New programme book : 'Die Schule' by Peter Androsch in Linz

This morning, I have received the programme book published by the Landestheater Linz for the world première of Die Schule oder das Alphabet der Welt by Peter Androsch.

It is a 36 pages brochure. It contains :

- complete cast and crew ;
- synopsis : scenes order ;
- Hans May : "Weisst du noch... ?" wie wir wurden, was wir sind ;
- Peter Androsch : Von der Schule zum Musiktheater ;
- Bernhard Doppler : Tableau vivant ;
- Robert Menasse : Das 25-jährige Maturajubiläum ;
- Katharina John : Schule neu denken (dialogue with Peter Androsch) ;
- biographies of composer Peter Androsch and librettists Silke Dörner and Bernhard Doppler ;
- several photos of the dress rehearsal on January 14, 2020.

The libretto and full score are available online (click on 'Musiktheater').

The programme book is entirely in German.

I am currently cataloguing all my programme books on LibraryThing. With 664 books added so far, I am almost half way.

Today : world première of 'Minona' by Jüri Reinvere in Regensburg

Today, the Theater Regensburg presents the world première of Minona, an opera composed by Jüri Reinvere, who also wrote the libretto.

It it the composer's third opera, after Puhdistus (The Purge, Helsinki, April 20, 2012) and Peer Gynt (Oslo, November 29, 2014).

This work is dedicated to a both unusual and spectacular topic – Beethoven’s presumed natural daughter, Minona von Stackelberg, and his 'Immortal Beloved' Josephine Brunsvik. The presumption is that Josephine Brunsvik was the recipient of Beethoven’s letter addressed to his 'Immortal Beloved'. Josephine had been married since 1810 to her second husband Christoph Baron von Stackelberg. Much points to a meeting between Beethoven and Brunsvik in July 1812. At this point Josephine’s marriage was already on the rocks. Nine months after this meeting Josephine gave birth to daughter Minona. Some of her compositions are still intact. (reproduced from the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation website)

The cast includes soprano Theodora Varga (Minona), soprano Anna Pisareva (Josephine), mezzo Vera Semieniuk (Gräfin von Goltz), baritone Johannes Mooser (Graf von Teleki) and tenor Deniz Yilmaz (Attila de Gerando). Chin-Chao Lin conducts the Philharmonic Orchestra Regensburg and the Chorus of the Theater Regensburg. Hendrik Müller directs.

Today : world première of 'Les Bains macabres' by Guillaume Connesson in Compiègne

Today, the Théâtre Impérial de Compiègne presents the world première of Les Bains macabres, an opera in four acts composed by Guillaume Connesson with a libretto by Olivier Bleys.

It it the composer's first opera.

What is happening at Bains Terminus, a thermal establishment on the shores of the Mediterranean ? The curists mysteriously disappear one after the other ... The police leads the investigation, with Nestor Gobineau, its director, as the main suspect and Célia Verdier, an employee, fiancée to Mathéo who is among the list of missing. But the dead did not say their last word in this story where ghosts invite themselves into the real world and where the living communicate with the dead. (freely adapted from the Théâtre Impérial de Compiègne website)

The cast includes soprano Sandrine Buendia (Célia Verdier), tenor Fabien Hyon (Nestor Gobineau), mezzo Anna Destraël (Miranda Joule) , bass Nathanaël Tavernier (Prosper Lampon) and baritone Romain Dayez (Mathéo). Arie Van Beek conducts the Orchestre des Frivolités Parisiennes and the chorus Les Éléments. Florent Siaud directs.

The performance should last about 2 hours.

Following two performances in Compiègne, the opera will be performed at the Athénée Théâtre Louis-Jouvet in Paris from January 31st to February 6th.

Today : world première of 'The School or the Alphabet of the World' by Peter Androsch in Linz

Today, the Landestheater Linz presents the world première of Die Schule oder das Alphabet der Welt (The School of the Alphabet of the World), a music theatre piece composed by Peter Androsch with a libretto by Silke Dörner based on research by Bernhard Doppler.

(c) Florian Schwarz

Peter Androsch has already composed several pieces of music theatre, including Komplizierte Tiere (Plauen, November 20, 1993), Schreber (Klagenfurt, March 4, 1999), Spiegelgrund (Wien, January 25, 2013) and Passion (Linz, March 22, 2017).

The composer sets his stories to music in the multidisciplinary project, The School. They are not only biographies of individual personalities but dig deep into the structures of education and learning, thereby depicting a subtle portrait of past and present societies at their core. (reproduced from the Landestheater Linz website)

The cast includes sopranos Svenja Isabella Kallweit and Etelka Sellei, mezzo Florence Losseau, tenor Rafael Hlbig-Kostka, baritone Timothy Connor and bass baritone Philipp Kranjc. Jinie Ka conducts the Bruckner Orchester Linz. Andreas von Studnitz directs.

The venue is the BlackBox Musiktheater.

New in my collection : programme book for 'Persinette' by Albin Fries in Vienna

Yesterday, I have received in the mail the programme book for Persinette, an opera composed by Albin Fries, first performed in Vienna on December 21st, 2019.

It is a 18 pages brochure. It contains :

- synopsis ;
- short biographies of the composer Albin Fries and the librettist Birgit Mathon ;
- Daten & Fakten, essential facts about the opera ;
- 3 questions to the composer Albin Fries ;
- interview with the stage director Matthias von Stegmann ;
- important notions about opera explained by conductor Guillermo Garcia Calvo ;
- several color photos of rehearsals.

I now have the programme books for 712 contemporary operas. I have scanned all the covers and uploaded the images on flickr.

I am cataloguing all the programme books I have on LibraryThing. I hope to complete the process before the end of April 2020.

Today : world première of 'Chaosmos' by Marc Sinan in Wuppertal

Today, the Oper Wuppertal presents the world première of Chaosmos, an interactive opera composed by Marc Sinan with a libretto by Tobias Rausch.

It is the composer's fourth musical theater project.

The opera house getting turned into a logistics center. This is where Jay and Joe work, incessantly moving crates back and forth with their forklifts. Inside each crate is part of the musical score that tells a story. Joe sorts the stories, while Jay messes them up, allowing new patterns to constantly emerge.
Members of the audience are also able to influence the movement onstage by sorting the crates before the piece begins, adding chaos or structure as the drama unfolds.
The resulting order and disorder randomly combine arias, stories, musical scenes and video projections. Times, places and levels constantly get shifted. The principles of classification created by the naturalist Carl Linnaeus meet the turmoil of the Vietnam War and the history of the ocean container. (reproduced from the composer's website)

The cast includes soprano Wendy Krikken, mezzo Iris Marie Sojer, tenor Adam Temple-Smith and baritone Timothy Edlin. Johannes Pell conducts. Konrad Kästner directs.

The opera will subsequently be performed in Halle (first performance on April 3rd) and in Bremen (first performance on June 20), as part of the NOperas! project.

Today : new programme book in my collection, 'The Selfish Giant' in Melbourne

Today, I have receveid the programme book for the world première of Simon Bruckard's opera The Selfish Giant. It was first performed at the Gasworks Theatre in Melbourne, on October 16, 2019.

It is a 12 pages brochure. It contains :

- complete cast ;
- complete production team ;
- Simon Bruckard : composer's note ;
- Emma Muir-Smith : librettist's note ;
- synopsis ;
- biographies with headshots.

I now have 711 programme books for contemporary operas. I have scanned all the covers and uploadedthe images to this flickr folder.

Recently, I have started to catalogue all the programme books I have on LibraryThing. I hope to complete the task before the beginning of April 2020. Here is the link.