · Linbury Studio Theatre Gregory Rose · Harry Ross · Mike Jardine

82

Synopsis A nurse is reading to an old man from Shakespeare’s King Lear. During the man’s reminiscences of his life, his memories fuse with the story of Lear … Before the aged king divides his kingdom among his heirs, he demands that his three daughters declare their love for him. Only the youngest daughter, Cordelia, refuses to make the required profession of love and is banned from the kingdom. Edmund, the illegitimate son of Gloucester, convinces his father that Edgar, the legitimate heir, is planning to murder his father. Edgar is also banned. As soon as Lear’s elder daughters, Goneril and Regan, have divided the inheritance between them, they begin to treat their father with contempt.

The old man, shunted off into hospital, becomes agitated: in his visions, he thinks he is bringing Goneril and Regan to court. The nurse continues to read: Gloucester attempts to save Lear and in turn is brought into Regan’s clutches. The old man continues to fantasise. In Lear’s own words, he begins to threaten the figures of his fantasies. The nurse remains unperturbed …

Consumed by her desire for Edmund, Goneril poisons her rival Regan. Edgar acts out his revenge on Edmund in a duel. Edmund admits too late that he has issued instructions for Lear and Cordelia to be killed. Lear appears with the corpse of Cordelia in his arms and dies of despair.

With these visions, the death struggle of the old man also comes to an end. Enthralled by the story, the nurse continues to read her book. Only her laughter can be heard echoing from the stage...

Vision of Lear 19.04.1998 Münchener Biennale

If the whole world is a madhouse, there is little hope of recovery; it is however possible – although in the face of great resistance – at least to make the attempt to clarify in what sort of ‘disease’ mankind is ensnared. This for me is the task of a contemporary theatre artist.

(Tadashi Suzuki; source: Munich Biennale 1998)

83

Dieter Schnebel

Majakowskis Tod – Totentanz (Mayakovsky’s Death – Dance of the Death) Opera fragment and aftermath for two speakers, soprano, bass, chorus and orchestra Text collage after Wladimir Majakowski and Lilja Brik by Dieter Schnebel Origin: 1989-1997

1998

Language: German a.o.

Cast: Nora (Veronika Polonskaja) · high soprano – Lilja Brik · alto / female speaker – Wladimir Majakowski · bass / male speaker – speaking choir (10-20 persons, among them solo speakers and a female speaker): Makarow · Sajzew · Michejew · Ehrlich · Schreier · the Chairman · X · Y · Z (female voice) – singing chorus (SATB, small or large chorus) Orchestra: 3 (1. und 2. auch Altfl., 3. auch Picc.) · 3 (1. auch Engl. Hr.) · 3 (1. auch Es-Klar., 3. auch Bassklar.) · Sax. (Sopranino-Bariton) · 3 (3. auch Kfg.) – 4 · 3 · 3 · 1 (auch Kb.-tb.) – S. (Trgl. · Beck. [h./m./t.] · Tamt. [m./t.] · Schellen · Schellenreif · Tamb. · Tomt. · Holztr. · kl. Tr. · gr.Tr. [auch mit Beck.] · Tr. [auf Metall · Holz · Fell zu spielen] · Woodbl. [h./m./t.] · Hammerschlag · Kuhgl. · Gong [wie bei Boxkampf] · Meßgl. · Schiffsgl. · Crot. · Röhrengl. · Plattengl. · gr. Sirene [t.] · Windm. · Flex. · Donnerblech · Amboss · Schleifgeräusche [Wetzstein · Metall · Messer · Sensen] · Chimes [Glas u. Metall] · Waldteufel · Löwengebrüll · Sistrum · Kast. · Guiro · Claves · Schotterkasten · Ocean Drum · mehrere Rainmaker · Mar. u. andere Schüttelinstr. · Sandbl. · Peitschenknall · Pistolenschuss · Ratsche · Schwirrholz · Geräuschemacher [Papiere, Plastik, Plastikbecher] · Mundsirene · Trillerpfeife · Hyoshigi · Wasserplätschern · polterndes Geräusch · Kettengerassel · Vogelstimmen · Hartgummibälle in Handtr. · Autohupe · Fahrradkl. · Knirschen [raue Steine] · Glspl. · Xyl. · Vibr. · Marimba) (6 Spieler) – Hfe. · Klav. · E-Git. · Cymb. · Akk. · Synth. – Str. (12 · 12 · 12 · 10 · 10) · Live-Elektronik | Tonbandzuspielungen (mit den jeweiligen Protagonisten zu produzieren) Duration: 120‘ Performance material on hire Remarks: Majakowskis Tod [Mayakovsky’s Death] and Totentanz [Dance of the Dead] may be performed separately. When Majakowskis Tod [Mayakovsky’s Death] is performed alone, the wood wind section can be reduced to two players each.

Selected Productions 10.03.1995 Konzerthaus Berlin · Musik-Biennale Berlin (WP Totentanz, concert performance) Zoltán Peskó · Berliner Sinfonie-Orchester 08.03.1998 Oper Leipzig (WP) 04.10.1998 Semperoper Dresden · Tage der zeitgenössischen Musik · Oper Leipzig Johannes Kalitzke (Leipzig) | Jörg Krüger (Dresden) · Achim Freyer · Achim Freyer | Jakob Niedermeier · Maria Elena Amos

84

Synopsis Majakowkis Tod [Mayakovsky’s Death] describes the failure of the revolutionary poet Wladimir Mayakowsky who, being ahead of his time, is forging a new model for human moral existence but departs too far from his fellow men in his demands for future concepts. The radicalism with which he protests against the artistic views of the past during his youth borders on anarchy – even though his aspiration is the transformation of daily life through art. His identification with sufferers and unfortunates causes him to pin all his hopes on mankind, freed through revolution to regain moral strength. However it soon becomes obvious that mankind cannot keep pace with historical transformation, that Philistines will triumph anew and that thoughtlessness and indifference will reign. For Mayakovsky, a fight begins which is initially fanned by hate, but is ultimately suffocated by resignation.

Totentanz [Dance of the Death], the second part of the evening, goes beyond Mayakovsky; a confrontation with the phenomenon of death commences. The fate of individuals becomes lost within the context of human history. The casualties of the wars of modern times alone are measured in millions, but what significance does the life or death of an individual possess? A prosaic and totally unsentimental string of figures, names and facts dissolves individuality within statistics – a modern form of requiem which is contemporary in its impersonality and inconceivability. (Source: Leipzig Opera 1998)

Majakowskis Tod - Totentanz 15.07.2005 Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz, München

“An exemplary curriculum vitae – Mayakovsky’s own – including the chapters (acts) Childhood and Youth, Revolution, Work and Love – the long journey (America) and Farewell and death. An unorthodox commencement of the work on the last act depicting the death of the protagonist. Spontaneous concept of a large-scale, general operatic postlude: the perspective seen from the individual event of death to the billions of casualties of this world. The long chronicle of the dead is read out followed by its increasing numbers and catastrophes recorded alongside the entire creatural behaviour; the choir declaims the names. In conclusion, the chronicle fades out with dates in the distant future and the opera disintegrates. Following the culmination of the dance of death, [I decided] to break off of the project which threatened to expand to excessive proportions.” (Dieter Schnebel)

85

Gavin Bryars

Doctor Ox‘s Experiment Opera in two acts after a novella by Jules Verne Libretto by Blake Morrison Origin: 1994–1996

1998

Language: English Cast: Suzel · soprano – Suzanne · soprano – Aunt Hermance · mezzo soprano – Frantz · counter tenor – Fritz · counter tenor – Doctor Ox · tenor – Ygène · baritone – Van Tricasse · bass baritone – Passauf · bass – Niklausse · bass – Valentine · coloratura mezzo soprano – Raoul · tenor – chorus Orchestra: 2 (2pic).2 (1: obd‘am, 2: ca).1.bcl.1.cbn-4.flhn.0.2.btbn.0-3perc (timp., b.d., tamtam, sizz.cym.l, sus.cym., tub. bells, tuned c. b., crots., glock., vib., mar., mark tree, chinese b.tree, wind machine)-hp · ekeybd - str (6.6.5.4.3* min) * plus 1 improvising jazz player amplified and including at least one bass with a 5th string or low extension Duration: 130‘ Vocal Score ED 12570 · Performance material on hire Remarks: A 25 minute concert version of the final scene, Doctor Ox‘s Experiment (Epilogue) was first performed in 1988 and is available on hire

Selected Productions 15.06.1998 Coliseum London · English National Opera (WP) James Holmes · Atom Egoyan · Michael Levine · Sandy Powell 24.01.1999 Theater Dortmund, Opernhaus Alexander Rumpf · Pascal Paul-Harang · Heinz Balthes · José-Manuel Vazquez

86

Synopsis ‘Doctor Ox’s Experiment is an apparently straightforward narrative which could be seen to have the concept of “tempo”, relative pace and the play between musical time and chronological time as a structuring device.’ (Gavin Bryars) The place is not marked on any map: Quiquendone, a small town in Flanders of deep tranquillity and bureaucratic stultification. Nothing has happened here for centuries and the townsfolk conduct their lives with extreme slowness, never raising their voices or taking risks. Into their midst comes the animated impetuous figure of Doctor Ox, a scientist and adventurer who offers to supply the town (at his own expense) with a modern street-lighting system. In fact, along with his loyal but anxious assistant Ygène, he is conducting an experiment to see if the injection into the atmosphere of an oxygen gas can alter the behaviour of the townsfolk – and in time, perhaps change the world.

As the experiment proceeds, a ‘strange fever’ affects everything and everyone, and revolution threatens. There is a riotous performance of Meyerbeer’s ‘Les Hugenots’ (which in the old days was performed so slowly that it never got beyond the first act). As authority crumbles and various political factions compete for the people’s heart, the town leaders unite the townsfolk in a local nationalist cause, reviving a centuries-old dispute over a cow as a pretext to declare war on neighbouring Virgamen. Ox is delighted and develops his gas to give it fighting potential.

Ygène repeatedly pleads with Ox to stop but he refuses. They fight, but meanwhile the dials and monitors in the empty lab have gone haywire. There is an almighty explosion, Ox and Ygène run off, and slowly everything seems to return to normal. Yet, in the final closing duet, it is clear that nothing can ever be the same again.

Doctor Ox‘s Experiment 24.01.1999 Theater Dortmund

Doctor Ox’s Experiment is a real, singable, musically self-justifying opera, with many of the medium’s traditional strengths, if always at a deceptive angle to tradition. It is a work of pungent originality that is never “experimentalist” in the way of earlier Bryars works, but makes a surprisingly close approach to mainstream repertoire. (The Sunday Times 21.6.1998)

87

Wilfried Hiller

Der Schimmelreiter (The Dykemaster) Twenty-two scenes and an interlude after Theodor Storm Libretto by Andreas K. W. Meyer Origin: 1996-1997

1998

Language: German Cast: Hauke Haien · tenor – Elke Volkerts · lyric mezzo soprano – Trin Jans · mezzo soprano – Ole Peters · bass baritone – The Fiddler · solo violin – Tede Haien, Hauke’s Father / Geestkretler [umpire at a ball game played at the Geest, i.e. the German coastal areas] / 1. Man · bass – Tede Volkerts, Dike Reeve, Father of Elke / 3. Man / Working Man · bass baritone – 1. Gambler / 2.

Man / Farm Hand · baritone – 2. Gambler / 4. Man / Day taller · high tenor – Preacher · actor – 2 Voices · lyric soprano, lyric baritone – curious Onlookers / Mourners / Members of a religious sect / Workers · chorus (SATB) Orchestra: 2 (2. auch Picc.) · 2 (2. auch Engl. Hr.) · 2 (1. auch Es-Klar.) · 2 (2. auch Kfg.) – 3 · 2 · 2 · 1 – S. (I: Marimb. · kl. Peitsche · Zimb. · 2 Tomt. · Amboss · kl. Tr. · Windmaschine · Weinglas · Vibraslap · Mark Tree · sehr hohes Beck. Kirchengl.; II: Marimb. · mittelgr. Peitsche · Vibraphon · 2 Tomt. · Amboss · 4 Tempelbl. · 2 Plattengongs · 4 Rototoms · Maracas · 4 Beck. unterschiedlicher Größe · Kirchengl.; III: Maracas, hoch · gr. Peitsche · 3 Röhrengl. · Tempelbl. · Holzbl., hoch · 2 Tomt. · Amboss · gr. Tr. · Tamt. · Cabaza · Nietenbeck. · Kirchengl.; IV: Maracas, tief · sehr gr. Peitsche · Dobaci · Schellentamb. · Holzbl., tief · 2 Tomt. · Amboss · Buckelgong · tiefes Beck. · Beckenpaar · Kirchengl.) (4 Spieler) – Org. (kann vom Band zugespielt werden) – Str. (0 · 0 · 0 · 6 · 3) Chamber ensemble (to be placed separately): 1 Fl. (auch Altfl.) · 2 Klar. (2. auch Bassklar.) – S. (can be played by a percussionist from the orchestra) – Hfe. – 1 Solo-Violine (also acting on stage) Duration: 90‘ Libretto BN 3384 · Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 21.06.1998 Bühnen der Landeshauptstadt Kiel (WP) Ulrich Windfuhr · Kirsten Harms · Bernd Damovsky · Susanne Hubrich 29.01.2000 Carl-Schurz-Kaserne, Musik- und Konzertsaal · Stadttheater Bremerhaven Peter Aderhold · Ricardo Fernando · Petra Mollérus · Stephan Stanisic 23.05.2000 Reaktorhalle Luisenstraße · Hochschule für Musik und Theater München Naoshi Takahashi · Stefan Spies · Rainer Sellmair

88

Synopsis ‘For me, Der Schimmelreiter (The Dykemaster) forms the second part of a major trilogy which began with Rattenfänger (The Pied Piper) and ends with Eduard auf dem Seil (Eduard on the Tightrope). In all three works, a figure comes from the East and sets the story in motion; […] in Schimmelreiter, it is a fiddler from Slovakia who persuades Hauke Haien to buy his white horse. […] I have specifically noticed how through the opening up of Eastern Europe, particularly in the case of composers from Latvia, Lithuania, Russia and Georgia, elements appear in our Central European music which were frowned upon post-1945: emotion, humour and an unbroken relationship with melody. […] As I was formulating my initial concepts for Schimmelreiter, I heard the legend of the horse-head violin. I was fascinated by the idea of the Mongolian rider who, after his horse was killed by the Khan because he did not receive it as a present, fashioned a staff from the backbone of the animal, strings from its hair and a bow from its tail and attempted to reproduce the mournful cries of his beloved animal with his new instrument.

As I repeatedly read Theodor Storm’s novella Schimmelreiter, and was further drawn into the scene of the tale with the aid of reference literature, my mind returned again and again to the horse-head violin with its mournful trills and glissandi. It was soon clear that the violin must be the central instrument in Schimmelreiter and its singing melody would permeate the entire work and appear at both its opening and culmination.’ (Wilfried Hiller; source: Bühnen der Landeshauptstadt Kiel, 1998)

Der Schimmelreiter 21.06.1998 Bühnen der Landeshauptstadt Kiel

In the brief scenes compressed in the manner of film collage sequences, the motifs are visible in concentrated form. Superstition and tradition influence daily life in the remote village and spiritual and material dependence characterise the relationships between the small number of figures involved. […] Wilfried Hiller saw in this material and its reduction to a series of scenes in the manner of wood carvings an ideal basis for compositional work. […] His Schimmelreiter is a sensuous kaleidoscope, compiled from many sources – folk songs, jazz rhythms and the sounds of organs and pealing of bells as naturalistic notes within a refined and ingenious instrumentation.

(Frankfurter Rundschau, 27.06.1998)

89

Heinz Holliger

Schneewittchen (Snow White) Opera in five scenes, a prologue and an epilogue after Robert Walser Text compiled by the composer Origin: 1997-1998

1998

Language: German Cast: Snow White · soprano – Queen · mezzo soprano – Prince · tenor – Hunter · baritone – King · bass Orchestra: 2 (beide auch Picc. u. Altfl.) · 2 (2. auch Engl. Hr.) · 3 (2. u. 3. auch Bassklar.) · 2 (2. auch Kfg.) – 2 · 2 · 2 · 1 – 4 P. S. (Trgl. · Röhrengl. · Crot. · 4 Gongs · 3 hg. Beck. · Beckenpaar · 3 Tamt. · 4 Tomt. · 4 Bong. · 2 Holztr. · Rührtr. · kl. Tr. · gr. Tr. · 2 Woodbl. · 4 Mar. · Guiro · Geophon · 2 Sandbl. · 2 Pfannendeckel · 2 Metallbl. · Waschbrett mit Fingerhütchen · Shellchimes · Metallchimes · Glaschimes · Bambuschimes · Glasscherben und Steine in Tongefäß · Papier · Sandpapier auf Tamt. · Wassergong · Windmasch. · Hyoshigi · Ruten · Ratschen · Flex. · sing.

Säge · Lotosfl. · Raintree · Amboss · Clav. · Brummtopf · Prallstock · Superball · Glsp. · Vibr. · Marimba) (4 Spieler) – Hfe. · Cel. · Glasharm. · Akk. – Str. (1 · 1 · 2 · 2 · 1) Duration: 120‘ Libretto BN 3385 · Recording CD ECM 1715 · Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 17.10.1998 Opernhaus Zürich (WP) 28.10.1998 Opernhaus Frankfurt am Main Heinz Holliger · Reto Nickler · Hermann Feuchter · Katharina Weissenborn 25.11.2002 Konzerthaus Wien, Großer Saal (concert performance) · Wien Modern Heinz Holliger · Orchester der Oper Zürich

90

Synopsis Unlike the Brothers Grimm fairytale, Robert Walser’s short play begins after the rescue of Snow White: the eponymous heroine and the archetypal cast of characters – the queen, the hunter, the prince and the king – meet again to analyse and comment on both the wondrous and the terrible prehistory of the famous fairytale. While doing so the original evaluation seems increasingly dubious: who is actually good and who is evil – and what really happened? By re-building several versions of the story, the protagonists discuss the question of their true identity and their relationships from within Robert Walser’s aesthetic.

Schneewittchen 17.10.1998 Opernhaus Zürich

Holliger’s music reveals a truly wondrous sonic imagination. [...] The basic structure of his music is lyrical, a filigree of a huge range of sounds, often on the threshold of the inaudible. [...] Often the ear has to decode the aural landscape, which can sound electronic but is always acoustic. A master of the orchestra, Holliger’s score is a significant achievement.

(Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 19. October 1998)

91

Tobias Picker

Fantastic Mr. Fox Opera in three acts Libretto by Donald Sturrock, based on the children’s story by Roald Dahl Origin: 1998

1998

Language: English Cast: Fantastic Mr. Fox · baritone – Mrs. Fox · mezzo soprano – Bennie, Lennie, Jennie & Pennie Foxcub · Children voices – Farmer Boggis · bass – Farmer Bunce · tenor – Farmer Bean · bass baritone – Mavis the Tractor · soprano – Agnes the Digger · mezzo soprano – Miss Hedgehog · soprano – Badger the Miner · baritone – Burrowing Mole · tenor – Rita the Rat · mezzo soprano – Porcupine · tenor – chorus of Trees · Children – Various geese and chicken Orchestra: 2(1.alfl 2.pic).2(2.ca).2(2.bcl).2(2.cbn)-4.2.2.1-timp.2perc(bs dr., temple blk., mar., low dr., snare., gongs., toms., vib., xyl., hanging cym., glock., hh., cym.)- hp.pno-str(10.9.6.8.4) Duration: 90‘ Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 09.12.1998 Los Angeles Opera (WP) Peter Ash · Donald Sturrock · Gerald Scarfe

92

Synopsis A modern fable, Fantastic Mr. Fox is a story about good vs. evil, animal vs. human, and nature vs. technology. With the help of the other creatures of the forest, Mr. Fox must outwit his enemies to keep his family safe. Mr. Fox finds that he may have stolen one hen too many from the henhouse, as the meanest farmers anywhere — Boggis, Bunce, and Bean (one fat, one short, one lean) — conspire to rid their lands of the Fox family once and for all. The Foxes are able to evade capture with the help of some woodland friends, leaving the farmers laying in wait while the animals help themselves to the fruit of the farmers’ lands. Having had their revenge, the animals return for a sumptuous feast far from danger in the Foxes‘ new home, while the farmers continue to wait in the rain.

Fantastic Mr. Fox 09.12.1998 Los Angeles Opera

[Picker‘s score is] is a strong, flexible piece of sustained writing that skilfully juxtaposes the animal kingdom‘s buoyant innocence with the more mordant colours of the human realm… [this is] music that consistently boasts grateful, characterful vocal writing.

(Timothy Pfaff, The Financial Times London, 12/1998) The great skill of Picker‘s compositional art can be seen very clearly in this opera. On the one hand the counterpoint of his ideas presents an intellectual challenge...but it is often subliminally combined with bold and catchy orchestral effects. Fantastic Mr. Fox was more than just a success d‘estime. (Helmut Mauro, Süddeutsche Zeitung)

93

Enjott Schneider

Albert – Warum?

(Albert – Why?) Chamber opera Libretto by Josef Rödl, after his film of the same title Origin: 1997-1998

1999

Language: German Cast: Albert · is played by three persons: actor / young lyric tenor / boy soprano – Father · bass baritone – Hans · baritone – Anna · soprano – the Man · baritone – the Woman · mezzo soprano Orchestra: 1 (auch Picc.) · 0 · 1 (auch Bassklar.) · 0 – S. (Trgl. · Zimb. · Beck. · Tamt. · Tomt. · kl.

Tr. · gr. Tr. · Tempelbl. · Clav. · Vibr.) (1 Spieler) – Hfe. – Akk. – Str. (1 · 1 · 1 · 1 · 1) Duration: 90‘ Distributed by Schott Music · Performance material on hire Remarks: Josef Rödl wrote the libretto for Albert – Warum? [Albert – Why?]based on his film of the same name; the film was premièred at the film festival Hof in 1978 and won the International and German Film Critics Award and the Otto-Dibelius Award at the International Film Festival Berlin 1979.

Selected Productions 20.01.1999 Regensburg, Theater am Haidplatz (WP) Rudolf Piehlmayer · Josef Rödl · Klaus Caspers

94

Synopsis The chamber opera Albert – warum? takes us to a remote village and describes the martyrdom of the “village idiot” Albert. The certainties of his life break down during the play: his father throws him out of his home, his mother dies, his childhood sweetheart Anna falls in love with someone else, the people of the village mock him and abuse him every time he tries to assert himself. In the end death is the only way he can escape and find peace: Albert hangs himself in the graveyard.

Albert - Warum?

20.01.1999 Regensburg, Theater am Haidplatz

“You are a fool, you will always be a fool, and because everybody says this, it is true” – this is the rural credo of a close village community which confronts Albert on his return from the lunatic asylum. The outsider, who stutters and moves jerkily but has plenty of imagination and a naive enthusiasm, cannot have a proper place in this microcosm which inexorably and cruelly singles out those who can’t keep up with the others. (BR 2 Kultur, 21. January 1999) One sound spreads. It stretches out dazzlingly between strings, flutes and clarinets, cutting off all neighbouring sounds, trills, figures and phrases. The prelude based on C#, which opens Albert – Warum? establishes the one tone which encloses all other sounds, creating a claustrophobic confinement. [...] In Albert’s monologue and stuttering comments the music suddenly develops an emotional intensity. A dense atmosphere develops especially in those moments when the unseen is manifested. (Miriam Stumpfe, Süddeutsche Zeitung, 22. January 1999)

95

Robert Beaser

The Food of Love Opera in one act Libretto by Terrance McNally Origin: 1998-1999

1999

Language: English Cast: Woman · soprano – Policeman · baritone – Au Pair · mezzo soprano – Little Girl · soprano – Hot Dog Vendor · tenor – Rich Lady · soprano – Frisbee Player No. 1 · baritone – Frisbee Player No. 2 · tenor – Painter · bass – Man with Sun Reflectors · tenor – Woman with Sun Reflectors · soprano – Man with Cell Phone · tenor – Zookeeper · baritone – Elderly Man · baritone – Elderly Woman · mezzo soprano Orchestra: 2(pic).2(ca).2(Ebcl, bcl).2(cbn)-2.4.2.0-timp.3perc(glsp, vib, mar, xyl, crot, tub bells, sus cym, cym, 2 sizz cym, tri, steel pipes, wind chimes, tam-t, tempbl, vibraslap, sandbl, frusta, cabasa, gong, tamb, guiro, mexican bean, lion‘s roar, snare drum, field drum, 2 b.d, 2 bng, 2 timbales, cong) -pno(cel)hp-str Duration: 45‘ Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 24.07.1999 Glimmerglass Opera, Cooperstown, NY (WP) Stewart Robertson · Mark Lamos · Michael Yeargan · Candice Donnelly

96

Synopsis A homeless woman in Central Park, carrying her new-born baby, finds herself surrounded by a chorus of characters habituating the park: painters, lovers, yuppie sun-bathers, a zookeeper, and a cop. In desperation, she attempts to give her baby away to any of the unsuspecting strangers.

Not only do these passers-by not accept the offer, they don’t even acknowledge her presence.

‘Terrence McNally and I spent a good deal of time developing the idea together. He was extremely open to all the musical necessities and had a wonderful understanding of structure. The music was prime and I valued Terrence‘s long experience in the theatre’. (Robert Beaser, from Anthony Tommasini’s article ‘Central Park’ from The New York Times 1999)

The Food of Love 24.07.1999 Glimmerglass Opera

The Food of Love contains the most impressive music I’ve heard from Beaser. [The conductor] feasted on the sumptuous instrumentation of Beaser’s score. (Alex Ross, The New Yorker) In The Food of Love Beaser creates a little masterpiece to McNally’s story… Beaser has crafted his music to fit the dramatic shape of McNally’s script. (Kenneth LaFave, The Arizona Republic) What makes this piece soar is Beaser’s masterful score, with its beautiful rhapsodic turns, its canny pacing and pungent orchestral writing. (The San Francisco Chronicle)

97

Bernard Rands

Belladonna Libretto by Leslie Dunton-Downer Origin: 1998-1999 Language: English

1999

Cast: Agatha Liu · contralto – Dr. Marina Rojas-Harper · mezzo soprano – Ms. Brittany Peters · counter tenor – Sister Suzanna · high soprano – Professor Cynthia Reid · soprano – William · tenor – Judge · bass baritone – Herman Morris · bass baritone – Simon West · tenor – Mr. Liu · tenor – Tina · boy soprano Orchestra: 1( afl.) .1 . 1(bcl.) . Asx .1 - 1 . 1 . 1 . 0 - 2 perc. - hp. pno. - strings - Two Choruses Duration: 90‘ Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 29.07.1999 Aspen Opera Theatre Center (WP) David Zinman · Edward Berkeley

98

Synopsis Five women have gathered in an American college town to spend a convivial evening over cocktails and supper. The hostess, a visiting professor from China, greets four friends: an alcoholic Classicist in love with one of her students; an opera singer devoted to her admiring audience; a young divinity student soon to take holy vows, and a doctor of alternative medicine who runs a fertility-abortion clinic. A heated discourse ensues as, in five central scenes, each of these women lives out fears, desires, fantasies, or experiences associated with her views of love, with each scene set in a distinct fantasy landscape. The final scene returns to the dinner table where the women have been transformed not only by a few too many glasses of wine, but also by their experiences and exchanges.

Belladonna 29.07.1999 Aspen Opera

The opera, which the authors refer to as a Mise en Scene, draws on a dual model. On one level, the dinner revisits Plato‘s Symposium, the famous Socratic dialogue in which great men from different walks of life converse about love, „Eros,“ over the course of a dinner party. On a separate linear plane, Belladonna follows the sequence of events of the Easter passion. Scene I parallels The Last Supper and subsequent scenes Temptation, Solitude (as in the Garden of Gethsemane), Betrayal, Accusation and Trial, and Execution. The final scene brings the action full circle with its recasting of the Resurrection. While it’s Greek and Christian models explore love from an exclusively male viewpoint, however, Belladonna celebrates human love from the vantage point of women‘s experiences. I have been given a superb libretto which calls for a music of subtle and supple flexibility as it responds to the spectrum of human passions contained therein. (Bernard Rands) It‘s a triumph, at turns bold, beautiful, wry, dramatic, sweet and sad.

(Harvy Steimen, Music Bulletin Board)

99

Stephen Paulus

Summer Opera in two acts Libretto by Joan Vail Thorne, based on the novella by Edith Wharton Origin: 1998-1999

1999

Language: English Cast: Charity Royall, an 18year old Girl · mezzo soprano – Lucius Harnell, her Lover, an Architect from the nearby town Nettleton · baritone – Lawyer Royall, Charity’s Warden · bass baritone – Liff Hyat, Charity’s Cousin · baritone (also: 2nd Man from Nettleton, Bas Hyatt) – Miss Hatchard, an elderly Woman · soprano (also: 1st Woman from Nettleton) – Verena Marsh, 60 year old House Maiden with Lawyer Royall · mezzo soprano (also: old Mrs Hyatt, Girl from Nettleton) – Alley Hawes, Charity’s School Mate · soprano (also: Wife of Bash Hyatt, 2nd Woman from Nettleton) – Reverend Miles, Reverend from Nettleton and Friend of Mrs Hatchard · tenor (also: 1st man from Nettleton) – Annabel Balch, Lucius Harnell’s Fiancée · soprano (also: Prostitute) Orchestra: Chorus; 2.1.2.1-2.1.1(btbn)-timp.2perc-hp-str(6.5.3.3.1) Duration: 120‘ Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 28.08.1999 Berkshire Opera Company, Koussevitzky Arts Center, Pittsfield, MA (WP) Joel Revzen · Mary Duncan · David P. Gordon · Helen E. Rogers

100

Synopsis This opera is set in the early 1900’s in the small town of North Dormer located in the Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts. The novel‘s heroine, eighteen-year-old Charity Royall, is bored with her life in the small town of North Dormer and ignorant of desire until she meets a visiting architect, Lucius Harney. Like the lush summer of the Berkshires around them, their romance is shimmering and idyllic, but its consequences are harsh and real. Wharton‘s prose, her raw depiction of the mountain community where Charity was born, the intrusion into Charity‘s bedroom by her guardian, Lawyer Royall, and Charity‘s rites of passage into adulthood elevate Summer into a study of society, nature, and human needs.

Summer 28.08.1999 Berkshire Opera Company

Mr. Paulus knows his way around the stage: Summer, which has a libretto by Joan Vail Thorne, based on the novella by Edith Wharton, is the seventh of his eight operas. His writing for the voice is streamlined and attractive, and if the score does have passages in the awkwardly angular style common in contemporary opera, that style is by far outpaced by straightforward, inviting lyricism.

His orchestral writing is equally striking, not least because Mr. Paulus is adept at finding exactly the right coloration and textures – anything from lush strings or solid brass choirs to delicate harp and percussion tracery – to underscore what is happening in the drama. The string playing, in particular, was strikingly beautiful. (Allan Kozinn, The New York Times, June 21, 2002)

101

Harald Banter

Der blaue Vogel (The Blue Bird) Opera in five acts after a French fairy tale Libretto by Dorothea Renckhoff

Origin: 1996-1998

1999

Language: German Cast: King Silencieux · high baritone – Florine, his Daughter · lyric soprano – Countess Grognon · dramatic alto – Truitonne, her Daughter · young dramatic soprano – Prince Ariston · young lyric-heroic tenor – the Foreign Prince · bass – the Jester Perlimpinpin · high baritone – a Silk Merchant · lyric buffo tenor – Countess Montholon · alto – Adèle · mezzo soprano – Sophie, her Daughter · mezzo soprano – Baron Kellerman · bass – Alfred, his Son · tenor – Members of the Royal Household / Maiden / Dark Creatures / Guards / Entourage of Truitonne / Entourage of the foreign Prince · chorus (SATB) Orchestra: Picc. · 2 · 2 · Engl. Hr. · 2 · Bassklar. · 2 · Kfg. – 4 · 3 · 3 · 1 – P. S. (Trgl. · Crot. · Bell Tree · Röhrengl. · Handbeck. · hg. Beck. · Beckenpaar · 2 Tamt. · kl. Tr. · gr. Tr. · Tablas · Windchimes · Glsp. · Xyl.) (3 Spieler) – Hfe. · Keyboard – Str. Duration: 110’ Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 04.09.1999 Theater Hagen (WP) Georg Fritzsch · Peter P. Pachl · Hank Irwin Kittel

102

Synopsis The prince is loved by two princesses, one “beautiful” and the other “ugly”. He loves the beautiful princess: dejected by the prince’s rejection, the ugly princess develops magical powers so strong that she is able to turn the prince into a blue bird and thus separate the two lovers.

But the blue bird finds its way back to the beautiful princess, although she is kept captive, and reinstates her faith in a wide and exciting world on the other side of the dungeon walls. But when the ‘ugly’ princess finds him out and wounds him, the prince has to go through yet another transformation, as a comet. He will now appear in the sky only for brief moments, before heading back into deep space. His bluebird plumage, left behind, lends anybody who touches it the ability to understand foreign tongues and overcome hostility.

Der blaue Vogel 04.09.1999 Theater Hagen

“The music looks back, without relinquishing its individual voice. [...]This score is harmonically structured and definitely shows a love for the human voice. [...] You want to listen to this opera again straight away.”

(Opernwelt 10/1999)

103

Alexander Goehr

Kantan and Damask Drum Text by Alexander Goehr (I and II) and Sarugai Koto (III), based on the original by Zeami Motokiyo in the English translation by Arthur Waley and Royall Tyler German translation by Bernhard Helmich Op. 67 Origin: 1997-1998

1999

Language: English | German Cast | Orchestra: I. Kantan: Rosei (a young man) · tenor - A woman (the housekeeper) · mezzo soprano - An envoy · baritone - A courtier · bass - Male voices · 2 tenors, 2 baritones - A boy dancer, 2 porters baring a palanquin · non singing roles 3perc(tabor (t.d.), cimbalini (high pitched pair of temple cym.), 3w.bl., slapstick (small), 2tri., small gng., xylorimba, vib., glock., crots., antiquecym., claves, musical saw)-hrp-sampler-str II. Damask Drum: An old gardener · tenor - Two mischievous boys · tenor, baritone - A beautiful lady · mezzo soprano - Additional male voices · tenor and baritone with boys making up a vocal quartet (2 tenors, 2 baritones) afl-atbn-hp-sampler-3perc(timp., chromatic timp., w.bl., antique cym., 4gngs., ‚footstamp‘ (a hollow drum on the ground, upon which the gardener stamps to make an exaggerated sound)-str(6-12vlns.vla.vc) (Un)fair Exchange: Blind old husband · baritone - Young wife · mezzo soprano - Monkey-man · tenor - Monkey · non singing role afl-2perc(s.d., t.d., metal dr., vib., xylorimba, jingle)-hp. sampler-str Duration: 130 (35 · 40 · 15)‘ Performance material on hire Remarks: The orchestra players are actively acting on stage.

Selected Productions 19.09.1999 Theater Dortmund (WP) Axel Kober · Philipp Kochheim · Philipp Kochheim | Katja Schindowski · José Manuel Vazquez 22.06.2001 Snape Maltings Concert Hall · Aldeburgh Festival (NEA) David Perry · Tim Hopkins · Tanya Spooner 09.03.2002 Arts Theatre Cambridge Richard Baker · Sarah Chew · Mia Flodquist

104

Synopsis In Kantan, a young man drifting about and seeking a meaning to life takes shelter from a storm in a cottage where he finds a magic pillow. Falling asleep he dreams that he is an emperor in a magnificent palace. But as the dream turns to a nightmare, days and nights and the seasons of the year seem to go by faster and faster until the young man, horrified, rushes back to his bed to wake up. He has now learned the futility of ambition: life is here and now. He goes back home.

In Damask Drum, an old gardener falls in love with a beautiful Lady. He is tricked by two boys into believing that if he beats a drum at night, she will come to him. But the drum is magical, and although he who plays it doesn’t know this, it makes no sound. The old man beats it in vain, until he is so dejected that he drowns himself. Upon learning of the poor man’s tragic end, the Lady is deeply affected by what has been done in her name. The gardener, who has turned into an angry demon, now comes back to haunt the Lady whom he (wrongly) believes spurned him: he doesn’t know that she couldn’t hear the sound of the charmed drum. ‘Beat it once more’ she says to him, ‘I’m sure I’ll hear it this time’.

In Un(fair) Exchange, an old blind man is persuaded by his young wife to go on an outing, to drink and dance and see the blossoms of spring. They run into by a monkey-man, who has different plans for the young wife! He gives the old man his monkey and runs off with her. Fair exchange?

Kantan and Damask Drum 19.09.1999 Theater Dortmund

The instrumentation of the small orchestra [...] is inspired by Handel and avoids any generalised orientalism. [...] Thus this opera seems to be more like Kurt Weill’s Der Jasager than like Boulez’ Le Marteau sans Maitre, although you can find elements of both. [...] You shouldn’t listen to the orchestra of my opera as a luxurious dressing (as with Richard Strauss), but as an equal member of the play. [...] For me the “opera of the future” (fateful term) is like modern chamber music where every character has to play his or her own part.

(Alexander Goehr, Source: Theater Dortmund 1999)

105

Wilfried Hiller

Eduard auf dem Seil (Eduard on the Tightrope) A poet’s tale in 23 scenes by Rudolf Herfurtner Origin: 1998-1999

1999

Language: German Cast: Eduard Mörike | the Nöck [the King of the Underwater World] · tenor – Liebmund Wispel · tenor – the Fairy Briscarlatina · soprano – Peregrina · soprano – the Herald · bass – the Landlady · soprano – Xaver · tenor – the Abbot · bass baritone – the Beautiful Lau [a female Water Ghost] · female dancer – 3 Maiden of the Beautiful Lau: Aleila · soprano – the Mermaid Binsefuß · mezzo soprano – Silpelit · alto Orchestra: 3 Picc. (1. auch Fl.) · 2 · 3 (3. auch Bassklar.) · 2 · Kfg. – 4 · 3 · 3 · 1 – S. (hohe Trgl. · Trgl. · 4 Beck. · Nietenbeck. · Hi-hat · Tamt. · Schellenbaum · Dobaci · 3 Peitschen · Claves · Holzbl. · Tempelbl. · Marac. · kl. Tr. · mehrere Rührtr. · gr. Tr. · Brummtopf · 2 Bongos · 6 Tomt. · 6 Rototoms · 8 Stalagmitentr. · Jazz-Schlagzeug · Crash · Ride · China Type · Metal Chimes · Shell Chimes · mit Wasser gefülltes Schaff [mit Gartenschlauch] · Flex. · Gl. · Zimb. · Zimbelspiel · Gong · Röhrengl. · Xyl.) (3 Spieler) – 2 Hfn. · Cel. · Org. (ggf. vom Band) · Hackbr. – Str. Bühnenmusik: 2 Klarinetten · Trompete · Tuba · Klavier · Violine · Kontrabass · Wein­gläser · 6 Pauken Duration: 90‘ Libretto BN 3386 · Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 31.10.1999 Herkulessaal der Residenz, München (WP, concert performance) Werner Seitzer · Münchner Rundfunkorchester 12.11.1999 Opernhaus Halle (WP, stage production) Roman Brogli-Sacher · Wolf Seesemann · Kazuko Watanabe · Bettina Merz 02.12.1999 Ulmer Theater Thomas Mandl · Klaus Rak · Bernd-Dieter Müller · Annette Zepperitz 13.05.2001 Bühnen der Landeshauptstadt Kiel Markus Frank · Katja Czellnik · Vera Bonsen

106

Synopsis Eduard auf dem Seil is the last part of a triptych of legends (with The Pied Piper and Der Schimmelreiter). Scenes from the life of the German romantic poet Eduard Mörike, especially “Peregrina trauma” (Mörike’s illicit love for a waitress) are interlaced with motifs and poems from Mörike’s “Historie der schönen Lau” from the “Stuttgarter Hutzelmännchen”. The boundaries between reality and art become blurred, but the poet’s sense of loneliness is the overriding theme of the work.

Eduard auf dem Seil 02.12.1999 Ulmer Theater

What interested me most in Eduard Mörike‘s story of the ‚Beautiful Lau‘ was a contrast: On the one hand, there is the real life situation of the poet who lives in a world of upheaval, revolutions, war, and suppression and is on the verge of giving up in desperation. On the other hand, there is the story he tells to get rid of his depressions. And this is a story about the laughter of the ‚Beautiful Lau‘ only at first glance; on closer reading, it is also a story by which Mörike saves himself from desperation – a serious comedy, very quiet, yet very wild, crudely funny and full of melancholy.

(Wilfried Hiller)

107

Chaya Czernowin

Pnima... ins innere (Pnima… inward) Chamber opera in three acts for four vocal soloists and ensemble Origin: 1998-1999 Language: -

2000

Cast: 2 actors – in the pit: 2 female voices (high / low) · 2 male voices (low) Orchestra: 0 · 0 · Bassklar. (auch Klar., Es-Klar.) · Alt-Sax. in Es (auch Sopranino-Sax. in Es) · 0 – 0 · 0 · 1 · 0 – Viola · Violoncello – singende Säge - S. (I: Bassdrum · Marimb. · Vibr. · 3 Holzkisten [1 hoch, 2 mittel] · hängendes Becken · Guiro [hoch | tief] · Waldteufel · Löwengebrüll · Tamtam · 3 Fingerzimbeln · Plastikeimer · Karton · 2 Wasserflaschen oder Metallschüsseln · Drahtgestell · Flusssteine · Konservendosen [fixiert] · Metallklopfer · Plastiktüte, gefüllt mit großen Konservendosen · Plastiktüte, gefüllt mit kleinen Konservendosen; II: 2 Pauken · Bassdrum · Donnerblech · Kontrabass-Bogen hängendes Becken · 2 Maracas · 2 Chimes · Guiro [hoch] · 2 Holzkisten [hoch | tief] · Regenrohr · Bongos · Konservendosen · Flusssteine · Flasche) (2 Spieler) – Sampler – Str. (10 Vl. · 6 Vla., 4 Vc.) · 6 Kb. (solistisch) Duration: 70‘ Performance material on hire · Einspielung DVD MODE Records 764593016991 Remarks: The scenic realisation is done by actors; the vocal soloists may be placed in the pit.

The singing roles consist of vocalises - there is no text.

Selected Productions 10.05.2000 Carl-Orff-Saal im Gasteig · Münchener Biennale (WP) Johannes Kalitzke · Claus Guth · Christian Schmidt 05.09.2008 Nationaltheater Weimar Johannes Harneit · Karsten Wiegand · Bärbl Hohmann 10.07.2010 Wilhelma Theater Stuttgart Johannes Kalitzke · N.N.

108

Synopsis We have an old man (a survivor of the Holocaust) and a child. There is no contact between them – no touch. Eventually, the child tries to find out and to understand anything about the story – the secret - of the old man. A timid exchange starts. The opera is based on the story of Momik in the book See Under Love by David Grossman and it deals with individual memories of the Holocaust and the continuing trauma, but also the release, which comes with passing on those memories to succeeding generations.

The opera was awarded the Bavarian theatre prize and received an award for the best premiere of 2000 by the German magazine ‘Opernwelt’.

Pnima... ins Innere 05.09.2008 Nationaltheater Weimar

Pnima...ins Innere is more than a music theatre about the Holocaust. It basically deals with how we are able to handle traumatic experiences. First you react with resistance, anger and hardening like the old man in the piece. But then you feel sorrow, fragility and vulnerability, like the child who awakens the voice of its soul, a voice of survival and overcoming – and yet of despair, because she has recognised that she can’t change the world. (Chaya Czernowin)

109

Mark-Anthony Turnage

The Silver Tassie Opera in four acts Text by Amanda Holden after the play of the same name by Sean O’Casey Origin: 1997-1999

2000

Language: English Cast: Harry Heegan · baritone – Susie Monican · mezzo soprano – Mrs Foran · soprano – Teddy Foran · baritone – Barney Bagnal · baritone – Jessie Taite · soprano – Mrs Heegan · mezzo soprano – Sylvester Heegan · tenor – Dr. Maxwell · tenor – The Croucher · bass – Officer · tenor – Corporal · baritone – Stretcher Bearers · boy’s or children’s choir – Soldiers · male choir Orchestra: 3 (2pic, afl).3 (3: ca).2 (2: Acl, bcl).bcl (Bbcl).3 (3: cbn)-ssax (asax).4.3.3 (3: euph).13perc (timp., sn.dr., t.d., large b.d., pedal b.d., 2 tom-toms, large sus.cym., small sus.cym., splash cym., sizz.cym., w.bl., 4t.bl., tamb., wh., tri., large tam-tam, 7 tuned gngs (B, C, D, Eb, E, F, G), Japanese temple bell, 4 large cb., log dr., brake dr., mar., vib., crots., tub.bells, large metal bar, cast., lion‘s roar, harmonica)-hrp.pno (cel) · upright pno (act IV only)-str (12.12.10.8.6) Duration: 120‘ Vocal score ED 12725 · Recording CD ENO Alive 2002 · Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 16.02.2000 Coliseum London · English National Opera (WP) Paul Daniel · Bill Bryden · William Dudley 01.04.2000 Theater Dortmund David Neely · Ralf Nürnberger · Thomas Gruber · José Manuel Vazquez 31.03.2001 Gaiety Theatre Dublin · Opera Ireland David Jones · Patrick Mason · Joe Vanek

110

Synopsis The Silver Tassie, Turnage’s second acknowledged opera, is on a much larger scale than his first, Greek. Based on the play by Sean O’Casey written in 1927, it is set at the time of the Great War (World War I) and its title, referring to a footballing trophy, comes from a Scottish song text by Robert Burns ‘Go fetch to me a pint o’ wine, an’ fill it in a silver tassie; that I may drink before I go, a service to my bonnie lassie’.

Harry Heegan (23) is a local hero - a soldier on leave from the Great War, and a renowned footballer. An only child, he lives with his parents (both in their 60s), having grown up close to the girl next door, Susie. In the flat above is a volatile young couple, Mrs Foran and her husband Teddy. The other main roles are Harry’s glamorous girlfriend, Jessie, and his best friend, Barney.

Triumphant after a footballing success and winning the cup (‘The Silver Tassie’) for his team, he leaves for the front. The second act, a darkly expressionist vision of war, is cast for male voices (boys and men) only. In the second half of the opera, Harry is in a wheelchair, Teddy is blind and Jessie has deserted Harry for Barney. The final act, in which dance music plays almost continuously, brings the tragi-comedy to a poignant and moving conclusion, as Harry and Teddy set off to face the future.

The Silver Tassie 01.04.2000 English National Opera

“Conceived specifically for the resources of a metropolitan company such as ENO – big orchestra, men’s and boy’s choruses and no fewer than 12 named solo parts – The Siver Tassie is in that sense Turnage’s ‘Peter Grimes’, and the rapturous acclaim which greeted the composer and his librettist at their curtain-call on the opening night suggested that their opera might well have the kind of future as a repertory piece that Britten’s has enjoyed in the last 30 years or so.

In tackling Sean O’Casey’s dark, pessimistic anti-war play, Turnage and Holden have chosen a drama with Brittenesque resonances, and although Turnage’s music sounds nothing like Britten, he has learned from the older British composer’s sense of dramatic pacing, his ‘symphonic’ use of the orchestra and a vocal style which is basically lyrical, singable, grateful to its performers.”

(Opera, April 2000)

111

Volker David Kirchner

Gilgamesh Opera in three parts Text by Volker David Kirchner after a treatment by Imad Atwani Origin: 1996-1998

2000

Language: German Cast: Gilgamesh, King of Uruk · baritone – La’abash, the Thinker (Hierophant) · low bass – Aruru · alto – Enkidu, Man from the Wood and Friend of Gilgamesh · bass baritone – Nin-Sun, Goddess of Wisdom, Mother of Gilgamesh · soprano – Bara / Ischtar, Goddess of Venus · mezzo soprano – Nimrod, the Hunter · bass – Chumbaba · bass – Utnapischtim · counter tenor – 2 Guards of the Scorpion · tenor, bass – Sidura · lyric soprano – 6 Eldermen · tenors and basses – Young Priest · tenor – Voices of the Oracle · 4 sopranos (amplified) – People of Uruk, male and female Priests, Echo Voices, Voice of Shamash · mixed chorus – female dancers Orchestra: 4 (2. und 3. auch Picc., 3. auch Okarina oder Panfl., 4. auch Picc. und Altfl.) · 3 (3. auch Engl. Hr.) · 3 (2. auch in Es, 3. auch Bassklar.) · 3 (3. auch Kfg.) – 6 (5. und 6. auch hinter der Szene) · 3 · 3 · Bar. · 1 · Kbtb. – P. S. (Trgl. · ant. Zimb. · 4 Crot. · 2 Beck. [montiert] · 4 Beck. [h.|m.|t.|t.] · Beck. [freihäng.] · Hihat · 4 Tamt. [h.|m.|t.|t.] · 5 kl. Buckelgongs · Gong · Röhrengl. · Plattengl. · 4 Bong. · gr. Schellentr. ohne Schellen · Schellentr. · 4 Tomt. · 2 Rührtr. [m.|t.] · 7 Congas [1 von Gilgamesh gespielt] · 2 kl. Tr. · Timbales · O-Daiko · 2 gr. Tr. · Guiro · Kast. · 4 Holzbl. · 4 Tempelbl. · Peitsche · Weingl. · Gläsersp. · Sistr. · Glspl. · Xylorimba · Zimbal [Hackbrett] · Snaredrum [mit Besen] · Bassdrum [von 1 Jazzmusiker zu spielen]) (6 Spieler) – 2 Hfn. · Cel. · Klav. · Org. – Str. (mind. 14 · 12 · 10 · 8 · 6) Hinter der Bühne: 4 Soli (2 S, 2 A) · kleiner Chor · Frauenchor · Männerchor · 1 Tamt. · 6 Congas · 3 Tumbas – Live-Elektronik und Zuspielbänder Duration: 130‘ Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 20.05.2000 Niedersächsische Staatsoper Hannover · EXPO 2000 (WP) Stefan Sanderling · Hans-Peter Lehmann · Ekkehard Grübler

112

Synopsis Gilgameh, king of Uruk, has enslaved his people. The high priest La’abash and the elders ask Aruru, the mother of god, to create a substitute king. Aruru creates Enkidu, the “man of the good earth”. When Gilgamesh wants to marry the goddess Ischtar (Venus) Enkidu won’t allow it and challenges Gilgamesh to a fight. Neither man wins, but the clinch of the struggle turns into an embrace between friends.

Gilgamesh sets out to kill the monster Chumbaba and Enkidu accompanies him. Meanwhile La’abash and his family wish to avenge the insult done to Ischtar. They forge a celestial bull to kill the hated Enkidu. Gilgamesh beats Chumbaba and the people praise the returning heroes.

Ischtar sends out the bull after Enkidu. During the fight Enkidu is mortally wounded and dies in Gilgamesh’s arms.

Gilgameh sets off on his travels to find the secret of eternal life. After much wandering he reaches the entrance to the underworld. He dreams of Itnapischtim, the only survivor of the Flood: forgotten by the gods he has to endure the penalty of immortality. Gilgamesh now acknowledges the curse of eternal life: the meaning of life is life itself. With the help of the ‘alewife’ Siduri he re-turns as a reformed sovereign to Uruk.

Gilgamesch 20.05.2000 Niedersächsische Staatsoper Hannover

Kirchner proceeds on a profound, mythological travel through philosophy and the world’s destiny.

Heavy brass sets the tone for the sound: tones which remind you of Rheingold and Siegfried. Orff, Stravinsky and Strauss also send their regards. Nevertheless Kirchner has not merely mixed his references, but has created an independent, forceful composition out of his historical and traditional sources. His music seems to be modern but also mythological-archaic.

(Orpheus Oper International 07/2000)

113

Wilfried Hiller

Der Geigenseppel (Seppel the Fiddle Player) A melodrama for string puppets after Wilhelm Busch Text compilation and concept by Elisabet Woska Origin: 1989 | 1999 (revised version) Language: German

2000

Cast: Narrator · speaker (actor) – Geigenseppel · singing actor (tenor voice) Orchestra: 1 (auch Picc.) · 0 · 1 · 1 – 0 · 0 · 0 · 0 – S. (Trgl. · Zimb. · hohes Beck. · kl. Tr. · gr. Tr. · kl. Bongo · 3 Rototoms · 1 Paar Messinglöffel · Metallratsche · Woodblock · Metall-Guiro · Xyl. · Kuhglockenspiel) (1 Spieler) – Cel. (auch präp. Klav. und Spielzeugklav.) · Zither – Solovioline – Str. (6 · 5 · 4 · 3 · 1) Duration: 60‘ Performance material on hire · Recording CD Deutsche Grammophon 463 907 Remarks: Wilfried Hiller wrote the revised version as “melodrama for string puppets” commissioned by the World Exposition EXPO 2000. Conventional scenic performances of the work are possible.

Selected Productions 09.12.1989 Herkulessaal der Residenz München (WP) Jaroslav Opela · Orchesterverein Wilde Gungl 04.06.2000 Deutscher Pavillon, EXPO Hannover (WP of the revised version) · Düsseldorfer Marionetten-Theater Michael Helmrath · Anton Bachleitner · Walter Frömel · Monika Seibold

114

Synopsis Wilhelm Busch, the German caricaturist, painter and poet wrote his satirical short story Geigenseppel around 1860 in Munich. At the country fair, the the playful and inebriated Geigenseppel indulges in a drunken reverie: he is a famous violinist, and his accompanist is none other than Franz Liszt. He plays with great success in front of the society ladies, and he is not only rewarded with pure gold but has a rendezvous with a society belle.

When he awakes the next morning, his beautiful illusion turns into a nightmare: instead of his violin, he holds a horse’s hoof and a dead cat in his hands. Even worse: his beautiful date turns out to be a very old woman, who proceeds to remind him of his lover’s oath. The Geigenseppel opts for a fast getaway.

Der Geigenseppel 04.06.2000 Deutscher Pavillon, EXPO Hannover

This opera is a fabulous burlesque, larded with motives of the literary Romantic period, coloured with Busch’s unmistakable picaresque tone, complete with a final philosophizing addressed to the whole of mankind. [...]: Where there is such a god-pleasing tradition, you aren’t allowed to break in like a rude exponent of the New Music. Well, you didn’t exactly expect this of the Bavarian composer Wilfried Hiller. His music is entertaining, sometimes ironic and fanciful.

(Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung, 05.06.2000)

115

Ingomar Grünauer

Trilogie der Sommerfrische (Trilogy of Vacation) Opera in three acts after “Trilogia della villeggiatura” by Carlo Goldoni Libretto by Francesco Micieli Origin: 1998-2000

2000

Language: German Cast: Brigida, Lady’s Maid serving Giacinta · soprano – Giacinta, Daughter of Filippo · soprano – Vittoria, Sister of Leonardo · mezzo soprano – Guglielmo, in love with Giacinta · tenor – Leonardo, in love with Giacinta · baritone – Carlo Goldoni · baritone – Filippo · bass – Fulgenzio, old friend of Filippo · bass Orchestra: 2 (2. auch Picc.) · 1 · Engl. Hr. · 2 (2. auch Bassklar.) · 2 (2. auch Kfg.) – 2 · 2 · 0 · 1 – S. (2 Kuhgl. · Hihat · Beck. [h.] · Tamt. · Steeldrum · 3 Tomt. · kl. Tr. (ohne Schnarrs.) · gr. Tr. · Woodbl. · Peitsche · Agogo · Stimmpfeife · Vibr.) (2 Spieler) – Hfe. · Akk. (Kombimodell) · Reißnagel-Klav. (auch 4 hd.) – Str. Duration: 90‘ Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 01.07.2000 EXPO 2000 Hannover (WP) · Theater Trier István Dénes | Cosima Osthoff · Heinz Lukas-Kindermann · Susanne Thaler

116

Ingomar Grünauer · Photo: Peter Andersen

Synopsis After a stay in Paris, Carlo Goldoni is spending his last evening before his departure for Venice.

Suddenly the protagonists of his Trilogia della Villeggiatura (Trilogy of Vacation) come to him as real people.

Giacinta is in love with Guglielmo, but her father Filippo prefers Leonardo who is supposed to be wealthy. There is an exchange of words between Giacinta and Leonardo. Vittoria, Leonardo’s sister, bursts onto the scene; the women exchange compliments. Goldoni, who is observing the whole scene, has to listen to Vittoria’s reproaches, because she is no longer his favourite girl.

After a lot of to-ing and fro-ing, the little company embarks. It becomes increasingly clear that both Giacinta and Vittoria are in love with Guglielmo. Giacinta professes her love for Guglielmo but in the same breath she tells him that she will marry Leonardo, because she wants to keep her word to her father. Guglielmo goes off with Vittoria.

The characters distance themselves more and more from their creator Goldoni. It also becomes obvious that Leonardo is deeply in debt and that the marriage between Leonardo and Giacinta is a sham. But the people on this summer holiday don’t have the power to change anything. What remains is alienation and disillusionment.

Grünauer and librettist Micieli have developed a play which is intricate and well thought-through on every level, although they have taken some of the comedy out of the text. But as Hans Magnus Enzensberger already recognised, Goldoni’s work ‘Trilogie der Sommerfrische’ isn’t really a comedy. Grünauer’s opera reduces the story to its tragic and desperate elements, setting it in the context of the author’s historical period while drawing parallels with the present.

(Saarbrücker Zeitung, 04.07.2000)

117

Aribert Reimann

Bernarda Albas Haus (The House of Bernarda Alba) Opera in three acts Text by Federico García Lorca German translation by Enrique Beck, arranged and supplemented by the composer Origin: 1998-2000

2000

Language: German Cast: Bernarda Alba (60 years) · dramatic alto – María Josefa (Bernarda’s Mother, 80 years) · actress – Bernarda’s Daughters: Angustias (39 years) · mezzo soprano; Magdalena (30 years) · soprano; Amelia (27 years) · soprano; Martirio (24 years) · dramatic coloratura soprano; Adela (20 years) · high lyric soprano – La Poncia, Servant (60 years) · dark dramatic soprano – Servant (50 years) · mezzo soprano – male chorus (TB; off-stage) – Mourning Women · supernumeraries Orchestra: 1 Picc. · 1 · 1 Afl. · 1 Bfl. · 0 · 1 Es-Klar., 1· 1 Bassetthorn in F · 1 Bassklar. · 1 KbKlar.· 0 – 0 · 3 (1. und 2. in C, 3. in B) · 3 · 1 – 4 Klav. (z. B. Steinway B oder Yamaha C6) – 12 Vc. Duration: 130‘ Study score ED 9876 · Libretto BN 3683 · Performance material on hire Remarks: The four Grand Pianos in the orchestra are played conventionally as well as prepared.

The 12 cello parts are concertante.

Selected Productions 30.10.2000 Bayerische Staatsoper München (WP) Zubin Mehta · Harry Kupfer · Frank Philipp Schlößmann · Klaus Bruns 24.06.2001 Komische Oper Berlin Friedemann Layer · Harry Kupfer · Frank Philipp Schlößmann · Klaus Bruns 21.07.2001 Festival Castell de Peralada 2001 Winfried Müller · Harry Kupfer · Frank Philipp Schlößmann · Klaus Bruns 09.11.2002 Stadttheater Bern Daniel Klajner · Eike Gramss · Eberhard Matthies · Renate Schmitzer

118

Synopsis The opera opens with the maid La Poncia complaining about her tyrannical mistress, Bernarda, who is returning with her five daughters from the funeral of her second husband. She orders eight years of sorrow, during which her daughters have to live isolated from society. A young man, Pepe, wants to marry Angustias, Bernarda’s daughter from her first marriage. However, La Poncia has observed that Pepe not only visits his bride Angustias at her window but also Adela, the youngest of the five sisters. When Angustias realises that the picture of Pepe which she had kept under her pillow is missing, Bernarda orders a thorough search and the picture is finally found in Martirio’s room. The atmosphere in the house is unbearably tense. Martirio confesses that she is also in love with Pepe; she betrays Adela to Bernarda. Bernarda drives Pepe out of the barn, where he was waiting for Adela, with a rifle shot. At Bernarda’s command everybody in the house remains silent for ever.

Bernarda Albas Haus 30.10.2000 Bayerische Staatsoper München

Aribert Reimann has fully succeeded in realising Lorca’s disturbing play as powerful music theatre, with a superlative score of unremitting clarity and force. This piece leaves no member of its audience unmoved. (Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 01.11.2000)

119

Benjamin Schweitzer

Jakob von Gunten Chamber opera after Robert Walser Libretto by the composer Origin: 1996–1998 | 2000

2000

Language: German Cast: Jakob von Gunten · high baritone – Mr Benjamenta (Director of the Institute Benjamenta) · deep baritone – Ms Lisa Benjamenta, his Daughter · mezzo soprano – Kraus · bass baritone – Johann von Gunten · tenor – a Speaker (actor) – Chorus (the Pupils): Heinrich · mezzo soprano – Schacht · alto – Schilinski, Peter · 2 tenors – Hans, Fuchs, Tremala · 2 basses, 1 bass baritone – the Girl · silent role Orchestra: 1 (auch Picc. und Altfl.) · 1 (auch Engl. Hr.) · 1 · Basskl. · Tenorsax. · 1 (auch Kfg.) – 1 · 1 · 1 · 0 – S. (3 P. · hg. Beck. · 2 Zimbelpaare · Tamt. · Tamb. · 3 Tomt. · 2 Bong. · 2 Cong. · Schlitztr. · kl. Tr. · gr. Tr. · Kast. · 3 Woodbl. · 3 Tempelbl. · 2 Paar Clav. · Shell-chimes · Bambusrassel · Mar. · Guiro · Donnerblech · Xyl. · Vibr. · Marimba) (3 bis 4 Spieler) – Hfe. – Str. (1 · 1 · 1 · 1 · 1) Duration: 95‘ Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 09.10.2000 Theater Meißen (WP) · Dresdner Tage der zeitgenössischen Musik 15.12.2000 Forum der Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg Titus Engel · Andreas Baumann · Michael Köhler · Susann Helen Fischer 14.09.2002 · Theater Biel Franco Trinca · Rainer Holzapfel · Franziska Kaiser

120

Synopsis Jakob von Gunten, a boy of unknown origin, arrives at the Benjamenta Institute, a school for servants presided over by the brother and sister Benjamenta. At the same time, the pupils introduce themselves. From the beginning Jakob claims certain privileges. The school days would be very boring, if Mr. Benjamenta himself didn’t offer Jakob his friendly affection. But can he trust him? Lisa, Mr. Benjamenta’s sister, is obviously fond of Jakob, and sings about freedom: freedom to decide – she wants Jakob to respond to her love. Rivalry develops: Benjamenta and Lisa alternately try to win over Jakob. Meanwhile, one by one the other pupils leave the institute. Lisa, thwarted and exhausted, dies and with her ends the whole institution. Benjamenta forces Jakob to decide about his life.

Jakob von Gunten 09.10.2000 Theater Meißen

This is not sleek music, [...] but rough music, with strings and wind playing a percussive score which comments on the Kafkaesque emptiness with a great economy of means [...]. In its subliminal aggression the atmosphere reminds us of Beckett, or of Berg’s Wozzeck. [...] This opera promises an engaged, modern (but not experimental) evening, and its rebellious alienation is appealing to young audiences. (Der Bund, 16.09.2002)

121

Volker David Kirchner

Ahasver oder Die Besichtigung eines Zeitalters (Ahasver or The Visitation of an Era) Scenic oratorio Libretto by the composer Origin: 1998-2000

2001

Language: German Cast: Ahasver · bass – Jesus · baritone – a Boy’s Voice · soprano – Simon Petrus · bass – the Grand Inquisitor · bass – 1. Man · tenor – 2. Man · bass – 3. Man · bass – old Man · bass – Monk · actor – Gutenberg · baritone – Folk · large chorus (SATB) – solo parts from the chorus (SSA) – male chorus – Flagellants · chorus (TB) Orchestra: 3 (2. u. 3. Picc.) · 2 · Engl. Hr. · 3 (3. auch Basskl.) · 3 (3. auch Kfg.) – 4 · 3 · 3 · 1 · Kbtb. – S. (P. · Trgl. · antike Zimb. · Almgl. · Röhrengl. · Plattengl. · Rin · Becken [h./m./t.] · Tamt. [t.] · Rührtr. [basso] · gr. Tamb. [o. Schnarrs.] · Conga · 4 Tomt. · kl. Tr. · gr. Tr. · Tumba · Holzbl. · Lithophon · Sandbl. · Tubaphon [2] · Dose [mittelgr., mit Nägeln u. Schrauben gefüllt] · Glspl. · Xyl. · Vibr.) – Hfe. · Klav. (auch Cel.) – Streicher – Tonband [von den Ausführenden zu erstellen] Duration: 100‘ Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 09.05.2001 Theater Bielefeld (WP) Dirk Kaftan · Andrej Woron · Andrej Woron

122

Synopsis Pontius Pilate’s doorkeeper Ahasver refused to allow Jesus, as he bore the cross, to rest on his threshold. As a punishment Ahasvar is condemned to wander the world without home or purpose until the Day of Judgement. The story of the wanderer became a central and recurrent myth, most famously in Goethe and Heine, and of course in Wagner.

Whereas the romantic idea of redemption is in the foreground in Wagner, in Kirchner the theme is political. Ahasver’s wanderings lead him through each period of European history and offer a view of so-called historical progress stripped of illusions. In nine scenes and one epilogue, interrupted by eight extensive monologues (“night watches”), the composer describes the incessant search for home, identity and spiritual fulfilment in broad historical pictorial scenes.

Ahasver encounters a series of historical figures – Johannes Gutenberg, Martin Luther – each of whom confirms an insuperable wall of xenophobia and ideological blindness.

In the epilogue Ahasver suffers the fate of today’s refugees. Merely a number, completely deprived of his individuality, he joins the anonymous mass of human fellow-sufferers.

Ahasver 09.05.2001 Theater Bielefeld

Kichner’s “scenic oratorio” […] describes the way nothing changes: Inquisition, wars, revolutions, ghettos – different times but always the same human suffering […] Ahasver, the eternal time-traveller, becomes a man of sorrows and holy fool who, like Christ, is abandoned by God and mocked by his people. […] Kirchner draws an intellectually historical conclusion and the music does not merely provide a background, it’s more than that, it seizes us with its dramatic force.

(Neue Zeitschrift für Musik 07/2001)

123

John Casken

God‘s Liar An opera after Tolstoy Libretto by Emma Warner and John Casken Origin: 1999-2000

2001

Language: English Cast: Prince Stepan Kasatsky / Father Sergius · bass baritone – Stephen · tenor – Countess Marie Korotkova (19th century), Fiancée of Kasatsky · soprano – Mary (20th century), Stephen’s Literary Agent · soprano – Makovkina (19th century), a wealthy Widow · soprano – Film Star (20th century) · soprano – Mary (19th century), Daughter of a Merchant · soprano – Pasha (19th century), a Farmer’s Wife · Soprano – the Woman (20th century) · soprano Chorus (6 singers): High Society Woman 1 / Woman 1 / Farmer’s Wife 1 / female Beggar 1 / female Voice off-stage / female Pilgrim 1 · mezzo soprano – High Society Woman 2 / Woman 2 / Farmer’s Wife 2 / female Beggar 2 / female Pilgrim 2 · mezzo soprano – Officer 1 / Monk 1 / Farmer 1 / Beggar 1 / Salesman 1 / Pilgrim 3 / Young Man 1 · tenor – Officer 2 / Monk 2 / Farmer 2 / Beggar 2 / Salesman 2 / Pilgrim 4 / Young Man 2 · tenor – Officer 3 / Monk 3 / Cynic / Pilgrim 5 / Young Man 3 · baritone – Officer 4 / Monk 4 / Farmer 3 / Pilgrim 6 / Man · baritone Orchestra: fl (afl, pic) · ob (ca) · 2Bbcl (1:ssax, bcl; 2:asax, Ebcl, bcl).bn (cbn) - hn · tpt · tbn perc. (b.d, tam-tam, gng, tub.bells (G# & B), bell plate, 4 tom-toms, 3 c.bells (large, medium., small ) 3 t.bl., field dr., bass pedal dr., sus.cym., sizz.cym., chinese cym., b.tree (horizontal), clash cym., vibra., sleigh bells, maraca., vibraslap, guiro, glass wind-chimes) - hp. - 3vn · 2va · 2vc · db.

Duration: 110‘ Performance material on hire Remarks: All seven soprano parts should be sung by one singer. The chorus singers play different roles in all scenes.

Selected Productions 06.07.2001 King‘s Cross, London (WP) 06.10.2001 Theatre de la Monnaie, Brüssel (NEA) Ronald Zollman · Keith Warner · John Lloyd Davies 02.08.2004 Akademie der Bildenden Künste · KlangBogen Wien 2004 Walter Kobéra · Stephan Bruckmeier · Klaus Baumeister · Dorothea Wimmer

124

Synopsis Father Sergius, Tolstoy’s short story on which God’s Liar is based, follows Sergius’ long journey through life. We first see him as a young man fully in command with a bright future. Betrayed by his fiancée, his vanity leads him to seek an escape from his present world, a decision that finally results in poverty and vagrancy.

This haunting and disturbing tale speaks forcefully to us in any age. However, the synopsis has been developed to include our own time, casting the even-numbered scenes in the present, whilst following the basic line of Tolstoy’s original story. After the opening scene set in the 19th century, we then find Stephen, a young academic of today whose research is based on the discovery and transcription of the diaries of a 19th century Russian hermit, and who is persuaded to sell the fruits of his research to the film industry.

Stephen, shocked by what Hollywood has done with his work, becomes obsessed with finding out the truth behind Sergius’ actions. As the opera progresses, the two centuries begin to merge and, in the final scene, the story thrusts Sergius/Stepan, now an old beggar, onto a modern street where he is taunted by a crowd. Stephen recognises him, rescues him and is joined by a woman from the crowd, a figure who seems to be the woman from his own past and also to represent all those in Stepan’s life. The search for truth which has occupied both Stepan and Stephen has provided no answers, only darkness and silence: perhaps this is the final lie. The thread that runs throughout the opera returns with the woman’s final lines: “one good deed... worth more than all the lies...”

Cod‘s Liar 02.08.2004 KlangBogen Wien

John Casken’s new opera, God’s Liar, is everything a new opera ought to be. It is not shy of facing big issues – God (or lack of), faith (or loss of), truth, reality, illusion. It is admirably concentrated in its treatment of such matters – slightly more than 90 minutes of music divided into two acts.

The score is almost traditionally “operatic”, mainly lyrical, demands to be listened to, and is plainly rewarding to its performers. (The Times 9.7.2001)

125

Christian Jost

Death Knocks One act opera based on the play of the same name by Woody Allen for mezzo soprano, baritone and chamber ensemble German translation by Esther Ferrier Origin: 2001 Language: English | German

2001

Cast: Death in person · Mezzosopran – Nat Ackerman, a dress manufacturer · Bariton Ensemble: Klar. · Fag. · Trp. · Pos. · Viol. · Kb. · Vibraphon · Drumset Duration: 35‘ Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 29.09.2001 Hannover (WP, concert performance) Linos Ensemble 06.05.2005 Theater Erfurt (WP, scenic production) Karl Prokopetz · Eszter Szabó · Benita Roth 10.09.2005 YMCA Concert Hall Jerusalem · Jerusalem International Chamber Music Festival (concert performance) Christian Jost · Jerusalem Festival Ensemble 16.01.2008 Kronhuset Göteborg · MusikTeaterVerket Göteborg Jerker Johansson · Mattias Ermedahl 01.12.2008 Komische Oper Berlin, Foyer (concert performance) Christian Jost · Ensemble UnitedBerlin 02.07.2009 Opera Stabile · Hamburgische Staatsoper Alexander Soddy · Petra Müller · Aida Guardia

126

Synopsis New York, somewhere in Manhattan. The city is pulsating in the heat as Nat Ackermann, a successful garment manufacturer, makes himself comfortable for the evening. While he reads the paper suddenly an attractive but quite confused woman falls right through his window into his living room. Of course he doesn’t believe her when she tells him that she is the personification of Death. He is feeling fit as a fiddle, has just completed a merger with a famous company and isn’t ready to leave. The lady starts to doubt whether she did everything right. Maybe she mixed up addresses, because this is her first commission? Nat, who is realising the seriousness of the situation, tries to engage the personification of Death in conversation to try to trick the lady by using a little cunning. He persuades her to play Gin Rummy.

Death, stressed out and tired of Nat’s resistance, agrees: if Death wins, Nat will follow her. If Nat wins, he will get one more day to live. Night sets in and with it the game between life and Death starts. While the personification of Death is concentrating on her cards, Nat tries to find out more about dying and the hereafter. He constantly digs deeper and asks a lot of questions so that Death gets nervous and is thoroughly beaten. This failure in her first job saps her selfconfidence. Certain of his victory, Nat throws Death out of his home and suspects that he will cope with Death more easily in the future. (Christian Jost)

Death Knocks 06.06.2005 Theater Erfurt

It was good to find that in this opera the soloists have the opportunity to develop their voices without singing big arias or scenes. [...] Jost proves himself an experienced composer who knows how to deal with sounds and structures. (Thüringer Allgemeine, 9.5.2005)

127

Detlev Müller-Siemens

Bing on a text by Samuel Beckett German translation by Elmar Tophoven Origin: 1998-2000 Language: German

2001

Cast: 2 speakers - 2 sopranos Orchestra: 2 (beide auch Picc.) · 2 (2. auch Engl. Hr.) · 2 (1. auch Es-Klar., 2. auch Bassklar.) · 2 (beide auch Kfg.) – 2 · 2 · 0 · 0 – S. (I: Röhrengl. · 3 hg. Beck. · ant. Zimb. · kl. Tr. · Clav. · Tempelbl. · Metallplatte · Xyl.; 3 hg. Beck. · Tamt. · Tomt. · Glspl. · Xylorimba · Vibr.) (2 Spieler) – 2 Klav. (eines 1/4-Ton herabgestimmt) – Str. (2 · 0 · 2 · 2 · 2 [mit H-Saite]) Duration: 60‘ Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 13.12.2001 Forum der Bundeskunsthalle Bonn (WP) · Theater Bonn Wolfgang Ott · Bettina Erasmy | Michael Simon · Michael Simon

128

Synopsis The title Bing refers to Beckett’s eponymous play of 1966. The play presents us with a single, surreal setting: a naked man standing in a white cube. The script consists of several speech fragments, brought together into a circuit of new, composite phrases. Only two words manage to cut through the ceaseless circling: BING, often connected to the quest for nature, meaning, images, a fellow human being and the way out; and HOP, often followed by the word “elsewhere”, perhaps referring to a change of place and scenery. “I had a completely frozen music theatre in mind”, explains Detlev Müller-Siemens; a music theatre “consisting of three levels: fi rstly the main character, who – because of his isolation – hears him/herself speaking with a stranger’s voice, and is thus impersonated by two vocal parts; secondly the two speakers, who classify the action with permanent comments from the outside; and thirdly the chamber orchestra, functioning as a sterile environment – just like the cube with its white walls – where ‘signs without meaning’ appear, fi lling the space with ‘whispered gibberish’. [...] In spite of this frozen constellation, I think that Bing’s adaptation into an ‘Opera’ allows fundamentally human topics such as loneliness, love and death to shine through. (Source: Theater Bonn 2001)

Bing 13.12.2001 Oper Bonn

Beckett’s text of 1966 – the ultimate year of surreal theatre and happenings – is about an excruciating wait and is the product of a tormented mind. It is made up of thoughts that circle around and force their way to the subconscious. [...] There are well-chosen words, whose peculiar musicality startles us. Beyond every seemingly meaningless semantic surface there are many deep references to the original human state: [...] the language gropes its way to meaning. Only when you listen carefully does it begin to make sense. (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 15.12.2001)

129

Gavin Bryars

G Being the Confession and Last Testament of Johannes Gensfleisch, also known as Gutenberg, Master Printer, formerly of Strasbourg and Mainz Opera in two acts with prologue and epilogue Libretto by Blake Morrison Origin: 2001 – 2002

2002

Language: English | German translation by Stephan Kopf, Zelma Millard and Michael Millard Cast: Ennelina zur Yserin Tür, G’s Fiancée · soprano – Christina Fust, Johann Fust’s Daughter, Peter Schoeffer’s Fiancée · soprano – Ellewibel zur Yserin Tür, Ennelina’s Mother · coloratura mezzo soprano – Frau Lotte Beildeck, Servant to G · low mezzo soprano – Peter Schoeffer, Apprentice to G and Lodger at Johann Fust’s · counter tenor – Johann Fust, Merchant and Investor / Evil Angel · tenor – Berthold Rüppel, Printer, Member of G’s workshop · tenor – Andreas Dritzehn, Member of G’s workshop · baritone – Claus Dritzehn, Brother to Andreas and Jörg, Member to G’s workshop · baritone – Jörg Dritzehn, Brother to Andreas and Claus, Member of G’s workshop · baritone – Matthias Heilmann, Member to G’s workshop · baritone – G, Johannes Gensfleisch, also known as Gutenberg, Goldsmith and Inventor · bass baritone – Amanuensis (present in prologue only), or G2 · bass baritone – Judge · bass baritone – Nicholas of Cusa, Papal Diplomat, later Cardinal / Good Angel · bass – Monks, Pilgrims, Writers, Women, Soldiers, Creditors, Workmen, Jesters, Advocates · mixed chorus (SATBarB) Orchestra: 2 (beide auch Picc.) · 3 Engl. Hr. (2. auch Ob., 3. auch Ob. d‘am.) · 1 (auch Es-Klar.) · 1 Bassklar. · 2 · 1 Kfg. – 5 (2., 3. auch Wagnertb., 4. und 5. auch Bass-Wagnertb.) · 0 · 2 (beide auch Altpos.) · 1 – P. S. (Röhrengl. · hg. Beck. · Beckenpaar · Crot. · Tamt · 2 kl. Tr. · gr. Tr. · Glsp. · Vibr. · Marimba) (2 Spieler) – Hfe. · Cemb. (auch Cel.) – Str. (14 · 11 · 8 · 7 · 5) Duration: 150‘ Performance material on hire Remarks: The role of Good Angel should be taken by Nicholas of Cusa, the role of Evil Angel by Johann Fust.

Selected Productions 23.02.2002 Staatstheater Mainz (WP) Gernot Sahler · Georges Delnon · Rosalie

130

Synopsis Strasbourg in the 1440s. While celebrating the profits he has made from manufacturing mirrors for pilgrims, the materialistic G (whose worldly values are echoed by an Evil Angel) tells his colleagues that he has a more ambitious project in mind. As he discloses to Nicholas of Cusa, he has begun an experiment in printing books - Nicholas approves of this and suggests he print the Bible. Enter Ennelina, his fiancée, who asks if she and G can now be married - he fobs her off, confessing, after she has left, that his work matters more to him. Alone G excitedly reflects on the possibility of freeing the word of God from the hands of priests. But his reverie is rudely interrupted by trouble on all fronts: Ennelina returns with her mother, who angrily accuses him of breaking a marriage promise. G is also besieged by creditors, to whom he owes money; by soldiers, conscripting men for war against the Armagnacs; by scribes, who feel threatened by his invention; and by women siding with the distressed Ennelina. As he reaches crisis-point, three spectral figures appear - Johann Fust, his daughter Christina and G’s assistant Peter Schoeffer and G dreams of returning to his home town of Mainz.

Mainz in the 1450s. G’s work on the Bible is now in full swing, and in a busy printshop he lectures his men on the importance of keeping their great work secret. G is now a changed man, devoted to God and to aesthetic beauty. When Fust, his backer, turns up to monitor progress, G, irritated, defends the painstaking slowness of the work. Fust is angry and impatient. So is his daughter Christina, who can’t marry Peter until the Bible is finished. The imminent crisis erupts when Christina shows her father proof that G is using his loan for other purposes. Fust – as he reveals to a tortured Peter – decides to take G to court. Among the witnesses called is Peter, who effectively betrays G. The case is awarded to Fust. In the Epilogue, a benign G muses on his achievement and asks, now that the print era he inaugurated is over, to be left in peace.

G 23.02.2002 Staatstheater Mainz

When Gutenberg’s journeyman betrays his master, you can hear strings as a distant echo playing Bach’s Johannes-Passion from within the fabric of Bryars’ music. For long stretches of time you are overpowered by G’s persuasiveness. [...] With G, Bryars has developed the musicality of the subconscious. (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 25.02.2002)

131

Enjott Schneider

Das Salome-Prinzip (The Salome Principle) Chamber opera after Oscar Wilde Text by Enjott Schneider, translated after the French original version of the play Origin: 1983

2002

Language: German Cast: Salome · mezzo soprano – Herodias · soprano – Herodes · baritone – the Young Syrian · alto – the Page · tenor – the Soldier · bass – Jochanaan · speaking role (actor) Orchestra: 1 · 1 (auch Ob. d’amore) · 1 (auch Bassklar.) · 0 – 1 · 0 · 0 · 0 – 2 S. – Str. (möglichst chorisch 0 · 0 · 12 · 3 · 2 oder auch solistisch: 0 · 0 · 3 · 1 · 1) Duration: 95‘ Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 03.03.2002 Musiktheater im Revier Gelsenkirchen (WP) 10.04.2002 Theatre National du Luxembourg Kai Tietje · Caroly Sittig · Jean Flammang

132

Synopsis Das Salome-Prinzip is a new take on the biblical subject already famously treated by Massenet and Strauss. Schneider’s piece distinguishes itself from these works both in its smaller scale as a chamber opera and in its mode of address with regards to the content. It describes, explains Schneider, how ‘the mechanism of how party decadence, materialism and lack of genuine human exchange, warp and pervert the smallest attempt at being honest and idealistic in the face of a narcissistic society. Salome who, in the first half of the opera, finds in Jochanaan a positive role model among all the vanity and stupidity, becomes, in the second half, a monster herself when her urge to communicate is frustrated: “If you had looked at me, you would have loved me!”’

Das Salome-Prinzip 03.03.2002. Musiktheater im Revier

Schneider’s music follows theatrically sensuous gestures. The score for eleven instruments resonates tenderly and quietly, by turns red-blooded and brittle as if spun from glass. The sounds follow the trace Berg and Schönberg once left. This piece is a real alternative to the sumptuous version by Strauss. (Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, 05.03.2002)

133

Stephen Paulus

Heloïse and Abelard Opera in three acts, a prologue and an epilogue Libretto by Frank Corsaro Origin: 2001-2002

2002

Language: English Cast: Heloïse Hersind, Fulbert’s Niece · soprano – Peter Abelard, Parisian scholar · baritone – Fulbert, Canon, Uncle of Heloise · tenor – William of Champeaux, Archdeacon and friend of Fulbert · bass baritone – Berthe, Nun at the Covent Le Paraclete · mezzo soprano – the Abbess of the Convent Le Paraclete · non-singing – Denise, Abelard’s Sister and Astrolabe’s Foster Mother · mezzo soprano – Jolivet, Priest · tenor – Astrolabe, Son of Heloïse and Abelard · baritone – Fool · tenor – Man · tenor – Male servant · tenor – Female Servant · mezzo soprano – Dr. Salavados · non-speaking role – Four masked men · non-speaking roles – chorus of monks and nuns · SATB, minimum of 8 female and 10 male voices Orchestra: 2.2.2.2-2.32(btbn)0-timp.2perc.2aux-pno.hp-str(min: 8.7.6.4.3) Duration: 140‘ Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 24.04.2002 The Juilliard Theater at The Juilliard School, New York, NY (WP) Miguel Harth-Bedoya · Frank Corsaro · Franco Colavecchia · Christianne Meyers

134

Synopsis A poignant setting of the tragic love story between renowned 12th-century scholar Peter Abelard and his young student Heloïse. These lovers faced timeless issues: passionate love, jealousy, religious infighting, the institution of marriage, and the role of women in society.

Heloise and Abelard 24.04.2002 The Juilliard Theater at the Juilliard School / Nan Melville

Heloïse and Abelard is an astutely crafted, musically absorbing, and theatrically affecting work, one that deserves a future and many more productions. (Peter G. Davis, New York Magazine) Paulus‘ declamatory vocal style and harmonically consistent tonal vocabulary evoke the period subtly and skillfully...the couple Heloïse and Abelard rank high among the most compelling pairs of lovers in contemporary American opera. (Joshua Rosenblum, Opera America) The new work is real opera: memorable, even heart-rending ensembles, characters nicely drawn, scenes shaped with a dramatist‘s hand and not a moment too long, vocal lines the work of a composer who knows the voice and what it can do. I came home from New York with this work out front in my memory. (Alan Rich, L.A.Weekly)

135

Jörg Widmann

K(l)eine Morgenstern-Szene (Small | no Morgenstern scene) Short opera for soprano, actor, Russian Cimbalom and percussion Text after the theatre scene “Egon und Emilie” (“Egon and Emily”)

by Christian Morgenstern Origin: 1997

2002

Language: German Cast: the Woman · soprano – the Man · actor Schlagzeug (1 Spieler): (Crot. [auch mit Kontrabass-Bogen gestrichen] · 4 hg. Beck. [auch mit Kontrabass-Bogen gestrichen] · Vibr. [auch mit Kontrabass-Bogen gestrichen] · tiefes Tamt. [auch mit Kontrabass-Bogen gestrichen] · tiefer Gong · Crash-Beck. · gr. Tr. · Glsp. · Marimba. · Lotosfl. · Flex. · 2 Mar. · Peitsche · Röhrengl. · Clav. · 2 Bong. [auch mit Hot Rods geschlagen] · 2 Cong. [auch mit Hot Rods geschlagen] · Cow-Bell [auch mit Hot Rods geschlagen] · 4 Holzbl. · 4 Tomt. · kl. Tr. · gestimmtes Weinglas (d‘‘) · Guiro · Trillerpf. · Tempelbl. · 2 Kast. [befestigt, mit harten Schlägeln] · Metal Chimes · Trgl.)

Duration: 13‘ Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 09.05.2002 Prinzregententheater München (WP) · Münchener Biennale 2002 Ulrich Nicolai · Florentine Klepper · Chalune Seiberth 24.05.2002 Zeisehallen Hamburg Mark Rohde · Hans-Jörg Kapp · Marcel Weinand · Tanja Bolduan 10.09.2004 Komische Oper Berlin, Studiobühne Björn Johannsen | Erik Kross · Nurkan Erpulat · Florent Marin 05.10.2005 Mousonturm Frankfurt · Werkschau der „Akademie Musiktheater heute“ Anna Shefelbine · Hendrik Müller · Mira Voigt 12.06.2005 Oper Köln, Dachterrasse Jens Bingert · Aldona Farrugia · Susanne Adler

136

Synopsis The opera takes its subject from Christian Morgenstern’s ‘Egon and Emilie’ of 1907, which depicts the theatre as a distorting mirror of life: Emilie needs a person to talk to, but because she does not find one she has ‘to leave this stage and go into the nameless nothingness, having neither played nor lived’. The void of a failed artistic existence is revealed behind the theatre’s comedy.

Ninety years on, Widmann’s K(l)eine Morgenstern-Szene (1997) brilliantly translates the play’s anguish into operatic terms. The lead soprano feels unable to find her onstage identity as Emilie: she needs the person facing her to utter a word, just one word. It doesn’t even have to be the word ‘love’—any word breaking the silence would do. In order for this to happen, the trained singer uses every possible technique she ever learnt and exploits her repertoire with enormous creativity: “operetta-like”, “uptight”, “whining”, “oriental”, “ugly”, “in an official tone”, “in dialect”: she sings, roars, talks and whispers. The musicians accompany her by exploring a wide range of different ways of playing. As the tension builds, more and more percussion enter the fray. But all of this is to no avail: Emilie can’t find her role and the performance turns into a rehearsal for which no resolution is possible.

K(l)eine Morgenstern-Szene 05.10.2005 Mousonturm, Frankfurt

Widmann works with all the methods of the musical past, stepping across the boundaries of different genres, including pop and the operatic gestures of a prima donna [...]. In this remarkably successful monologue Widmann gives anybody worried about the future of music theatre a wink and a wave. (Olaf A. Schmitt, Frankfurt 2005)

137

Peter Eötvös

Le Balcon Opera in ten scenes Libretto by Françoise Morvan in collaboration with Peter Eötvös and André Markowicz after “Le Balcon” by Jean Genet (© Éditions Gallimard) Origin: 2002 / revised version 2004

2002

Language: French Cast: Irma · low mezzo soprano, heavy voice – Carmen · lyric soprano – la femme (the Woman) / la voleuse (the Thief) / la fille (the Girl) / Chantal · mezzo soprano, extended up to the soprano register – Chef de la Police (Chief of Police) · bass or bass baritone – l’éveque (the Bishop) · bass buffo – le juge (the Judge) · high tenor, character tenor – le general (the General) · lyric baritone, aged between 40-50 years – Roger · young lyric baritone – Arthur / le bourreau (the Hangman) · low bass – l’envoyé (the Ambassador) · character baritone – Speaking roles: 3 Revolutionists / 3 Photographers · 3 young actors Orchestra: 1 (auch Picc. u. Altfl.) · 1 (auch Engl. Hr.) · 1 (auch Es-Klar.) · Sopransax. (auch Altsax. u. Baritonsax.) · Bassklar. · 1 – 1 · 2 · 1 · 1 – S. (Trgl. · Röhrengl. · Schell. · Crot. · Schellenbaum · Kuhgl. · Beckenpaar · Nietenbck. · Gong · Tamt. · 3 Bong. · Schellentr. · Drum Set · Kast. · Cabaza · Guiro · Waschbrett · Holzbl. · 2 Kokosnüsse auf Holzbrett · Metal-Chimes · Glsp. · Xyl. · Vibr. · Marimba) (2 Spieler) – Hfe. · Hammondorg. · Keyb.-Sampler * – Vl. · Va. · Vc. · Kb. – 8-Spur-Diskette – Geräusch-Sampler (wird von Schlagzeug 2 ausgeführt | Keyboard-control) * Sound files are provided by the Eötvös Composition Studio; please see www.eotvospeter.com for details.

On the stage (players from the ensemble): Kontrabassklar. – Hr. · Tr. – Vl. (Strohviol-Trichtergeige) Duration: 120‘ Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 05.07.2002 Théâtre de l‘Archevêché (WP) · Festival d‘Aix-en-Provence 05.06.2003 Het Muziektheater Amsterdam 21.01.2004 Théâtre du Capitole, Toulouse Peter Eötvös · Stanislas Nordey · Emmanuel Clolus · Raoul Fernandez 26.04.2003 Theater Freiburg Kwamé Ryan · Gerd Heinz · Stefanie Seitz 03.04.2005 Festival Theatre Budapest · Budapest Spring Festival Peter Eötvös · Róbert Alföldi · Kentaur

138

Synopsis Revolution is raging in the streets of Paris and the Palais-Royal is blown up. Meanwhile the customers of the brothel ‘Le Balcon’ dress up with the props and costumes of the most important social positions. They want to become bishops, judges or generals, although they know that each new role will last for hardly more than half an hour. The girls look on as Madame collects the money for these disturbing revels. The play is filled with constantly sparkling role-play, theatre within theatre. ‘The most important thing for me was that Genet’s wonderfully suggestive language remained comprehensible. I use lots of grotesque and comedic elements from cabaret-music, and sometimes my music draws on the French Chansons: Fréhel, Jaques Brel, Yves Montand and Leo Ferré were all models for me.’

(Peter Eötvös, Source: Theater Freiburg 2003)

Le Balcon 19.10.2005 Neue Oper Wien

“Quote and collage could be said to be the province of postmodernism. Where these principles are used with such intelligence and immanent wit [...], the result has its own vital originality.”

(Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 08.07.2002)

139

Enjott Schneider

Diana – Cry for Love Song opera for soloists, chorus, ballet and orchestra Libretto by Wolfgang Rögner Origin: 2001-2002

2002

Language: German | English translation by Dean Wilmington Cast: Diana · soprano – Debbie, Waiting Maid · soprano – Dodi al Fayed · tenor – René, Butler with Dodi al Fayed · baritone – Henri Paul, Deputy Security Director at the Ritz Hotel · baritone – Luigi, Captain · bass – Repossi, Jeweller · bass – Christiano, Chef cook · tenor – Trevor, Body Guard with Dodi al Fayed · bass – mixed chorus – ballet – supernumeraries Orchestra: 2 (auch Picc.) · 1 (auch Engl. Hr.) · 2 (auch Bassklar. und Altsax.) · 0 – 3 · 2 · 2 · 1 – S. (Marimba · Vibr. · kl. Tr. · gr. Tr. · Tamt. · Tomt.) · Drumset – Klav. (auch Cel.) · Keybd. (Samplingkeybd.) · Git. (E-Git.) · E-Bass – Str. (12 · 10 · 8 · 6 · 4) – Pre-recorded orchestra ad lib.

Duration: 120‘ Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 12.10.2002 Theater Görlitz (WP) 09.03.2003 Theater Bautzen Wolfgang Rögner · Valentina Simeonova · Iris Jedamski

140

Synopsis The events leading to Diana’s death are retraced through the eyes of Dodi Al-Fayed’s butler, René. As Diana’s relationship with Dodi develops, Diana’s close friend Debbie falls in love with René. Diana and Dodi are disturbed by the attention of the paparazzi, who intrude into their lives and deprive them of intimacy. Diana recollects how she has always felt unwelcome throughout her life, and longs for a ‘normal’ life. When the interest and intrusions of press and media explodes, Dodi decides to escape to a secret place with Diana. Together with René and Henri, the Paris Hotel Ritz’s security manager, he plans a secret departure, but the paparazzi find him. The hunt starts...

Diana - Cry for Love 12.10.2002 Theater Görlitz

Songs and scenes run into each other as music and film subliminally draw the audience in. With ‘Life is my dream, love my purpose’ a truly successful song has been created, which has all the makings of a real hit. (Musicals 12/2002)

141

Jörg Widmann

Das Gesicht im Spiegel (The Face in the Mirror) Music theatre in 16 scenes Libretto by Roland Schimmelpfennig Origin: 2002-2003

2003

Language: German Cast: Patrizia, CEO of a trust · high soprano – Justine, Patrizia’s clone · soprano – Bruno, Patrizia’s Husband and Business partner · baritone – Milton, Bio Engineer and Supervisor of Justine · baritone – Children’s chorus Orchestra: 2 (2. auch Picc.) · 0 · 2 (1. auch Bassklar. · 2. auch Kb.-Klar.) · 2 (2. auch Kfg.) – 2 · 1 (auch hohe Trp.) · 1 (auch Muschel) · 0 – S. (P. · 2 Trgl. · Crot. · Kuhgl. · 2 Buckelgongs · PekingOper-Gong · 2 Tamt. · 8 Röhrengl. · 4 chin. Beck. · Steeldr. · 4 Bong. · 4 Tamburims · 5 Tomt. · Rototoms · 2 kl. Tr. · 2 gr. Tr. · Holzbl. · Lotosfl. · Peitsche · Guiro · Mar. · Flex. · Ratsche · Trillerpf. · Clav. · Watergong · Spieluhr · Glsp. · Xyl. · 2 Xylorimb. · Vibr.) (2 Spieler) – Klav. (auch Cel.) · Git. (auch Mand., Bandurria u. Banjo) · Akk. – 4 Vl. · 3 Vc. · Kb. Duration: ca. 145‘ Performance material on hire Remarks: The children’s chorus may be replaced by a women’s chorus.

Selected Productions 17.07.2003 Cuvilliéstheater München (WP) · Bayerische Staatsoper Peter Rundel · Falk Richter · Katrin Hoffmann · Martin Krämer 29.01.2005 Theater Krefeld 13.05.2005 Theater Mönchengladbach Kenneth Duryea · Andreas Baesler · Harald Thor · Viola Schütze

142

Synopsis Patrizia and Bruno are a couple of bio-technicians who, thanks to the collaboration of their brilliant colleague Milton, have succeeded in creating a living clone of a human being, which they are trying to bring to market. The unique selling point of their product is that it can feel pain, but is able to recover immediately after any injury. The clone, named Justine, is a copy of Patrizia. Justine must never look into a mirror, because she isn’t allowed to learn that she is only Patrizia’s copy. Milton teaches Justine how to speak and communicate, and as she becomes more and more a rounded human being, both Bruno and Milton fall in love with her.

Bruno wants to start a new life with Justine and escapes with Milton’s production plans, so that he may reproduce Justine anywhere. However, this sparks a series of consequences that will increasingly spiral out of hand.

Das Gesicht im Spiegel 17.07.2003 Bayerische Staatsoper

Widmann works his way through tradition to find his own dramatic, quietly interconnected and complex sounds [...] A hugely talented theatrical composer has written his first great opera. Hats off! (Die Welt, 19.07.2003)

143

Enjott Schneider

Bahnwärter Thiel (Thiel the Lineman) Opera in eight scenes Text by Julia Cloot and Enjott Schneider after the novelistic study of the same name

by Gerhart Hauptmann Origin: 2002-2003

2004

Language: German Cast: Thiel · high baritone – Lene · dramatic soprano – Minna · lyric Soprano – Tobias · child (speaking role with little singing) – Priest · bass – 1. Woman · alto – 2. Woman · mezzo soprano – 1. Man · tenor – 2. Man · baritone – Village people, Police Constables, Asylum Wardens · chorus (min. 20 singers) Orchestra: 2 (2. auch Picc.) · 2 · 2 · 2 – 4 · 3 · 3 · 0 – S. (2 Sp.) – Hfe. – Str. Duration: 145‘ Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 28.02.2004 Theater Görlitz (WP) Eckehard Stier · Aron Stiehl · Karen Hilde Fries

144

Synopsis When his beloved wife Minna dies, Thiel, a lone signalman on the Berlin-Breslau railway line, needs someone to take care of his child Tobias. To this purpose, he marries the farm girl Lene.

But as soon as his new wife has given birth to their child, she starts to abuse Tobias. Thiel is unable to stand up to her. Desperate and lonely in his little signalman’s hut, he sinks into his own dream-world. As Thiel’s perception of reality starts to slip inexorably, tension builds up to a final, horrifying climax.

Bahnwärter Thiel 28.02.2004 Theater Görlitz

Like the experienced composer that he is, Schneider knows how to accompany scenic events instrumentally, how to create atmosphere and how to use instrumental characteristics effectively. [...] (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 03.03.2004)

145

Wilfried Hiller

Wolkenstein A ballad of life Libretto by Felix Mitterer Origin: 2003

2004

Language: German Cast: Oswald von Wolkenstein · baritone – Oswald as a young boy · soprano – Oswald as a young man · lyric tenor – Anna Hausmann, Oswald’s beloved / Salige [a wood spirit] · mezzo soprano – Michael von Wolkenstein, Oswald’s older Brother · actor – Margarethe von Schwangau, Oswald’s Wife (also playing Oswald’s Mother) · soprano – Katharina von Wolkenstein, Michael’s Wife · actress – Duke Friedrich IV from Habsburg, Duke of Tyrol · actor – King Sigismund from Luxembourg Dynasty · actor – Martin Jäger von Tisens, Country Nobleman · actor – Ulrich I, Prince-bishop at Brixen · senior actor – Schöberlin, Servant with Oswald · actor – Pope Johannes · tenor – Pope Benedict · baritone – Pope Gregor · bass – Jan Hus, known as “The Heretic” · tenor – Voice of the Wild Woman · vocal ensemble: ATTBarBarBB – a Goldsmith, Festivity Guests at the Bishop’s Court, 4 Whores in a bath, Knights, Bailiffs, Lansquenets · actors or supernumeraries – Servants with Oswald · 2 tenors, 2 baritones, 2 basses Orchestra: 3 (alle auch Picc. · 3. auch Altfl.) · 0 · 3 (1. auch Es–Klar., 3. auch Bassklar.) · 0 – 4 · 3 · 3 · 1 – P.S. (Glsp. · Crot. · Verrophon · Röhrengl. · 3 Trgl. · 3 Beck. · Nieten–Beck. · Schellenbaum · javan. Buckelgongs · Dobacis · Amboss · Kotsuzumi u. Otsuzumi [jap. Sanduhrtr.] · Rahmentr. · Bong. · kl. Tr. · 6 Tomt. · 2 Rührtr. · Drumset · Woodbl. · afrik. Holztr. · gr. Tr. · 6 Rototoms · afrik. Schlitztr. · Woodblocks · Temple-Block · Guiro · Claves · Kast. · Ratsche · Hyoshigi · Mark–Tree · Stabpandereta · Peitsche · Windmasch. ) (3 Spieler) – Hfe. · 2 Klav. (Flügel, 1. auch Cel.) – Str. Oswald’s chamber ensemble (on stage or aside of the pit but visible): Fl. (auch Picc.) – S. (Zimbeln · Fingerzimb. · Trgl. · Schellentamb. · 2 Rahmentr. · Waldteufel · Claves) (1 Spieler) – Diskant–Zither · Hfe. · Hackbrett – 2 Vl. (2. auch Va.) · Kb. Duration: 120‘ Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 06.03.2004 Theater Nürnberg (WP) 15.04.2004 Nuovo Teatro Communale Bolzano Fabrizio Ventura · Percy Adlon · Hartmut Schörghofer · Renate Stoiber

146

Synopsis The life of the South Tyrolean knight, politician, poet and composer Oswald von Wolkenstein (ca. 1377-1445) has fascinated Wilfried Hiller for a long time. Wolkenstein is a flamboyant figure: sophisticated and urbane, much-travelled in the service of the German emperor and having worked on diplomatic assignment for the consul of Konstanz, he was a man of the late Middle Ages yet informed by the thinking and feeling of the early stirrings of modern times.

In cooperation with the popular Tyrolean poet Felix Mitterer, Hiller creates with Wolkenstein an exciting spectrum of a time and a man, who lives his life to the fullest without regard to conventions and without any respect for authorities. The songs composed by Wolkenstein, handed down through the centuries in different writings, are an important source of musical inspiration for Hiller; he combines these medieval sounds with elements of other musical means of expression including the music of the N么-theatre.

Wolkenstein 06.03.2004 Theater N眉rnberg

Oswald, who travelled widely, was an early kind of world musician and his songs reflect the many kinds of music he heard. This gives Hiller the opportunity to create a world-musical polystyle, where Japanese elements of the N么-theatre are heared next to sounds of swing or musical. With it there are moments of remarkable forcefulness and music-theatrical intensity.

(Opernwelt 05/2004)

147

Toshio Hosokawa

Hanjo Opera in one act Libretto by Toshio Hosokawa after the Nô play of the same name by Yukio Mishima English text version by Donald Keene Origin: 2003-2004 Language: English

2004

Cast: Hanako · soprano – Jitsuko · mezzo soprano – Yoshio · baritone Orchestra: 1 (auch Picc. und Bassfl.) · 1 (auch Eng. Hr.) · 1 (auch Bassklar.) · 1 (auch Kontrafag.) – 1 · 1 · 1 · 0 – S. (Basstr. · 4 Tom-toms · 4 Bongos · Vibr. · Marimb. · Cym. ant. · Röhrengl. · Tamt. · 4 Trgl. · 4 japan. Wind-Gl.) (2 Spieler) – Hfe. · Cel. – Str. Duration: 80‘ Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 08.07.2004 Théâtre du Jeu de Paume (WP) · Festival d‘Aix-en-Provence 07.09.2004 Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, Bruxelles Kazushi Ono | Georges-Elie Octors · Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker · Jan Joris Lamers · Tim van Steenbergen 16.12.2005 Auditório Culturgest Lisboa João Paulo Santos · Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker · Jan Joris Lamers · Tim van Steenbergen 06.08.2005 Kampnagel Hamburg (concert performance) · Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival Kazushi Ono · Ensemble musikFabrik 12.05.2007 Theater Bielefeld Kevin John Edusei · Patrick Schimanski · Colin Walker 05.03.2008 Opéra National de Lyon · Biennale Musique en Scène Johannes Debus · Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker · Jan Joris Lamers · Tim Van Steenbergen

148

Synopsis Hanjo is the name of the emperor’s mistress who lived at the time of the early Han dynasty in ancient China and was in the emperor’s favour. However, he gradually forgot her and finally abandoned her. She wrote a poem, reflecting on her situation through the metaphor of a fan used in summer and thrown away in autumn. From this episode, Hanjo became a catch-word, describing any woman who has been abandoned by a man.

Hanako, a geisha girl, was plighted to Yoshio some years ago. When they had to part, they exchanged fans and promised to return to each other, but Yoshio has not been back since. Jitsuko, a spinster, buys Hanako from the geisha house and keeps her in her own house. Hanako—the woman with a fan—waits day after day for Yoshio at the train station. A newspaper gossips about her strange behaviour. Jitsuko reads it and is afraid that Yoshio might read the article and come to see Hanako again—she doesn’t want Hanako to leave her house. Soon after, Yoshio arrives at Jitsuko’s house with a fan. Although Jitsuko tries to get in the way, he finally sees Hanako again. However, Hanako now says the man before her is not Yoshio. Does she not recognise him? Or is she afraid to leave her life of ceaseless waiting?

Hanjo 12.05.2007 Theater Bielefeld

Love, beauty and death intertwine in a tangle rich of allusions, meanings and psychoanalytical layers. In addition, Toshio Hosokawa has composed sounds which shimmer in a huge range of instrumental colours [...]: Arioso, Sprechgesang and melodrama alternate between Western and Far Eastern means of expression. (Opernwelt, 09/2004)

149

Benjamin Schweitzer

Informationen über Bartleby (Information on Bartleby) Short opera in 11 parts Libretto by the composer and Norbert Lange after Herman Melville’s story Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street Origin: 2003

2004

Language: German, English Cast: mezzo soprano · baritone · alto or bass (bass baritone) – Speaking role (actor or actress) Orchestra: 0 · 1 (auch Engl. Hr.) · 1 (auch Klar. in A und Bassklar.) · 0 – 0 · 0 · Tenor-Basspos. · 0 – S. (2 Tempelbl. · Schlitztr. · 2 Holztoms · gr. Tr. · 2 hohle Ziegelsteine · 4 Pappkartons untersch. Größe · Metallrohr [vierkant, Länge ca. 1 Meter mit Halteseil und Ständer] · Wassereimer · chin. Beck. · türk. Beck. [kl.] · Tamb. · 2 Cowbells · Vibra-Slap · Kast. · 2 Mar. · Bambusrassel · Bassxyl. bzw. Boo-Bam-Spiel) (1 Spieler) – Akk. – Vc. · Kb. Duration: 11‘ Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 30.09.2004 Festspielhaus Hellerau (WP) · Dresdner Tage der zeitgenössischen Musik 2004 Titus Engel · Rainer Holzapfel · Lisa Brzonkalla · Katia Diegmann 27.09.2006 Hebbel am Ufer HAU1, Berlin Yordan Kamdzhalov · Mareike Mikat · Maike Storf

150

Synopsis ‘I would prefer not to’: With this polite but irrefutable phrase the ‘scrivener’ Bartleby, in Herman Melville’s novella of 1853, reacts to any pleading, instruction or command, accepting even death as a final consequence of his gentle resistance to the demands of life. ‘I would prefer not to’ has become perhaps one of the most famous and enigmatic phrases in English literature.

For Benjamin Schweitzer the story’s action is irrelevant. The basis of the libretto is the scene of the first performance of ‘Bartleby’s formula’. This central moment, this one phrase builds with repeated convergences, constant variations and alienating, layered textures, creating a compressed circle of time.

Informationen über Bartleby 30.09.2004 Dresdner Tage der zeitgenössischen Musik

Schweitzer uses an extremely condensed text: only one sentence! Thus the 11 sections in the piece consist of variations and repetitions of the original material. The four actors on the stage talk and sing in English and German, sometimes alone, both disordered and synchronous, intelligible and incomprehensible. (Dresdner Neueste Nachrichten, 04.10.2004)

151

Peter Eötvös

Angels in America Opera in two parts Text by Mari Mezei after the same named play by Tony Kushner Origin: 2003-2004 / 2005 (revised version)

2004

Language: English Cast (8 singers, amplified): The Angel · soprano – Harper Pitt, Joe´s wife · soprano (with wide range) – Hannah Pitt, Joe´s mother · mezzo soprano (with wide range) – Joseph Pitt, Harper´s husband · baritone – Prior Walter, Louis´s boyfriend · lyric baritone – Louis Ironson, Prior´s boyfriend · tenor – Belize, black nurse · counter tenor (mezzo) – Roy Cohn, lawyer · bass baritone Other characters: Rabbi Chemelwitz, an orthodox Jewish rabbi, played by Hannah – Mr Lies, a travel agent, played by Belize – Henry, Roy´s doctor, played by Hannah – Woman, in the South Bronx, played by Belize – Ghost 1, a ghost of a dead Prior Walter from the 13th century, played

by Roy – Ghost 2, a ghost of a dead Prior Walter from the 18th century, played by Joe – Ethel Rosenberg played by Harper – Voice played by the Angel – Angel Antarctica played by Harper – Angel Asiatica played by Hannah – Angel Africanii played by Belize – Angel Oceania played by Louis – Angel Europe played by Joe – Angel Australia played by Roy Orchestra: 3 Vokalisten (S., Mezzo, Bar.) · 2 Tonmeister (1 im Graben, 1 im Saal) – 1 (auch Altfl. und Picc.) · 0 · 1 (auch Bassklar. und Kontrabassklar.) · 2 Sax. (I: S-A-T; II: A-T-Bar.) · 0 – 0 · 1 · 1 · 0 – 2 S. – 2 Git. (I: akustisch, Bottle-Neck, verstärkt.; II: elektrisch) – 2 Keyb.* – Str. (alle mit Chorus-Effect) (6 · 0 · 4 · 3 · 2) * Sound files are provided by the Eötvös Composition Studio; see www.eotvospeter.com for details.

Duration: 130‘ Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 23.11.2004 Théâtre du Châtelet Paris (WP) Peter Eötvös · Philippe Calvario · Richard Peduzzi · Jan Morrell 23.06.2005 Hamburgische Staatsoper 15.06.2006 Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ Amsterdam · Holland Festival 2006 Cornelius Meister · Benedikt von Peter · Saskia Zschoch 16.06.2006 Boston Center for the Arts · Boston Opera Gil Rose · Steven Maler · Clint Ramos 21.03.2009 Oper Frankfurt Erik Nielsen · Johannes Erath · Stefanie Pasterkamp 26.03.2010 Barbican Hall, London (semi-staged performance) David Robertson · BBC Symphony Orchestra

152

Synopsis The angels are singing now. More than a decade after Tony Kushner completed his immense play‚ Angels in America, the Hungarian composer-conductor Peter Eötvös has produced from it a slippery and musically delightful combination of opera and musical.

Mari Mezei’s version keeps the original chronology while focusing on the human drama of the central characters: the interweaving of anger, hopelessness and irony in Prior Walter, dying of AIDS; the love that evolves between his former boyfriend, Louis, and Joe, who is breaking away from a drained marriage to the confused and desperate Harper; and, as a grotesque sideshow, the death of the morally blind Roy Cohn.

There would be material here for a musical drama that, in a traditional manner, took hold of these characters and made them sing. But that is not what Eötvös has in mind, and his intuition is certainly right. In opera, the distinctions between realistic and non-realistic characters are erased. In opera, everyone is an angel.

Popular song is often just beneath the surface, and that, together with the obvious amplification, places the characters in the disturbing middle ground between opera and musical. In a way that suits this drama, the characters are forced to shift for themselves in a wasteland beyond normal genres. Prior shouts at the angels in heaven that God has gone and would not be welcomed back. Similarly, consistency has gone from this piece. The rhythms remain those of American English – it was partly the sound of the language that attracted Mr. Eotvos to the play – but the characters have to adapt to the buffeting of variable musical weather. They do not drive the opera: they are driven by it. (New York Times, 28.04.2004)

Angels in America 23.11.2004 Théàtre du Châtelet Paris

Beyond all that, the accompanying score suggests that Mr. Eötvös has touched this text, at times shaken it, and listened to the vibrations. (New York Times, 28.04.2004)

153

Christian Jost

Vipern (Vipers) A murderous avidity in four acts Text by Tim Coleman and Christian Jost after motifs from the play The Changeling by Thomas Middleton and William Rowley German text version by Rainer G. Schmidt Origin: 2004

2005

Language: German Cast: Vermandero, a wealthy Nobleman · bass – Beatrice-Joanna, his Daughter · dramatic soprano – De Flores, a Servant · heroic baritone – Alsemero, in love with Beatrice · baritone – Antonio, Servant with Vermandero · high lyric baritone – Jasperino, Servant with Alsemero · tenor – Diaphanta, Lady’s Maid with Beatrice · high soprano – Alonzo de Piracquo, Beatrice’s Fiancé · tenor – Tomazo de Piracquo, his Brother · baritone – Alibio, Director of the asylum · tenor – Isabella, his much younger Wife · lyric soprano – Maria, Warden at the asylum · alto – Three mad female Poets, patients at the asylum · 3 female voices Orchestra: 3 (2. auch Picc., 3. auch Altfl.) · 0 · Engl. Hr. · 3 (2. auch Es-Klar., 3. auch Bassklar.) · 3 (2. und 3. auch Kfg.) – 4 · 3 (2. auch Piccolotrp.) · Basstrp. · 3 · 1 – Str. On stage: Altsax. · Vibr. · Drumset (1 Spieler) · E-Bass Duration: 110‘ Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 21.01.2005 Opernhaus Düsseldorf · Deutsche Oper am Rhein (WP) John Fiore · Eike Gramss · Gottfried Pilz 15.04.2007 Stadttheater Bern Hans Drewanz · Eike Gramss · Gottfried Pilz

154

Synopsis Beatrice, the daughter of the nobleman Vermandero, falls passionately in love with Alsemero who returns her love. She gives her servant De Flores the task of eliminating her unloved bridegroom Alonzo de Piracquo. But after the murder De Flores doesn’t want money, as planned, but desires his beautiful client for himself and rapes her. Beatrice abandons herself to her unexpected desire and realises her suppressed sexual appetite.

Meanwhile Antonio, Vermandero’s servant, disposes of Alonzo’s dead body. Frightened for his life he flees to the madhouse, which is situated in the cellars underneath the palace. The head of the madhouse is Alibio, who hides his young wife Isabelle here. Antonio succeeds in finding Isabella and seduces her. After Alonzo’s death there is nothing to prevent Beatrice from marrying Alsemero. But the wedding night presents a problem for Beatrice: she is no longer a virgin. To keep this secret from Alsemero, she is represented by her untouched lady-in-waiting, Diaphanta. She fails to see that Diaphanta is also in love with Alsemero and longs to satiate her desire for him. When she realises this, Beatrice orders the murder of Diaphanta.

In the meantime, the madhouse patients are taking over the Vermandero palace. Beatrice confesses that she is dependent on De Flores, whom she stabs to death in front of everyone.

But she realises that she still has not freed herself from him. At the end Beatrice is forced to acknowledge Isabelle’s insight: ‘Now we are all in hell.’

Vipern 15.04.2007 Stadttheater Bern

Vipern is a very archaic piece, about suppressed love and desire which might explode at any moment. [...] I see the material like a wild animal, which – kept in captivity – paces to and fro, sometimes threateningly quiet and sometimes spitting, while the observer is scared as to whether the animal can be kept in the cage. (Christian Jost)

155

Wilfried Hiller

Augustinus A sounding mosaic. Church opera in seven musical pictures Text by Winfried Böhm Origin: 2004 Language: German, Latin

2005

Cast: Monnica · soprano – Stella · soprano – Adeodatus · boy soprano – Voces · 2 tenors, 2 baritones, 2 basses – chorus Orchestra: Fl. (auch Afl.) · Viol. · Diskant-Zither · Hfe. · 4 P. S. (auf der Empore: Roto-Toms · 2 Tomt. · gr. Tr. · 60 Weingläser – im Kirchenraum: Schellenbaum · 3 Beck. · mittelalterliches Glspl. · 4 Trgl. · afrikanische Schlitztr. · 2 Holzzungen-Rührtr. · Ratsche · Guiro · Reco-Reco · 3 Tomt. · Zimbelspiel · Glspl. · 4 gr. Tr. · Buckelgong · Holzblock · Muschelpl. · Chimes · Röhrengl. · Claves · Verrophon · Glashfe. · hg. Glasstäbe · Dobaci in e’ [von Stella gespielt]) (4 Spieler) (ggf.

Co-Dirigent erforderlich) Duration: 70‘ Performance material on hire Remarks: The title figure Augustinus does not appear on stage in person but is reflected in the dialogues of Monnica, Stella, Adeodatus and the Voces.

Selected Productions 19.03.2005 St. Lukas-Kirche München (WP, concert performance) Gerd Kötter · Lukas-Chor München, Die Singphoniker · Arnold Mehl 27.05.2006 Augustinerkirche Würzburg (scenic WP) Christian Kabitz · Bachchor Würzburg, Cäcilienchor Frankfurt|Main · Christian Kabitz

156

Augustinus von Hippo, Source: Württembergische Landesbibliothek

Synopsis As in Wolkenstein, the centre of the church opera Augustinus is also a historical figure who lived and was influential in a time of upheaval and radical social and political changes. Augustinus, philosopher, church teacher and bishop, was born in the year 354 in Tagaste (Numidia, North Africa) and died Hippo Regius in 430.

In seven tessellated scenes this opera follows selected stages of this eminent scholar’s life.

He helped shape the world view of both the ancient world and the beginning of the middle ages with his writings. The opera starts with scenes of Augustinus’ youth and his first work as a professor of rethoric in Milan and concentrates on the psychological development that led to his spiritual awakening. The last scene ends with a text from the famous Confessiones: ‘he who is searching for God, will find him, and he who finds him, will confess him’. The libretto was written in collaboration with Augustinus’ specialist Winfried Böhm.

Winfried Böhm has written an intelligent, well organised libretto, interlaced with quotes from Augustinus, which keeps the balance between philosophical thoughts and dramatic elements. [...]

Wilfried Hiller has thought deeply about the mysteries that inform our thoughts and beliefs. Augustinus was an impressive achievement of concentrated ascetic richness.

(Süddeutsche Zeitung, 21.03.2005)

157

Tobias Picker

An American Tragedy Opera in two acts Libretto by Gene Scheer, based on the novel by Theodore Dreiser Origin: 2005

2005

Language: English Cast: Roberta Alden · soprano – Sondra Finchley · mezzo soprano – Clyde Griffiths · baritone – Elvira Griffiths · mezzo soprano – Elizabeth Griffiths · mezzo soprano – Samuel Griffiths · tenor – Gilbert Griffiths · tenor – Orville Mason · baritone – Hortense · soprano – chorus · boy’s choir – 3 additional children voices Orchestra: 2(pic)2(ca)2(bcl)2-4.2.2.1-timp.1perc(xyl, ratchet, whip, high tam-t, h.h, cym, tub bells, high gong, low gong, b.d)-pno·hp-org(in pit)small portable onstage organ-str Duration: 145‘ Libretto ED 30001 · Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 02.12.2005 Metropolitan Opera New York (WP) James Conlon · Francesca Zambello · Adrianne Lobel · Dunya Ramicova

158

Synopsis A progressive drama of temptation, responsibility, and faith. Clyde Griffiths, Midwestern missionary’s son, is a young man working as a flirtatious bellhop in Chicago. He relocates to New York upon being offered a position in his Uncle Samuel’s shirt factory. Wasting no time he pursues one of the workers there, Roberta Alden, after being warned not to by fellow workers.

Clyde quickly moves on to a new love interest in Sondra Finchley. Before long, Clyde is juggling Roberta and Sondra, only to soon discover that Roberta is pregnant. It becomes clear that Sondra is Clyde’s true love and Roberta is nothing more than a burden. Clyde schemes to rid himself of the burden of an unwanted lover with a child on the way.

‘Based on a true story, Theodore Dreiser‘s novel An American Tragedy addresses one of American literature‘s great, universal subjects. The central character Clyde Griffiths is everyman, and his dilemma is at the heart of the American experience, a dilemma as timely today as it was when the work was written.’ (Tobias Picker)

An American Tragedy 02.12.2005 Metropolitan Opera New York

Many composers...could learn from Mr. Picker‘s know-how about the theater. An American Tragedy [...] works as an opera. The cast seemed to relish singing Mr. Picker‘s opera [...] and whole stretches of Mr. Picker‘s score would not be out of place in a Broadway theater. Critics and opera buffs who want the Met to do its part to make opera a living art form have to be heartened that it presented this work, and that an audience on Friday gave a prolonged ovation to a living composer. (Anthony Tommasini, The New York Times) Picker‘s harmony flirts with traditional tonality without falling prey to cliché, his orchestration achieves both transparency and power, and his crowd scenes skilfully set solo voices against a booming chorus and a churning orchestra. It‘s a pleasure to listen to him put one idea in front of another; a twelve-tone composer in his youth, he retains the serialist‘s habit of working obsessively with a tight array of notes...The score is full of such careful touches [...] it‘s a serious, substantial piece. (Alex Ross, The New Yorker)

159

Christian Jost

Angst Five gates of a journey into the centre of angst Text by Christian Jost after Friedrich Hölderlin and others Origin: 2005 Language: German, English Cast: large mixed chorus – choir soloists · 3 sopranos, 3 altos

2006

Orchestra: 1 (auch Afl.) · 0 · 1 · 0 – 0 · 1 · 0 · 0 – Vibr. · Klav. – 4 Vc. · E-Bass Duration: 60‘ Performance material on hire Remarks: The work can be performed as a scenic oratorio (with or without video projection) or in a concert.

The part “Pforte II – Hölderlin” has been published separately in a version for female chorus a cappella (SSSAAA) under the title An die Parzen (SKR 20052).

Selected Productions 28.01.2006 Sophiensäle Berlin (WP) Simon Halsey · Gottfried Pilz · Rundfunkchor Berlin 09.01.2009 Komische Oper Berlin Simon Halsey · Jasmina Hadziahmetovic · Rundfunkchor Berlin

160

Synopsis This is music theatre composed solely for choir, soloists and orchestra. It deals with the basic human experience of fear on various levels: angst. Where does it come from? What are the reasons for it? The choir embodies ’singing mind games’: psychodynamics. Individual thoughts emerge from the whole and fade back into it. Specially made films can be shown, extending the sphere of angst to the visual realm. A real tragedy triggers a ‘singing mind game’: an experienced mountain climber cuts the rope that ties him to his injured friend, so that he can save himself. In five epi-sodes with the speaking titles ‘Fallen’, ‘Hölderlin’, ‘Kalt’, ‘Amok’ and ‘Ab’ the piece circles around the innumerable facets of an emotion which torments victim and abuser, and cuts through to the innermost motives of our feelings.

Angst 28.01.2006 Rundfunkchor Berlin

Jost dissects his piece with scientific precision, extracts individual voices like single nerve cords, uses groups of voices like hormones, brings texts to the surface which spout under the pressure of hidden angst: here a poem of Hölderlin (sung by 6 female voices - the most beautiful part of this piece), there a prose text about torture. This piece functions like a metaphorical mobile, where different elements such as panic, trust, confidence and longing get their own means of representation.

(Süddeutsche Zeitung, 31.01.2006)

161

Tobias Picker

Thérèse Raquin Opera in two acts Libretto by Gene Scheer, based on the novel by Emile Zola Origin: 1999 – 2000 | 2006 (reduced version) Language: English

2006

Cast: Madame Lisette Raquin · soprano – Thérèse Raquin · mezzo soprano – Camille Raquin · tenor – Laurent · baritone – Suzanne Michaud · soprano – Olivier Michaud · tenor – Monsieur Grivet · bass Orchestra: 2(1. afl, 2. pic).2(2. ca).2(2. bcl).2(2. cbn)-4.2.2.1-timp.2perc (sn dm., bd., tam-tam., dm., susp.cym., gong., tpl.bl., xyl., mar., vib)hp.pno-str(10.9.6.8.4) Orchestra (reduced version): 1(pic) . 1(ca) . 1(bcl) . 1(cbn) - 2 . 0 . 1(btb) . 0 - perc(timp) . hp . pno - str(2.1.2.2.1) Duration: 110‘ Recording CD CHANDES 9659 (first version) · Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 30.11.2001 Dallas Opera (WP) Graeme Jenkins · Francesca Zambello · Marie Jeanne Lecca 14.03.2006 Royal Opera House London (WP of the reduced version) Timothy Redmond · Lee Blakeley · Emma Wee 16.02.2007 Dicapo Opera Theatre, New York Mark Flint · Michael Capasso · John Farrell · Angela Huff

162

Synopsis Married Parisian couple Thérèse and Camille Raquin are reunited with an old friend, Laurent. It soon becomes clear that Thérèse and Laurent are more than old friends as heated confessions of undying love abound between the two. The two conspire to murder the sickly Camille and succeed in dumping him into the Seine to make possible the consecration of their love. The guilty couple soon become the object of torment by both their own guilty consciences and the ghost of Camille.

Thérèse Raquin 14.03.2006 Royal Opera House London

Thérèse Raquin was a thrill-ride from the start. Picker‘s music ricocheted between daunting dissonance and yearning tonality. (Chris Shull, Opera Now Magazine) Picker is among the most accomplished American opera composers of his generation. It was a coup for Dallas to produce Picker‘s latest work, and he stretched the audience with complex dissonances amid the high-flying arias and ensembles. (John Flemming, St. Petersburg Times) An appropriate darkness emanates from Mr. Picker’s adroit music, of a sinister tonality. The vocal writing is sympathetic, particularly in the effective ensembles, while beneath it the orchestra outlines the unspoken tension in taut layerings of figures, turning the emotional screws to echo the increasingly dissonant plot. (The New York Times) An inspired work… a worthwhile contemporary American opera. The music of Thérèse Raquin [...] has real merit, with its Parisian undertones and its fascinating Benjamin Britten-like interwoven ensembles standing out in a score that reveals intriguingly complex dissonance amid hints of atonality. (The New York Post)

163

Benjamin Schweitzer

Dafne Tragi-comedy in one act Libretto by the composer after Martin Opitz (1597-1639) (Included in the libretto is a setting of a poem by Arno Holz (1863-1929)) Origin: 2005

2006

Language: German Cast: Dafne · soprano or mezzo soprano – Cupido · soprano – Venus · soprano – Apollo · high baritone – Ovid · speaking role (actor) – chorus · double quartet (SSAATTBB) Orchestra: Fl. (auch Picc. und Bassfl.) · 0 · Bassklar. (auch Tenorsax. oder Altsax.) · 0 – 0 · Zink (oder Trompete) · 1 · 0 – S. (Pk. · Schellentr. · Rührtr. · 5 Tempelbl. · 5 Woodbl. · Guero · 5 Gläser · Flasche · 3 Tongefäße · Maultr. · Laub · Xyl.) (1 Spieler) – Theorbe (Chitarrone [oder Harfe]) – Str. (1 · 0 · 1 · 1 · 1) Duration: 30‘ Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 03.04.2006 Elisabethkirche Berlin (UA, konzertant) Titus Engel · Vocalconsort Berlin · Kammerensemble Neue Musik Berlin

164

Gian Lorenzo Bernini: Apollo e Dafne (1622-25) · Museo e Galleria Borghese, Rome

Synopsis The tragic outcome of Apollo’s mad infatuation with the nymph Daphne is the subject of the famous Dafne libretto by the German baroque poet Martin Opitz, written in 1627. The text can be interpreted in several ways. We have a text from an era during which music theatre originated, and was therefore rather more experimental than in the following centuries. Then there is the language, which requires a historical dictionary to be understood, but whose power, opulence and originality is immediately fascinating: double meanings that loom beneath a superfi cially frugal story and its characters. A constant veering between comedic elements and the sense of imminent tragedy; a choir that adds clumsy comments to the events, pointing out their deeper meaning. And if we think about the historical circumstances – the situation in Germany during the fi rst decade of the Thirty Years’ War – we cannot avoid the dark side of this strange play of gods and shepherds, written to entertain a feudal wedding party: the pervading sense of foreboding points simultaneously at Dafne’s fate and at the tragedy of war.

This new version embraces the ironical treatment of the comical keynote of the dialogues and the eruption of terror: the tempestuous love for Dafne that captures Apollo, driving him crazy and killing Dafne in the end, and the ominous ‘wild beast’, that Opitz uses metaphorically for the war that lurks everywhere. The dramatic structure follows this idea of doubling: the whole story is in effect told twice, once close to the original libretto and in a tone that suggests that all this could as well be just play-acting; but then – with Dafne’s death – an instrumental interlude entitled ‘Verwandlungsmusik’ (Transformation music), ushers in the second part which, though based on the same storyline, is anything but comedy. The pivotal scene is the core dialogue between Dafne and Apollo that appears almost identically in both parts – once accompanied with strings, then arranged for winds, in which only subtle differences in the vocal and instrumental parts mark the border between ‘acted’ and ‘real’. (based on Benjamin Schweitzer’s programme notes)

Without doubt Benjamin Schweitzer’s Dafne [...] was the most interesting piece of the evening.

A wide range of different ways of tonal articulation is laid out. Behind this fluctuation there is a process which leads from the incoherent impulses and the declamatory style of the beginning to more sustained sounds and vocal lines. The impression given is of a music that leads from the scherzo to the Passion, without resorting to conventional gestures. (Berliner Zeitung, 05.04.2006)

165

Enjott Schneider

Fürst Pückler – Ich bin ein Kind der Phantasie (Fürst Pückler – I am a Child of Imagination) Opera in two acts Libretto by Bernd Matzkowski, Enjott Schneider and Michael Walter Origin: 2005

2006

Language: German Cast: Fürst Pückler · heroic baritone – 3 Women (Woman 1: Hermine, the childish Woman · lyric soprano – Woman 2: Lucie, the motherly Woman · dramatic soprano – Woman 3: Adelheid, the intellectual Woman · mezzo soprano) – Machbuba · lyric soprano – Goethe, Colonel Caron, Mehemed Ali, Dr. Liersch, the Bell Man 1 · tenor – 3 Men (Man 1: 1. Servant, 1. Farm worker, 1. Slave, Geheimrat Brenzlow, Dr. Richter, the Bell Man 2 · tenor – Man 2: 2. Servant, 2. Farm worker, 2. Slave, Dr. Malin · baritone – Man 3: Church Warden, 3. Servant, 3. Farm worker, Colonel Kurssel, Dr. Freund, Dr. Rabenhorst · Bass) – Solicitor · speaking role – Hang Man · Pantomime – Joladour, a negro · Pantomime – Billy Masser · Pantomime – mixed chorus (Guests, Farm Workers, Village people, Slaves, Egyptian Sailors, Arabian Household, Servants at the Castle, Citizens of Muskau, Folk from Branitz, Peasants, People working at the Cottbuss fortifications) – ballet ad lib.

Orchestra: 2 (2. auch Picc.) · 2 (2. auch E. H.) · 2 (2. auch Bassklar.) · 2 (2. auch Kfg.) – 4 · 0 · 3 · 1 – S. (Trgl. · Bell tree · Metallchimes · 4 hg. Beck. · Tamt. · 3 gr. Klangschalen · Schellentr. · kl.

Tr. · gr. Tr. · Clav. · Tempelbl. · Woodbl. · Sandpapierbl. · 2 Wassergläser · Flex. · Peitsche · Crot. · Glsp. · Xyl.) (2 Spieler) – Hfe. · Klav. – Str. (12 · 10 · 8 · 6 · 4) Duration: 140‘ Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 29.04.2006 Theater Görlitz (WP) Miloš Krejcí · Aron Stiehl · Karen Hilde Fries

166

Synopsis The opera re-enacts the extravagant life and ideas of Prince Hermann von Pückler-Muskau, the nineteenth century visionary designer of landscape gardens and travel writer.

‘After visiting his Branitzer Park, Bernd Matzkowski and I realised that, analogous to Pückler’s division between a garden of life (Arkadia) and a garden of death (Elysium), our opera had to have two contrasting parts as well. In the first part you can listen to life being lived to the full: big ensemble acts and dancing rhythms dominate – waltzes, carrousel music, a Sorbian dance from the Lausitzer region – of course everything in an updated and modern style. In the second part we experience, after a change of gear via some oriental magic (Pückler, ever the flamboyant bird of paradise, spent some time in Africa and Arabia with his own harem), the gradual descent into pensiveness and the loneliness of parting. His friends and wives die and he broods over the meaning of human existence. Then silence. Exactly at this point, the grotesque, absurd, poetical life-affirming mood of the outset acquires the flair of “grand opera”: shadow turns into light and the thought of death becomes lifeaffirming. Pückler’s curious instructions for his own funeral bring about the grotesque spectacle that ends the opera: his dead body is chemically dissolved, and carried to the grave in a strange funeral procession (with military pomp, negros and dwarves).’

(Enjott Schneider) Fürst Pückler Poster of the World Première, Theater Görlitz

Pückler as the first “environmental thinker”, Pückler and society, Pückler and women [...]

Schneider’s music sparkles in as many ways as the life it narrates. Twelve-note music, folk song, operetta, can-can, polka, grotesque, gothic romantic – the composer finds the right tone for every situation. Of course what has been created is not an avant-garde ‘sound-room-theatre’, but an entertaining opera. Enjoy! (Opernwelt, 06/2006)

167

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Chaya Czernowin

Zaïde · Adama Fragments Origin: 1779 | 2004-2005

2006

Language: German, Hebrew, Arabic Cast: Zaïde (Mozart): Zaïde · soprano – Gomatz · tenor – Allazim · bass – Sultan Soliman · tenor – Osmin · bass – 4 Slaves · 4 tenors – Zaram, Commander of the Life Guard · speaking role (actor) – Life Guard · tenors, basses Adama (Czernowin): The Woman · low alto – The Man · baritone – The Father · bass – 5 mixed male voices Orchestra: Zaïde (Mozart): 2 · 2 · 0 · 2 – 2 · 2 · 0 · 0 – P. – Str. Adama (Czernowin): 1 (auch Picc. und Bassfl.) · 0 · 2 (beide auch Bassklar.) · 0 – 0 · 0 · 1 · 0 – S. (gr. Shaker · Sandpapierbl. · Rain stick · gr. Eimer · Holzbl. · Tempelbl. · gr. Tr. · Notenständer mit Sperrholz · Crot. · Marimba · Ratsche · Kamm · Superball · Tomt. · 2 kl. Tr. · Donnerblech · Holzkiste · gr. Militärtr. · Conga · 2 Plastikfl. · 2 Guiros · 2 Maracas · hg. Beck. · Ocean dr. · Almgl. · Bongos) (2 Spieler) – Str. (1 · 0 · 1 · 2 · 2) Duration: 130‘ Recording: DVD Deutsche Grammophon 0734252 · Performance material on hire Remarks: A second conductor is required for the orchestra of Adama.

Selected Productions 17.08.2006 Landestheater Salzburg (WP) ∙ Salzburger Festspiele Dirigent: Ivor Bolton | Johannes Kalitzke · Claus Guth · Christian Schmidt 17.12.2006 Theater Basel 15.04.2007 Opéra Comédie · Opéra National de Montpellier Friedemann Layer | Johannes Kalitzke · Claus Guth · Christian Schmidt 25.05.2008 Theater Bremen 21.07.2008 Nationaltheater Mannheim Daniel Montané · Andrea Moses · Monika Gora

168

Synopsis As early as the year 1779 Mozart’s Zaïde posed questions about the possibility of a dialogue between the Occident and the Orient. Zaïde was never completed and exists only as a fragment: the overture, the dialogues and the finale are all missing and the outcome of the story remains unclear. The Israeli composer Chaya Czernowin responds to Mozart’s incomplete work with Adama. In Adama (Hebrew: adama = earth, adam = man, dam = blood) she has composed an independent musical sound space and has regarded the operatic subject from a contemporary perspective. Whereas Zaïde describes the conflict between civilisations using the story of a European couple who are in love and held in slavery in a foreign Oriental country, the situation described by Chaya Czernowin touches on the question of freedom and imprisonment from a different dimension. The lovers themselves speak two different languages and encounter each other as foreigners, as a man from Palestine and an Israeli woman. Adama is therefore not the completion of a Mozart fragment and the overall project Zaïde / Adama is not a closed entity: rather, it tries to find corresponding and contradictory features in an incomplete historical work.

Thus, the various musical spheres are interwoven and enter a dialogue. This interplay of sound opens up the possibility of hearing each different musical cosmos with purified ears, and of discovering unforeseen common features.

Zaïde · Adama 17.08.2006 Salzburger Festspiele

Czernowin doesn’t enter into competition with Mozart as a composer, but creates a new space of sounds and noises which is very suggestive, and seems to find its way into the psyche of any listener [...] You are able to listen to the music of Mozart’s Zaïde in a totally new way and discover a timeless truth behind Mozart’s beautiful musical sound-scape. Zaïde – Adama was without a doubt the most important performance during the Mozart Cycle in Salzburg (Salzburger Mozart Zyklus) in the year 2006. (Opernwelt 11/2006)

169

Gavin Bryars

The Paper Nautilus Text by Jackie Kay and Etel Adnan Origin: 2006 Language: English, French, Latin

2006

Soloists: soprano, mezzo soprano Ensemble: 6perc(glsp, vib, crot, 2mar, bass mar, steel drum, tub bells, 2tri, 4sus cym, 2sizz cym, ride cym, 7gongs [plus water tank], 2tam-t, 2bell tree, 3mark tree, cabaça, chocolo, 2b.d, 4timp, maracs)-2pno Duration: 90‘ Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 02.11.2006 The Tramway Theatre Glasgow (WP) 17.11.2006 Lawrence Batley Theatre · Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival Garry Walker · Cathie Boyd · Pippa Nissen

170

Synopsis The deep sea makes up 80% of our planet whilst land only equates to 0/5% and yet the deep sea is the least known part of the world. More people have travelled into space than into the depths of the sea. The Paper Nautilus is the result of a collaboration between Gavin Bryars and the visionary theatre director Cathie Boyd and her Theatre Cryptic. The work is based on an earlier cantata, Effarine (1984), which grew out of a collaboration with another visionary of the theatre, Robert Wilson, and which draws on material related either to the sea, or to the sense of scientific wonder. The television series Blue Planet was an inspiration to further research, and in order to take the work beyond the three extant sections of the cantata Theatre Cryptic commissioned new poems from Jackie Kay, taking ideas from these resources. The composer also added short Biblical texts in Latin and English.

The instrumentation of the work comes from that of the original cantata, which was itself conditioned by the fact that it was to be a companion piece for Antheil’s Ballet Mécanique, but with two instead of four pianos. The two voices sing alternate sections, though often coming together to form duets or with one accompanying the other. At the end they sing quietly in unison as the instrumental ensemble moves through the coda, ending with the very literal use of the water gong in the last bars. (based on the composer’s note for the world première)

The Paper Nautilus 02.11.2006 The Tramway Theatre

“…it must rate as some kind of triumph if you emerge from a lengthy specimen feeling emptyheaded but rested, as though from an hour-long bath. And that aqueous feeling isn’t accidental: Gavin Bryars’s dramatic cantata The Paper Nautilus is entirely concerned with the sea’s depths, its mysteries and science, the bioluminescent life forms, the cold and gloom… Water equally filled the music – washed in the gentle plops and shivers of bells, vibraphones, gongs, the tuned percussion world that Bryars has always relished. Moods and speeds also followed the Bryars template: slow, undulating, sometimes beautiful, often soporific.” (Geoff Brown, The Times, 6 November 2006)

171

Ingomar Grünauer

Cantor – Die Vermessung des Unendlichen (Cantor – Measuring the Infinite) Opera in one act Libretto by the composer Origin: 2004

2006

Language: German Cast: Cantor · speaking role, counter tenor, violinist (one person) – Vally, his Wife · soprano – Else, his Daughter · mezzo soprano – Dr. Mekus · tenor – Schwarz, School Day Friend · bass – Kronecker · baritone – three Mathematicians: M 1, the Idealist · tenor – M 2, the Mocker · Bariton – M 3, the Ascetic · bass – 6 Voices, Assistants to Cantor (off stage) · 2 high sopranos, 2 sopranos, alto, tenor – A Voice / A Guest · high speaking voice – 4 Women, called ‘Alephs’ · silent roles – chamber Choir (off stage) Orchestra: 4 (3. und 4. auch Picc.) · 3 · Engl. Hr. · 4 (4. auch Bassklar.) · 3 · Kfg. – 4 · 4 · 4 · 1 – S. (Beck. · Hihat · Tamt. · 4 Almgl. · 3 Tomt. · Röhrenholztr. · kl. Tr. · gr. Tr. · 4 Tempelbl. · Sandbl. · Holzbl. · Ratsche · Nagelchimes · Crot. · Stimmpf. · Vibr.) (3 Spieler) – Hfe. · Reißnagelklav. · Akk. – Str. Kammerorchester hinter der Bühne: S. – Flügel · Keyboard – Str. (6 · 0 · 2 · 2 · 2) Im Zuschauerraum: 4 Vl. · 1 Va. · 1 Vc. Duration: 90‘ Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 10.11.2006 · Opernhaus Halle (WP) Roger Epple · Gert-Hagen Seebach · Hartmut Schörghofer · Ragna Heiny

172

Synopsis What is Infinity? How do you portray it? How do you calculate it? How do you measure it? All these questions determined the life and work of the great mathematician Georg Cantor (1845 – 1918). ‘My opera is an artistic drama’, Ingomar Grünauer wrote. ‘I wasn’t very interested in portraying mathematical laws, rather I was interested in the existential conflict of this outsider, who disregards concrete knowledge and thus encounters resistance from his colleagues, because of his revolutionary but unprovable statements about infinity. But what tempted me most was the extreme tension that characterized Cantor‘s life: his vacillation between absolute euphoria in his vision and his descents into deep depression.’ (Source: Opernhaus Halle 2006)

Cantor – Die Vermessung des Unendlichen 10.11.2006 Opernhaus Halle

To have Georg Cantor as the protagonist of a newly commissioned work has the potential to attract much wider audiences than the core group of aficionados. [...] But the fact that we can talk about this piece as a bestseller (the second performance is already sold out and advance sales are going strong) is truly surprising even for the managerial staff of the Halle Opernnhaus.

(Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 14.11.2006)

173

Christian Jost

Die arabische Nacht (The Arabian Night) Opera based on the play of the same name by Roland Schimmelpfennig Origin: 2006-2007

2008

Language: German | English translation by Melanie Dreyer and Minou Arjomand Cast: Hans Lomeier · baritone – Fatima Mansur · mezzo soprano – Franziska Dehke · soprano – Kalil · tenor – Peter Karpati · tenor – Katja Hartinger · soprano – Narbenfrau (scarface) / Helga / Frau Hinrichs · alto – Marion Richter · soprano Orchestra: 1 (auch Altfl.) · 1 · 1 · Bassklar. · 0 – 1 · Flügelhr. · 0 · 0 · 0 – S. (Vibr. · Marimba) – Cel. · Klav. (Flügel) – Str. (2 Vl. · 2 Va. · 2 Vc. · 2 Kb.) Duration: 90‘ Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 26.04.2008 Grillo Theater, Essen (WP) Stefan Soltesz · Anselm Weber · Jörg Kiefel

174

Synopsis On a hot Friday in a block of flats on the outskirts of a German city, there is a problem with the water supply. During his inspection the caretaker Lohmeier meets Franziska Dehke and her Arabian flatmate Fatima Mansur. Fatima is visited by her boyfriend Kalil every evening, while on the sofa Franziska dreams of the Orient. Peter Kaparti, the neighbour, is irresistibly drawn to their flat. A problem with the lifts causes the five characters’ destinies to merge. The temporal levels and boundaries between dream and reality become blurred. The desert wind of the Arabian night blows through the apartment block, but all of a sudden this magical scenario collapses.

Die arabische Nacht 26.04.2008 Grillo Theater, Essen

‘For me, Roland Schimmelpfennig’s original play is a somnambulistic masterpiece. Seemingly light and surreal, in it we experience the dreams and nightmares of five lonely amorous city dwellers who, brought together in an apartment block and confused by the continuous sound of rushing water, give free reign to their longings. Out of this I had to compose a polyphonic yet swinging ensemble piece that, once started, makes everything flow, blossom and fade away in order to take shape anew. The five dramatis personae, who each have a great deal of possibilities for characterisation, have been interwoven in such a way that they can indulge in their own dreams or nightmares in a continuous flow of musical events. In order to hint at “the enchanted in the ordinary” in musical terms, I elected for a divided orchestra of 18 musicians. Thus a kind of “sound arena” is created (which I had already deployed for my odyssey for clarinet and orchestra Heart of Darkness)’. (Christian Jost)

175

Lee Hoiby

This Is the Rill Speaking Opera in one act Libretto by Mark Shulgasser, adapted from the play by Lanford Wilson Origin: 1991 Language: English

2008

Cast (1 soprano, 2 mezzo sopranos, 1 tenor, 2 baritones, singing various roles): Judy · soprano – Mother / Alison · mezzo soprano 1 –Maybelle / Peggy · mezzo soprano 2 – Tommy / Manny · tenor – Keith / Earl · baritone 1 – Father · baritone 2 Orchestra: 1.1.1.1-1.0.0.0-hp-str(2.1.1.1) Duration: 50‘ Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 26.04.2008 Purchase College Conservatory of Music, Recital Hall, Purchase, NY (WP) American Opera Projects in association with Purchase College Opera Benton Hess · Ned Canty · Glenn Reed · Peter West · Anna Kiraly

176

Synopsis This story captures the everyday happenings of rural America in all of its glories and shortcomings. Like a rill, a term for a small stream or brook, the opera intermittently visits the lives of its rural inhabitants in a non-linear, fluid fashion. Such glimpses of small town life here include woman discussing home decoration, schoolboys gossiping about fellow students, farmers describing quality hay, and other trivial scenes that add up to provide an overall picture of country life.

This Is the Rill Speaking 26.04.2008 Purchase College Conservatory of Music

This Is the Rill Speaking, a setting of a Lanford Wilson play, offers a vision of rural, small-town life through snatches of conversation patched together like a comfortable quilt. Mr. Hoiby‘s unfailingly gracious music mixes a nostalgic glow with moments of winking mischief and gentle seduction.

Six singers fill eleven roles, accompanied by a string quartet, double bass, wind quintet and harp.

(Steve Smith, The New York Times, April 30, 2008) Mr. Hoiby‘s opera is a one-acter, and a lovely, finely wrought thing. It is pleasant and endearing, but not sweety-sweet. It is playful, jazzy, casual, insouciant, earnest, and warm. It has the melodies and modulations typical of Mr. Hoiby. It is very American, though not the least unsophisticated. And it is very human. (Jay Nordlinger, The New York Sun, May 1, 2008)

177

Douglas J. Cuomo

Arjuna’s Dilemma Chamber opera in one act Libretto by the composer, after motives from the Bhagavad Gita and poems by Kabir Translations by Ramananda Prasad Origin: 2008 Language: English | Sanskrit | Hindi

2008

Cast: Indian vocalist – Solo tenor – 4 or 8 voice female chorus Orchestra: 1(pic)0.1(bcl)0.tsx-0.0.0.0-2perc.tablas-pno-2vn.va.vc.db Duration: 70‘ Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 22.08.2008 PepsiCo Theater, Purchase, NY 05.11.2008 Brooklyn Academy of Music, Next Wave Festival, Harvey Theater Alan Johnson · Robin Guarino · Donald Eastman · Gabriel Berry

178

Synopsis At the battlefield on the eve of the first conflict of a massive civil war, the noble Prince Arjuna finds himself in a state of almost paralyzing confusion. He must lead his army against an enemy that includes family, friends, and teachers. Unable to justify such violence against his own people, he turns for guidance to his advisor and charioteer Krishna. In the ensuing dialogue, Krishna reveals himself to be an avatar of Vishnu, the most powerful god in the Hindu pantheon. At Arjuna‘s urging he transforms himself into a vision of the true nature of the universe, in all its splendor and its horror. At first entranced and then horrified, Arjuna begs Krishna to stop the vision and return to his normal form. His horizons newly expanded, Arjuna understands that he must not fear death, nor shirk his duty, which is not only the literal battle in front of him but, more importantly, the fight for self-knowledge on the battlefield of the mind.

Arjuna‘s Dilemma Pre-production photo, PepsiCo Theater · Photo: Paul Godwin

Based on the towering Hindu epic, the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna‘s Dilemma utilizes North Indian performance styles, melodic structures, odd time signatures and rhythmic patterns alongside western instrumentation, harmonies and forms. North Indian vocals co-mingle with a Western tenor and four-part choral writing, with references to both modern vocal styles and Byzantine and Gregorian chant. Improvisation is common to both musical worlds, with the Indian singer, tabla player and jazz saxophonist each using their respective improvisatory traditions to reach for the ecstatic, the sublime and the terror that make up the emotional world of this work. (Douglas J. Cuomo)

179

Stewart Wallace

The Bonesetter’s Daughter Opera in two acts Libretto by Amy Tan, after her novel of the same name Origin: 2008

2008

Language: English Cast: Ruth Young Kamen · mezzo soprano – Luling Liu Young · mezzo soprano / contralto – Precious Auntie · Kunju Singer – Chang the Coffin-maker · bass – Taoist Priest · Rock Singer – Art Kamen · baritone – Marty Kamen · high baritone – Arlene Kamen · mezzo soprano – Wang Tai-tai · Chinese Opera Singer – Fia and Dory · non-singing – Chang’s Three Wives · soprano, 2 mezzo sopranos – Chang’s Three Sons · supernumeraries – Twelve Chinese Acrobats · nonsinging Orchestra: Picc. · 2 (2. auch Altfl.) · 2 · Engl. Hr. · 3 (2. auch Es-Klar., 3. auch Bassklar.) · Bassklar. (auch Kontrabassklar.) · 2 · Kontrafag. – 4 · 3 (1. auch Picc.tromp.) · 3 · Basspos. · 1 – P. S. (Glspl. · Chimes · Vibr. · Marimb. · kl. Tr. m. Schnarrseiten · 4 Tomt. · Floortomt. · gr. Tr. · Trgl. · Crash Cymb. · Tamt. · Amboss · Brake drum (Bremstrommel) (3 Spieler) – Cel. · Hfe. – Str. Chinesische Instrumente auf der Bühne: 2 Suonas · chinesisches Schlagzeug (Dan Pi · Ban · Da Luo · Di Hu · Nao Bo · Chuan Bo · Qiu Jiang Bo · Xiao Luo · Diyin Xiao Luo · Peng Zheng · Xiao Tang Gu · Da Tang Gu · taoistische Handttr.) (4 Spieler) Duration: 125‘ Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 13.09.2008 War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco, CA (WP) Steven Sloane · Chen Shi-Zheng · Walt Spangler · Han Feng

180

Synopsis The Bonesetter‘s Daughter is a multi-generational family epic that explores one family‘s history through three generations of mothers and daughters. The opera is set in China during the years before the Communist revolution, framed by the memories and forgotten history of an elderly Chinese mother in present-day San Francisco. The story sweeps from fable-like past to factual present, from Chinese village to urban America. Shifting times and locales are linked by a recurring quartet of women: a girl, a young woman, a mother and an ageless, ghost-spirit known as Precious Auntie. They are the bones of this family throughout time and become the mothers and daughters in each generation.

The Bonesetter‘s Daughter Pre-production photo by the San Francisco Opera

I’m often asked, “Isn’t this a Chinese Opera?” My stated objective, before I wrote a note of music, was to write this opera, an American opera with roots in China, in my own language and voice, but make it feel like China. The opening came when I met Beijing Opera master percussionist Li Zhonghua on my first trip to China. His imagination, musicianship and curiosity made me not just want to make the opera feel like China, but to engage directly with Chinese artists. After meeting Zhonghua, I knew I could not just “import” the Chinese percussion instruments as he had showed me not only the vastness of his technique but the oneness of his vision: for him, there was no separation between music, narrative, action and stage picture. Working together over the last four years, we have developed a percussion language that is neither Chinese nor American, but a meeting of our minds and an expression of our friendship. (Stewart Wallace)

181

Howard Shore

The Fly Opera in two acts Libretto by David Henry Hwang, after the novel by George Langelaan Origin: 2007-2008

2008

Language: English Cast: Veronica Quaife · mezzo soprano – Female Officer | Lab Doctor | Cheevers · mezzo soprano – Tawny · soprano – Marky · tenor – Stathis Borans · tenor – Seth Brundle · baritone – 8 Scientists · 1 soprano, 2 mezzo sopranos, 1 tenor, 3 baritones, 1 bass – chorus Orchestra: 3 (3. auch Picc.) · 3 (3. auch Engl. Hr. ) · 3 (3. auch Bassklar.) · 2 – 4 · 3 · 4 (3. und 4. auch Basspos.) · 0 – P.S. – Hfe · Cel. – Str. Duration: 122‘ Distributed by Schott Music. Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 02.07.2008 Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris (WP) 07.09.2008 Los Angeles Opera, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion Plácido Domingo · David Cronenberg · Dante Ferretti · Denise Cronenberg

182

Synopsis Based on the 1957 George Langelaan short story and the 1986 David Cronenberg horror film, The Fly is an engrossing exploration of the physical and psychological transformation in which a brilliant scientist begins to mutate into a hybrid of man and fly after one of his experiments goes horribly wrong. Researcher Seth Brundle makes a stunning breakthrough in the field of matter transportation when he successfully teleports a living creature. Frustrated in his budding romance with a scientific journalist, and in need of a human subject, he recklessly attempts to teleport himself. An unseen fly enters the transmission booth as well, however, and Brundle soon realizes that his experiment has had ‘mixed’ results.

The Fly 02.07.2008 Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris

I always believed The Fly to be a classic opera story. It’s a tale of love and death, true love surviving in the face of physical decay and ultimate sacrifice. To bring this work to the opera stage has been a longtime dream. (Howard Shore)

183

Peter Eötvös

Love and Other Demons Opera in two parts Libretto by Kornél Hamvai, after Gabriel García Marquez’s novel “Del amor y otros demonios” (“Of Love and Other Demons”) Origin: 2007

2008

Language: English, Latin, Spanish, Yoruba Cast: Sierva Maria · coloratura soprano – Don Ygnacio, a Marquis, her Father · tenor – Dominga, a black Servant Woman · alto – Abrenuncio, a Doctor · tenor – Don Toribio, Bishop · bass – Father Cayetano Delaura · baritone – Josefa Miranda, Abbess at the Convent of St Clare · mezzo soprano – Martina Laborde, an insane Woman · alto – 5 African Slaves in Ygnacio’s House · low, strong speaking voices – choir (Nuns at the Convent of St Clare, Slaves, Dreamvoices) · 4 sopranos, 2 mezzo sopranos, 2 altos with „voix blanche“ Orchestra: 2 (beide auch Picc., 2. auch Altfl.) · 2 · 2 · Bassklar. · Sax. (Sopran, Alt, Bariton) · 2 (2. auch Kfg.) – 4 · 2 · 2 · 1 – S. (I: P. [t.] · Glsp. · Crot. · Marimba · Röhrengl. · 3 Gongs · Kuhgl. · Trgl. · Beck. [m./t.] · Sizzle-Beck. · Schellen [h. u. laut, 3-4 exotische Sorten, farbiger Klang] · Tamt. [t.] · Amboss · Tamb. · gr. Tr. · Holzbl. · afrik. Bohnenrassel; II: P. [t.] · Crot. · Vibr. · Röhrengl. · 4 Gongs · 2 Cencerros · Trgl. · Beck. [m./t.] · Sizzle-Beck. · Schellen [h. u. laut, 3-4 exotische Sorten, farbiger Klang] · Tamb. · gr. Tr. · Mar. ) (2 Spieler) – Hfe. · Cel. – Str. (12 · 0 · 8 · 6 · 4 [2 mit 5. Saite H]) Percussion and string sections are divided into two groups and positioned in the pit (left side / right side) with bass clarinet, trombone, harp and celesta between the two groups. Eight loudspeakers are positioned backstage; a sound engineer is required for balancing the sound.

Duration: 120‘ Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 10.08.2008 Glyndebourne Festival (WP) 29.04.2010 Oper Köln Vladimir Jurowski · Silviu Purcarete · Helmut Stürmer 07.11.2008 Vilnius, Lithuanian National Opera Alejo Perez · Silviu Purcarete 31.01.2009 Oper Chemnitz Frank Beermann · Dietrich Hilsdorf · Dieter Richter · Renate Schmitzer 01.04.2010 Hungarian National Opera Budapest · Budapest Spring Festival tba.

184

Synopsis Peter Eötvös’ opera Love and Other Demons is a story about forbidden love. It plays in the tropical and magical world of 18th-century Colombia, adapted from the novella Del amor y otros demonios from Nobel prizewinner, Gabriel García Márquez.

One Sunday in the slave market in the port of Cartagena de Indias, a young girl is bitten by a dog. The girl is Sierva Maria of All the Angels, daughter of the Marquis, and the dog is rabid.

Although Sierva herself seems unhurt, this is a town where reason and superstition are at war, and soon the talk is not of rabies, but of possession.

Sierva finds herself imprisoned in the Convent of St Clare, where Cayetauno Delaura, the bishop’s exorcist, comes to drive out her demons. But soon it is Delaura himself who is possessed, consumed by love, ‘the most terrible demon of all’. As the lovers’ obsession grows, so too does the desire of the authorities to purge this sickness from their midst.

The libretto was written by the famous Hungarian author Kornél Hamvai. One of the main features of Love and Other Demons is the consistent use of multilingualism. Peter Eötvös and Kornél Hamvai have given the different levels of narration and action in the story their own characteristic language: English is the everyday life language of the noblemen, Latin is the language of the church rites, Spanish is used by Delaura whenever he is talking with Sierva about his emotions and Yoruba is the secret language of the slaves.

Love and Other Demons 31.01.2009 Oper Chemnitz

What we have is the framework of a play infused with music. Eötvös sets his text as heightened speech, the better to convey the words, which are ritualised, carried on an instrumental current that behaves like underscoring, recalling Eötvös‘s early days as a composer of incidental theatre music. But here his music is organic and superbly accomplished, upper and lower frequencies set in thrilling opposition to suggest the opposing forces that eventually tear our heroine apart.

(The Independent, 14.08.08)

185

Ludger Vollmer

Gegen die Wand (Hitting the Wall) Oper after the Film by Fatih Akın Libretto by the Composer Translation of the Turkish Texts by Gönül Kaya Origin: 2005-2008

2008

Language: German, Turkish Cast: Cahit · baritone – Sibel · mezzo soprano – Yunus Güner, Sibel’s Father · bass – Dr. Schiller, Psychiatrist · bass – Birsen Güner, Sibel’s Mother · alto – Yilmaz Güner, Cahit’s Brother · tenor – Niko, Barkeeper in Hamburg · tenor – Hüseyin, Barkeeper in Istanbul · tenor – Selma, Sibel’s Cousin · soprano – Seref, Cahit’s Friend, Troubadour · actor (bilingual, German and Turkish [street–slang]) – Lukas, Sibel’s Lover · dancer – Maren, Cahit’s Lover · dancer – mixed chorus, ballet (optional), supernumeraries – The soloists are also singing the chorus parts.

Orchestra: 1(auch Picc. und Sopranblfl.) · 1 (auch Engl. Hr.) · 1 (A-Klar. und Bassklar.) · 1 (auch Kfg.) - 2 · 1· 1 · 1 - P. S. (Drumset · Glsp. · Xyl. · Vibr. · Marimba · Röhrengl. · Trgl. · Crot. · Schellenkranz · chin. Beck. · Crash-Beck. · Nietenbeck. · Beckenpaar · Kuhgl. · Eisenschiene · Tamt. · Metal Chimes · Wood Wind Chimes · Glass Chimes · Schellentr. · Bong. · Cong. · kl. Tr. · gr. Tr. · Clav. · Kast. · Tempelbl. · Holzbl. · Guiro · Cuica · Agogo · Ratsche · Peitsche · Trillerpf. · Eisenfass mit 2 Sicheln · Regen- und Windmasch. · (ad lib. elektronisch) (3 Spieler) - Klav. (auch Cemb. und Keyboard) · Cymbalon - Str. (1 · 1 · 1 · 1 · 1 (auch E-Bass) Turkish instruments: Kaval · Saz · Zurna / Mey – percussion (ad lib. played by a percussionist from the orchestra): Tokmak · Davul · Darbukka · Nagara · Tef · Kasik · Schellenkranz – Tape: Traffic and motor sounds, spoken texts – String instruments, cembalo and the Turkish instruments Saz, Kaval und Mey may be amplified if necessary.

Duration: 130‘ Performance material on hire

Selected Productions 28.11.2008 Theater Bremen, Neues Schauspielhaus Bremen (WP) Tarmo Vaask · Michael Sturm · Monika Gora

186

Synopsis The opera Gegen die Wand is based on the award-winning film of the same name by Fatih Akin which had been a great success in the European cinema in 2004 and had sparked lively controversy.

The opera tells the story of the young German Turks Sibel and Cahit. Sibel enters into a sham marriage with Cahit to escape the narrow morality of her family. Her appetite for life and love plunges her into numerous affairs. But Cahit becomes aware that he has actually fallen in love with his sham wife. In the heat of the moment, he kills one of her ex-lovers. Sibel, for her part, realizes that she too has fallen in love with Cahit and promises to wait for him while he is in prison. But she fails to keep her promise and starts a new life in Istanbul.

The music written by the composer Ludger Vollmer for this story is energetic and emotional, its specific feature being that it uses not only classical orchestral instruments but also traditional Turkish instruments which give the music a foreign, yet characteristic sound that is appropriate to the subject.

Gegen die Wand 28.11.2008 Neues Schauspielhaus Bremen

Ludger Vollmer has [‌] created a mixture made of serious and entertaining musical elements, devoted to its traditional European roots as well as to the oriental Turkish sound world - a highly effective melange reflecting perfectly the mixture of cultures. (Opernwelt, 1/2009) The music becomes the moving spirit of a stirring opera evening. The Bremen Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Tarmo Vaask and supported by guest musicians playing traditional Turkish instruments like Saz, Cimbalon, Mey, Zurna and Kava, plays at top form. The ensemble too performed convincingly – in all, a perfect World Première, honoured by the audience with thunderous applause. (Bremer Anzeiger, 30.11.08)

187

Huw Watkins

Crime Fiction Oper in zwei Akten Chamber opera in one act Libretto by David Harsent Origin: 2008/9 Language: English

2009

Cast: Woman · alto – Man · baritone – Author · tenor Orchestra: flute, clarinet in Bb, trumpet in Bb, trombone, violin, cello, double bass Duration: 28‘ Performance material on hire Remarks: 8 loudspeakers backstage and a Sound engineer are required

Selected Productions 28.03.2009 Millennium Centre, Cardiff 03.04.2009 Galeri Caernafon Arlene Rolph · Gwion Thomas · Richard Egar Wilson · Michael Rafferty

188

Synopsis This is an opera with no story, but one that explores the critical moment within a story – a crime story – and turns the spotlight on the person who creates this moment: the Author.

The primary ingredients of crime fiction are darkness, violence and damaged people plus, of course, plot: the mechanics of the piece. Dark desires have to be played out, motive has to be revealed, lines of investigation have to be followed and a resolution of some sort arrived at. But for the writer, what’s really interesting about crime fiction is not joining the dots, but the dots themselves: the set-pieces, the heightened moments of chaos and bloodshed.

In Crime Fiction, the Author is engaged in a struggle with himself to preserve unadorned the moment he’s created, but his characters, the Woman and the Man, are starting to interfere.

Crime Fiction 28.03.2009 Millennium Centre Cardiff Clive Barda / Arenapal

Crime Fiction comprises 12 miniature scenes in which an Author, imagining a Man about to garrotte a Woman but withdrawing, meditates on the process of devising character and motive.

The Man and Woman come and go. In the end, the Author himself dangles the garrotting rope above the supine Woman, and this cryptic, quasi-Beckettian, quasi-Pinterian little drama ends…

Watkins’s score opens with a gently pulsing violin figure, and from this the whole structure arises.

The fit between the music and the words is as intimate as the action displayed, though not in a sadomasochistic way. Indeed, Watkins, in his first operatic essay, has contrived a textbook equilibrium between those warring elements, the words always clearly projected, the music always interesting but never carried away with itself. I wouldn’t have minded if occasionally it had been, but I was gripped by the tautness, dark colouring, effortless climaxes and subtle close of what was on offer. (Paul Driver, The Sunday Times, 5 April 2009)

189

INDEX Composers and their works (works are listed alphabetically) Banter, Harald (* 1930) Der blaue Vogel ���������������������������������������� 100 Beaser, Robert (* 1954) The Food of Love ���������������������������������������� 94 Bryars, Gavin (* 1943) Doctor Ox’s Experiment ������������������������������ 84 G (being the Confession and Last Testament of Johannes Gensfleisch…) ������������������ 128 The Paper Nautilus ����������������������������������� 168 Casken, John (* 1949) God’s Liar ������������������������������������������������� 122 Cuomo, Douglas J. (* 1958) Arjuna’s Dilemma ������������������������������������� 176 Czernowin, Chaya (* 1957) Pnima … ins Innere ���������������������������������� 106 Zaïde – Adama ������������������������������������������ 166 Eben, Petr (1929–2007) Jeremias ������������������������������������������������������ 78 Eötvös, Peter (* 1944) Angels in America ������������������������������������� 150 Le Balcon �������������������������������������������������� 136 Love and Other Demons ��������������������������� 182 Radames ����������������������������������������������������� 76 Goehr, Alexander (* 1932) Arianna ������������������������������������������������������� 50 Kantan and Damask Drum ������������������������ 102

190

Index

Grünauer, Ingomar (* 1938) Cantor – Die Vermessung des Unendlichen ��������������������������������������� 170 Die Rache einer russischen Waise ��������������� 26 König für einen Tag ��������������������������������������� 8 Trilogie der Sommerfrische ����������������������� 114 Winterreise ������������������������������������������������� 34 Henze, Hans Werner (* 1926) Das Ende einer Welt ����������������������������������� 62 Das verratene Meer / Gogo no Eiko �������������� 6 Der Prinz von Homburg ������������������������������ 20 Ein Landarzt ������������������������������������������������ 60 Il Re Teodoro in Venezia ����������������������������� 18 Knastgesänge ���������������������������������������������� 52 The Bassarids ���������������������������������������������� 52 Venus und Adonis ��������������������������������������� 64 Hiller, Wilfried (* 1941) Augustinus ������������������������������������������������ 154 Der Geigenseppel ������������������������������������� 112 Der Rattenfänger ���������������������������������������� 28 Der Schimmelreiter ������������������������������������� 86 Eduard auf dem Seil ���������������������������������� 104 Wolkenstein ��������������������������������������������� 144 Hoiby, Lee (* 1926) This is the Rill Speaking ���������������������������� 174 Holliger, Heinz (* 1939) Schneewittchen ������������������������������������������ 88 Hosokawa, Toshio (* 1955) Hanjo ������������������������������������������������������� 146 Vision of Lear ��������������������������������������������� 80 Jost, Christian (* 1963) Angst �������������������������������������������������������� 158 Death Knocks ������������������������������������������� 124 Die arabische Nacht ���������������������������������� 172 Vipern ������������������������������������������������������ 152

Kirchner, Volker David (*1942) Ahasver ���������������������������������������������������� 120 Erinys ��������������������������������������������������������� 10 Gilgamesh ������������������������������������������������� 110 Inferno d’amore (Shakespearion I) �������������� 38 Labyrinthos (Shakespearion II) �������������������� 74 Ligeti, György (1923–2006) Le Grand Macabre �������������������������������������� 72 Monteverdi, Claudio (1567–1643) Arianna ������������������������������������������������������� 50 Müller-Siemens, Detlev (* 1957) Bing ���������������������������������������������������������� 126 Die Menschen �������������������������������������������� 12 Paisiello, Giovanni (1740–1816) Il Re Teodoro in Venezia ����������������������������� 18 Paulus, Stephen (* 1949) Heloise and Abelard ��������������������������������� 132 Summer ������������������������������������������������������ 98 The Woman at Otowi Crossing ������������������� 48 Penderecki, Krzysztof (* 1933) Ubu Rex ����������������������������������������������������� 16 Picker, Tobias (* 1954) An American Tragedy �������������������������������� 156 Emmeline ��������������������������������������������������� 58 Fantastic Mr. Fox ���������������������������������������� 90 Thérèse Raquin ����������������������������������������� 160 Rands, Bernard (* 1934) Belladonna ������������������������������������������������� 96 Reimann, Aribert (* 1936) Bernarda Albas Haus ��������������������������������� 116 Das Schloss ������������������������������������������������� 24 Schnebel, Dieter (* 1930) Majakowskis Tod – Totentanz ��������������������� 82 St. Jago ������������������������������������������������������� 14

Schneider, Enjott (* 1950) Albert - Warum? ����������������������������������������� 92 Bahnwärter Thiel �������������������������������������� 142 Das Salome-Prinzip ����������������������������������� 130 Diana – Cry for Love ��������������������������������� 138 Fürst Pückler – Ich bin ein Kind der Phantasie �������������������������������������� 164 Schulhoff, Erwin (1894–1942) Flammen ���������������������������������������������������� 42 Schweitzer, Benjamin (* 1973) Dafne ������������������������������������������������������� 162 Informationen über Bartleby ��������������������� 148 Jakob von Gunten ������������������������������������� 118 Shchedrin, Rodion (* 1932) Lolita ���������������������������������������������������������� 36 Shore, Howard (* 1946) The Fly ����������������������������������������������������� 180 Turnage, Mark-Anthony (* 1960) The Silver Tassie ���������������������������������������� 108 Twice Through the Heart ����������������������������� 68 Ullmann, Viktor (1898–1944) Der Sturz des Antichrist ������������������������������ 40 Der zerbrochene Krug ��������������������������������� 56 Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des Cornets Christoph Rilke ������������������������� 46 Vollmer, Ludger (*1961) Gegen die Wand ��������������������������������������� 184 Wallace, Stewart (* 1960) The Bonesetter’s Daughter ������������������������ 178 Harvey Milk ������������������������������������������������ 44 Hopper‘s Wife �������������������������������������������� 70 Watkins, Huw (*1976) Crime Fiction �������������������������������������������� 186 Weill, Kurt (1900–1950) Der Kuhhandel ������������������������������������������� 32

Index

191

Weiss, Harald (* 1949) Amandas Traum ������������������������������������������ 22 Das Gespenst ���������������������������������������������� 66 Widmann, Jörg (* 1973) Das Gesicht im Spiegel ������������������������������ 140 K(l)eine Morgenstern-Szene ���������������������� 134 Knastgesänge ���������������������������������������������� 52 Willi, Herbert (* 1956) Schlafes Bruder ������������������������������������������� 54

Work Titles Albert - Warum?.......................................... 92 Ahasver..................................................... 120 An American Tragedy................................. 156 Angels in America...................................... 150 Angst......................................................... 158 Arianna........................................................ 50 Arjuna’s Dilemma...................................... 176 Augustinus................................................. 154 Bahnwärter Thiel....................................... 142 Belladonna.................................................. 96 Bernarda Albas Haus.................................. 116 Bing........................................................... 126 Cantor – Die Vermessung des Unendlichen........................................ 170 Crime Fiction............................................. 186

192

Dafne........................................................ 162 Das Ende einer Welt.................................... 62 Das Gesicht im Spiegel............................... 140 Das Gespenst............................................... 66 Das Salome-Prinzip.................................... 130 Das Schloss.................................................. 24 Das verratene Meer / Gogo no Eiko............... 6 Death Knocks ������������������������������������������� 124 Der blaue Vogel......................................... 100 Der Geigenseppel...................................... 112 Der Kuhhandel............................................ 32

Index

Der Prinz von Homburg............................... 20 Der Rattenfänger......................................... 28 Der Schimmelreiter...................................... 86 Der Sturz des Antichrist............................... 40 Der zerbrochene Krug.................................. 56 Diana – Cry for Love.................................. 138 Die arabische Nacht................................... 172 Die Menschen............................................. 12 Die Rache einer russischen Waise ��������������� 26 Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des Cornets Christoph Rilke.......................... 46 Doctor Ox’s Experiment............................... 84 Eduard auf dem Seil................................... 104 Ein Landarzt................................................. 60 Emmeline.................................................... 58 Erinys.......................................................... 10 Fantastic Mr. Fox......................................... 90 Flammen..................................................... 42 Fürst Pückler – Ich bin ein Kind der Phantasie............................................. 164 G (being the Confession and Last Testament of Johannes Gensfleisch…)................... 128 Gegen die Wand........................................ 184 Gilgamesh.................................................. 110 God’s Liar.................................................. 122 Hanjo........................................................ 146 Harvey Milk................................................. 44 Heloise and Abelard.................................. 132 Hopper‘s Wife............................................. 70 Il Re Teodoro in Venezia.............................. 18 Il Re Teodoro in Venezia.............................. 18 Inferno d’amore (Shakespearion I)............... 38 Informationen über Bartleby...................... 148 Jakob von Gunten...................................... 118 Jeremias....................................................... 78 K(l)eine Morgenstern-Szene....................... 134 Kantan and Damask Drum......................... 102 Knastgesänge............................................... 52

König für einen Tag ��������������������������������������� 8 Labyrinthos (Shakespearion II)..................... 74 Le Balcon................................................... 136 Le Grand Macabre....................................... 72 Lolita........................................................... 36 Love and Other Demons............................ 182 Majakowskis Tod – Totentanz...................... 82

Librettists (including authors of the original texts) Adnan, Etel (* 1925) ��������������������������������� 168 Aischylos (525 v. Chr.–456 v. Chr.) �������������� 10 Akın, Fatih (* 1973)................................... 184 Allen, Woody (*1935)................................ 124 Auden, H.H. (1907-1973)............................ 30 Atwani, Imad �������������������������������������������� 110

Pnima … ins Innere................................... 106 Radames...................................................... 76 Schlafes Bruder............................................ 54 Schneewittchen........................................... 88 St. Jago........................................................ 14 Summer....................................................... 98 The Bassarids ���������������������������������������������� 52 The Bonesetter’s Daughter......................... 178 The Fly...................................................... 180 The Food of Love......................................... 94 The Paper Nautilus.................................... 168 The Silver Tassie......................................... 108 The Woman at Otowi Crossing.................... 48 Thérèse Raquin.......................................... 160 This is the Rill Speaking............................. 174 Trilogie der Sommerfrische........................ 114 Twice Through the Heart.............................. 68 Ubu Rex...................................................... 16 Venus und Adonis........................................ 64 Vipern....................................................... 152 Vision of Lear.............................................. 80 Winterreise.................................................. 34 Wolkenstein.............................................. 144 Zaïde – Adama........................................... 166

Bachmann, Ingeborg (1926–1973) �������������� 20 Beckett, Samuel (1906–1989) ������������������� 126 Beneš, Karel Josef (1896–1969) ������������������ 42 Böhm, Winfried (* 1937) �������������������������� 154 Boyde, Patrick (* 1934) ������������������������������� 50 Brik, Lilja Jurjewna (1891–1978) ����������������� 82 Brod, Max (1884–1968) ������������������������ 24, 42 Busch, Wilhelm (1832–1908) �������������������� 112 Calderón, Pedro (1600-1681)......................... 8 Casken, John (* 1949) ������������������������������� 122 Casti, Giovanni Battista (1724–1803) ���������� 18 Cloot, Julia (* 1968) ���������������������������������� 142 Coleman, Tim ������������������������������������������� 152 Corsaro, Frank (* 1924) ����������������������������� 132 Cuomo, Douglas J. (* 1958) ���������������������� 176 Dahl, Roald (1916–1990) ���������������������������� 90 Dreiser, Theodore (1871–1945) ���������������� 156 Dunton-Downer, Leslie (* 1961) ����������������� 96 Eben, Petr (1929–2007) ������������������������������ 78 Ende, Michael (1929–1995) ������������������������ 28 Eötvös, Peter (* 1944) ������������������������� 76, 136 Genet, Jean (1910–1986) �������������������������� 136 Ghelderode, Michel de (1898–1962) ���������� 72 Ghislanzoni, Antonio (1824–1893) ������������� 76 Goldoni, Carlo (1707–1793) ��������������������� 114 Grünauer, Ingomar (* 1938) ������������������ 8, 170 Hamvai, Kornél (* 1969) ��������������������������� 182 Harsent, David (* 1942)............................. 186 Hasenclever, Walter (1890–1940) ��������������� 12

Index

193

Hauptmann, Gerhart (1862–1946) ������������ 142 Herfurtner, Rudolf (* 1947) ����������������������� 104 Hildesheimer, Wolfgang (1916–1991) ��������� 62 Hofmannsthal, Hugo von (1874-1929)........... 8 Holden, Amanda (* 1948) ������������������������� 108 Hölderlin, Friedrich (1770–1843) �������������� 158 Holliger, Heinz (* 1939) ������������������������������ 88 Holz, Arno (1863–1929) ��������������������������� 162 Hosokawa, Toshio (* 1955) ����������������������� 146 Hwang, David Henry (* 1957) ������������������� 180 Jarocki, Jerzy (* 1929) ��������������������������������� 16 Jarry, Alfred (1873–1907) ��������������������������� 16 Jeles, András (* 1945) ��������������������������������� 74 Jost, Christian (* 1963) ��������������������� 152, 158 Kabir (1440–1518) ����������������������������������� 164 Kafka, Franz (1883–1924) ��������������������� 24, 60 Kallmann, Chester (1921-1975)................... 30 Kay, Jackie (* 1961) ���������������������������� 68, 168 Kirchner, Volker David (* 1942) ���������������������� ��������������������������������������� 10, 38, 110, 120 Kleist, Heinrich von (1777–1811) ��� 14, 20, 56 Korie, Michael (* 1955) ���������������� 44, 70, 178 Kushner, Tony (* 1956) ����������������������������� 150 Lange, Norbert (* 1978) ���������������������������� 148 Langelaan, George (1908-1969) ���������������� 180 Ligeti, György (1923–2006) ������������������������ 72 Lorca, Federico García (1898–1936) ���������� 116

194

Majakowski, Wladimir (1893–1930) ����������� 82 Markowicz, André (* 1960) ����������������������� 136 Gabriel García Marquez (* 1927) ��������������� 182 Matzkowski, Bernd (* 1952) ��������������������� 164 McClatchy, J. D. (* 1945) ���������������������������� 58 McNally, Terrance (* 1939) ������������������������� 94 Melville, Herman (1819 – 1891) ��������������� 148 Meschke, Michael (* 1931) ������������������������� 72 Meyer, Andreas K. W. (* 1958) ������������������� 86 Mezei, Mari (* 1952) �������������������������������� 150 Michelangelo (1475–1564) ������������������������� 38 Micieli, Francesco (* 1956) ����������������� 34, 114 Middleton, Thomas (1580–1627) ������������� 152 Mishima, Yukio (1925–1970) ���������������� 6, 146

Index

Mitterer, Felix (* 1948) ����������������������������� 144 Monteverdi, Claudio (1567–1643) �������������� 74 Morgenstern, Christian (1871–1914) �������� 134 Morrison, Philip Blake (* 1950) ����������� 84, 128 Morvan, Françoise (* 1958) ���������������������� 136 Motokiyo, Zeami (1363–1443) ����������������� 102 Müller-Siemens, Detlev (* 1957) ����������������� 12 Nabokov, Vladimir (1899–1977) ����������������� 36 Najmányi, László (* 1946) ��������������������������� 76 Niehaus, Manfred (* 1933) ������������������������� 76 O’Casey, Sean (1880–1964) ���������������������� 108 Opitz, Martin (1597–1639) ����������������������� 162 Penderecki, Krzysztof (* 1933) �������������������� 16 Renckhoff, Dorothea (* 1949) ������������������� 100 Reimann, Aribert (* 1936) ������������������� 24, 116 Rilke, Rainer Maria (1875–1926) ���������������� 46 Rinuccini, Ottavio (1562–1621) ������������������ 50 Rödl, Josef (*1949) ������������������������������������� 92 Rögner, Wolfgang (* 1951) ������������������������ 138 Rossner, Judith (1935-2005) ����������������������� 58 Rousseau, Henri (1844-1910)....................... 26 Rowley, William (ca. 1585–1626) ������������� 152 Scheer, Gene (* 1958) ����������������������� 156, 160 Schimmelpfennig, Roland (* 1967) ������������������ ��������������������������������������������������� 140, 172 Schnebel, Dieter (* 1930) ��������������������������� 82 Schneider, Enjott (* 1950) ����������������� 142, 164 Schneider, Robert (* 1961) �������������������������� 54 Schweitzer, Benjamin (* 1973) ������������������������ ������������������������������������������� 118, 148, 162 Shakespeare, William (1564–1616) ����������������� ������������������������������������������������� 38, 74, 80 Shchedrin, Rodion (* 1932) ������������������������� 36 Shulgasser, Mark (* 1947) ������������������������� 174 Steffen, Albert (1884–1963) ����������������������� 40 Storm, Theodor (1817–1888) ��������������������� 86 Sturrock, Donald (* 1961) ��������������������������� 90 Suzuki, Tadashi (* 1939) ����������������������������� 80 Symonette, Lys (1914–2005) ���������������������� 32 Tan, Amy (* 1952) ������������������������������������ 178

Thorne, Joan Vail ���������������������������������� 48, 98 Tolstoi, Leo (1828–1910) �������������������������� 122 Treichel, Hans-Ulrich (* 1952) ����������� 6, 52, 64 Tyler, Royall (* 1936) ��������������������������������� 102

Pnima … ins Innere ���������������������������������� 106 The Silver Tassie ���������������������������������������� 108 Winterreise ������������������������������������������������� 32 Wolkenstein ��������������������������������������������� 144 The Woman at Otowi Crossing ������������������� 48

Ullmann, Viktor (1898–1944) ��������������������� 56 Vambery, Robert (1907–1999) �������������������� 32 Verne, Jules Gabriel (1828–1905) ��������������� 84 Vollmer, Ludger (*1961)............................. 184 Waley, Arthur David (1889–1966) ������������ 102 Walser, Robert (1878–1956) ��������������� 88, 118 Walter, Michael (* 1958) ��������������������������� 164 Warner, Emma (* 1958) ���������������������������� 122 Waters, Frank (1902–1995) ������������������������ 48 Weiss, Harald (* 1949) �������������������������� 22, 66 Wharton, Edith (1862–1937) ���������������������� 98 Wilde, Oscar (1854–1900) ������������������������ 130 Wilson, Lanford (* 1937) �������������������������� 174 Woska, Elisabet (* 1938) ��������������������������� 112 Zola, Émile (1840–1902) ��������������������������� 160 Zweig, Stefan (1881–1942) ������������������������� 78

Myths, Legends, Fairy Tales (including biblical subjects) Ahasver ���������������������������������������������������� 130 Arianna ������������������������������������������������������� 50 Arjuna’s Dilemma ������������������������������������� 176 Dafne ������������������������������������������������������� 162 Der blaue Vogel ���������������������������������������� 100 Der Rattenfänger ���������������������������������������� 28 Erinys ��������������������������������������������������������� 10 Gilgamesh ������������������������������������������������� 110 Jeremias ������������������������������������������������������ 78 Kantan and Damask Drum ������������������������ 102 Schneewittchen ������������������������������������������ 88 The Bassarids ���������������������������������������������� 30 Venus und Adonis ��������������������������������������� 64

Literature Operas

Subjects Historic Persons and Event Angels in America ������������������������������������� 150 Augustinus ������������������������������������������������ 154 Cantor – Die Vermessung des Unendlichen ��������������������������������������� 170 Der Prinz von Homburg ������������������������������ 20 Diana – Cry for Love ��������������������������������� 138 Eduard auf dem Seil ���������������������������������� 104 Fürst Pückler – Ich bin ein Kind der Phantasie ����������������������������������������������������������� 164 G (being the Confession and Last Testament of Johannes Gensfleisch…) ������������������ 128 Harvey Milk ������������������������������������������������ 36 Heloise and Abelard ��������������������������������� 132 Majakowskis Tod – Totentanz ��������������������� 72

(Operas based on novels and theatre plays) An American Tragedy �������������������������������� 156 Angels in America ������������������������������������� 150 Bahnwärter Thiel �������������������������������������� 142 Bernarda Albas Haus ��������������������������������� 116 Bing ���������������������������������������������������������� 126 The Bonesetter’s Daughter ������������������������ 178 Das Salome-Prinzip ����������������������������������� 130 Das Schloss ������������������������������������������������� 24 Das verratene Meer / Gogo no Eiko �������������� 6 Death Knocks ������������������������������������������� 124 Der Geigenseppel ������������������������������������� 112 Der Prinz von Homburg ������������������������������ 20 Der Rattenfänger ���������������������������������������� 28 Der Schimmelreiter ������������������������������������� 86 Der zerbrochene Krug ��������������������������������� 56 Die Menschen �������������������������������������������� 12 Die Rache einer russischen Waise ��������������� 26

Index

195

Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des Cornets Christoph Rilke ������������������������� 46 Doctor Ox’s Experiment ������������������������������ 84 Ein Landarzt ������������������������������������������������ 60 Emmeline ��������������������������������������������������� 58 Erinys ��������������������������������������������������������� 10 Fantastic Mr. Fox ���������������������������������������� 90 God’s Liar ������������������������������������������������� 122 Hanjo ������������������������������������������������������� 146 Inferno d’amore (Shakespearion I) �������������� 38 Informationen über Bartleby ��������������������� 148 Jakob von Gunten ������������������������������������� 118 K(l)eine Morgenstern-Szene ���������������������� 134 Kantan and Damask Drum ������������������������ 102 König für einen Tag ��������������������������������������� 8 Labyrinthos (Shakespearion II) �������������������� 74 Le Balcon �������������������������������������������������� 136 Le Grand Macabre �������������������������������������� 72 Lolita ���������������������������������������������������������� 36 Love and Other Demons ��������������������������� 182 Schlafes Bruder ������������������������������������������� 54 Schneewittchen ������������������������������������������ 88 The Silver Tassie ���������������������������������������� 108 The Woman at Otowi Crossing ������������������� 48 St. Jago ������������������������������������������������������� 14 Summer ������������������������������������������������������ 98 Thérèse Raquin ����������������������������������������� 160 Trilogie der Sommerfrische ����������������������� 114 Ubu Rex ����������������������������������������������������� 16 (Un)fair Exchange ������������������������������������� 102 Vipern ������������������������������������������������������ 152

Short Operas (Duration less than 70‘)

196

Angst �������������������������������������������������������� 158 Bing ���������������������������������������������������������� 126 Crime Fiction �������������������������������������������� 126 Dafne ������������������������������������������������������� 162 Das Ende einer Welt ����������������������������������� 62 Death Knocks ������������������������������������������� 124 Der Geigenseppel ������������������������������������� 112 Der zerbrochene Krug ��������������������������������� 56

Index

Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des Cornets Christoph Rilke ������������������������� 46 Ein Landarzt ������������������������������������������������ 60 The Food of Love ���������������������������������������� 94 Inferno d’amore (Shakespearion I) �������������� 38 Informationen über Bartleby ��������������������� 148 K(l)eine Morgenstern-Szene ���������������������� 134 Knastgesänge ���������������������������������������������� 52 Labyrinthos (Shakespearion II) �������������������� 74 Radames ����������������������������������������������������� 76 This is the Rill Speaking ���������������������������� 174 Twice Through the Heart ����������������������������� 68

Operas without Choir Angels in America ������������������������������������� 150 Arianna ������������������������������������������������������� 50 Belladonna ������������������������������������������������� 94 Bing ���������������������������������������������������������� 126 The Bonesetter’s Daughter ������������������������ 178 Crime Fiction �������������������������������������������� 186 Das Salome-Prinzip ����������������������������������� 130 Death Knocks ������������������������������������������� 124 Der Geigenseppel ������������������������������������� 112 Der zerbrochene Krug ��������������������������������� 56 Die arabische Nacht ���������������������������������� 172 Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des Cornets Christoph Rilke ������������������������� 46 Eduard auf dem Seil ���������������������������������� 104 The Food of Love ���������������������������������������� 94 Hanjo ������������������������������������������������������� 146 Hopper‘s Wife �������������������������������������������� 70 Il Re Teodoro in Venezia ����������������������������� 18 Inferno d’amore (Shakespearion I) �������������� 38 Informationen über Bartleby ��������������������� 148 Kantan and Damask Drum ������������������������ 102 K(l)eine Morgenstern-Szene ���������������������� 134 Labyrinthos (Shakespearion II) �������������������� 72 Le Balcon �������������������������������������������������� 136 The Paper Nautilus ����������������������������������� 168 Pnima … ins Innere ���������������������������������� 106 Radames ����������������������������������������������������� 74 Schneewittchen ������������������������������������������ 88

St. Jago ������������������������������������������������������� 14 Summer ������������������������������������������������������ 96 Thérèse Raquin ����������������������������������������� 160 This is the Rill Speaking ���������������������������� 174 Trilogie der Sommerfrische ����������������������� 114 Twice Through the Heart ����������������������������� 68 Venus und Adonis ��������������������������������������� 64 Winterreise ������������������������������������������������� 32

Index

197

KAT 219-99 路 Printed in Germany