Today : world première of 'Der Zauberer von Oz' by Anno Schreier in Aachen

Today, the Theater Aachen presents the world première of Der Zauberer von Oz (The Wizard of Oz), an 'opera for the whole family' in 2 acts composed by Anno Schreier with a libretto in German by Alexander Jansen based on Lyman Frank Baum's novel.

(c) Sven Paustian

It is the composer's sixth opera after Die Stadt der Blinden (Zurich, November 12, 2011), Mörder Kaspar Brand (Düsseldorf, June 14, 2012), Hamlet (Vienna, September 14, 2016) and Schade, dass sie eine Hure war (Düsseldorf, February 16, 2019).

The little Dorothy from Kansas is blown by a cyclone into the country Oz. With the help of her friends, the scarecrow, the lion, and the tinman, she embarks on an adventurous journey to find the Wizard of Oz. Only he can help her get back home, but - as it turns out - less with magic than with the ability to believe in oneself. (freely adapted from the Aachen Theater website)

The cast includes bass Woong-jo Choi (Der Zauberer von Oz), soprano Anne-Aurore Cochet (Dorothy), tenor Patricio Arroyo (Die Vogelscheuche), baritone Fabio Lesuisse (Der Löwe), tenor Hyunhan Hwang (Der Blechmann) and soprano Irina Popova (Die Hexe). Christopher Ward conducts the Sinfonieorchester Aachen. Ute M. Engelhardt directs.

The score is published by Schott. The required orchestra is the following :

- 2 flutes (doubling Piccolo), 2 oboes (doubling English horn) ; 2 clarinets (doubling E-flat clarinet), 2 bassoons (doubling contrabassoon) ;
- 2 horns, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, 1 tuba ;
- percussion (2 players), harp, celesta (doubling harpsichord and synthesizer) ;
- strings.

The performance should last 90 minutes.

New programme books in my collection

This morning, I have received two programme books for contemporary operas :

- Benet Casablancas, L'enigma di Lea, Barcelona, February 9, 2019 ;
- Anno Schreier, Schade, dass sie eine Hure war, Düsseldorf, February 16, 2019.

The first one is a 94 pages book. It contains :

- complete cast and crew ;
- biography of the composer ;
- Christina Scheppelmann : Sobre 'L'enigma di Lea' ;
- Carme Portaceli : Sobre la producción ;
- synopsis with musical comments (bilingual, Spanish and English) ;
- Rafael Argullol : 'L'enigma di Lea', un cuento mítico ;
- Germán Gan Quesada : La obra de Benet Casablancas : cuatro décadas de hallazgos sonoros ;
- interview with Alison Cook ;
- Javier Pérez Senz : Benet Casablancas, un retrato discográfico ;
- biographies of the artists with black and white headshots.

The programme is entirely in Spanish and contains several photos of rehearsals.

The second is a 48 pages book. It contains :

- synopsis ;
- Bernhard Klaus Tragelehn : Das Leben John Fords, Anmerkungen ;
- Hella Bartnig : " 'Tis pity she's a whore' : Sujet und Adressat ;
- Hella Bartnig : Eine Oper der Affekte, dialogue with the composer ;
- biographies of composer Anno Schreier and librettist Kerstin Maria Pöhler ;
- Laster und Tabubrüche auf der Opernbühne ;
- Robert Musil : Der Mann ohne Eigenschaften (excerpt) ;
- several colour photos of rehearsals ;
- synopsis in English.

The book is entirely in German. It contains a separate 12 pages booklet with biographies of the artists and a 4 pages leaflet with the complete cast and crew.

I have recently acquired four other programme books :

- Azio Corghi, Tat'jana, Milano, October 20, 2000 (world première) ;
- Salvatore Sciarrino, Perseo e Andromeda, Milano, March 27, 1992 (world première in Stuttgart on January 27, 1991) ;
- Manfred Trojahn, War ihr wollt, Hannover, December 8, 2018 (world première in München on May 24, 1998) ;
- Mark Anthony Turnage, Anna Nicole, Nürnberg, November 3, 2018 (world première in London on February 17, 2011).

I now have 642 programme books for contemporary operas. I have scanned all the covers and uploaded them to this flickr folder.

Today : world première of 'Schade, dass sie eine Hure war' by Anno Schreier in Düsseldorf

Today, the Deutsche Oper am Rhein presents the world première of Schade, dass sie eine Hure war ('Tis Pity She's a Whore), an opera in five acts composed by Anno Schreier, with a libretto in German by Kerstin Maria Poehler after John Ford's play.

It is the composer's fifth opera, after Kein Ort. Nirgends (2006), Die Stadt der Blinden (Zürich, 2011), Mörder Kaspar Brand (Düsseldorf, 2012) and Hamlet (Vienna, 2016).

The two lovers Giovanni and Annabella are not the children of rival families but brother and sister, whose incestuous affection stands in the way of their happiness. The dark web of intrigue surrounding them is rough and coarsely-meshed and as a result its deadly poison often misses its intended target. While Annabella’s spurned suitors butcher each other, she becomes pregnant with her brother’s child and is forced into marriage with one candidate in order to conceal their incestuous relationship. Overcome with manic passion, Giovanni kills his lover and shocks everyone who manages to survive this cruel game of lies and deceit. (reproduced from the Deutsche Oper am Rhein website)

The cast includes tenor Jussi Myllys (Giovanni), soprano Lavinia Dames (Annabella), bass Bogdan Talos (Mönch), mezzo Sarah Ferede (Hippolita), baritone Richard Šveda (Soranzo), bass baritone Günes Gürle (Florio), tenor Sergej Khomov (Grimaldi), tenor Florian Simson (Bergetto) and bass David Jerusalem (Richardetto). Lukas Beikircher conducts the Düsseldorfer Symphoniker and the Chorus of the Deutsche Oper am Rhein. David Hermann directs.

The performance should last about 2 hours and a half, including intermission. The venue is the Opernhaus in Düsseldorf.

Received this morning : programme book for Anno Schreier's 'Hamlet' in Vienna

This Saturday morning, I have received in the mail the programme book published by the Theater an der Wien in Vienna for the world première performance of Anno Schreier's Hamlet. The first performance was on September 14.

It is a 100 pages book. It contains :

- the complete cast and crew ;
- color photos of rehearsals (38 pages) ;
- synopsis ;
- Mythos Hamlet, by Jan Kott (from Shakespeare heute, 1970) ;
- "Das muss ein Ausweg sein !", Hamlet im Mikrokosmos, a dialogue with librettist Thomas Jonigk and director Christof Loy, by Karin Bohnert ;
- "Schönheit ist nicht nur Harmonie", a dialogue with composer Anno Schreier, by Karin Bohnert ;
- Vom Amleth zu Hamlet - Quellen und Vorformen, by Karin Bohnert ;
 - Er gehört der Ewigkeit - über Shakespeare, by Peter Kümmel ;
- Die Revision des Ich, by Harold Bloom ;
- biographies of the cast and crew, with color headshots ;

The book is entirely in German, but it contains an English synopsis of the opera at the end. I now have 431 programme books for contemporary operas in my collection. All the covers are available in this flickr folder.

Today : world première of 'Hamlet' composed by Anno Schreier in Wien

Today, the Theater an der Wien in Vienna presents the world première of Hamlet, an opera in 25 scenes composed by Anno Schreier, with a libretto in German by Thomas Jonigk, based on the play by William Shakespeare, Historia Danica by Saxo Grammaticus and Histoires Tragiques by François de Belleforest.

It is the composer's seventh work of musical theatre. He has already composed two operas : Kein Ort. Nirgends (2006), after Christa Wolf and Möder Kaspar Brand (2011) after Edgar Allan Poe.

Hamlet, the old king, is dead, presumed poisoned. His widow Gertrude now plans to marry his brother, Claudius. She seems to have an over-affectionate relationship with her son, Hamlet. Presumably for this reason, and on grounds of decency, the son disapproves of her mother's remarriage so soon after his father's death. The young Hamlet feels that everything is becoming too much for him: his feelings towards his mother, his father's death and the looming prospect of one day succeeding him as king which would mean having to accept him or the new king, his uncle Claudius, as a role model. What is more he is sure that it was Claudius who killed his father. How should he react in this situation ? Gertrude is soon pregnant and convinced that the child will be a boy. Hamlet feels surplus to requirements and starts to suffer fits of depression. Gertrude engages Ophelia, a high-class prostitute who also bestowed her "favours" on the late king, as a distraction for Hamlet. However, the nature of her profession is also causing Ophelia to feel depressed. She and Hamlet realise that they have an emotional bond and fall deeply in love with each other. Gertrude now persuades Claudius to murder Ophelia. Once she is dead, Gertrude sets Hamlet against Claudius so she will be rid of him as well, but her plans go awry when Claudius stabs Hamlet to death. Claudius publicly expresses his regret at the death of the crown prince before securing family ties with the pregnant Gertrude. (reproduced from the Theater an der Wien website)

The required orchestra is the following :

- 2 flutes (2nd doubling piccolo), 2 oboes (2nd doubling English horn), 2 clarinets (2nd doubling bass clarinet), 2 bassoons (2nd doubling contrabassoon) ;
- 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones and 1 tuba ;
- percussions (2 players) ;
- harp, strings.

The cast includes baritone André Schuen (Hamlet), countertenor Jochen Kowalski (Dead Hamlet, former King, a spoken part), soprano Marlis Petersen (Gertrud, Queen) and baritone Bo Skovhus (Claudius) who recently performed the title role of Aribert Reimann's Lear in Paris. Michael Boder conducts the Symphony Orchestra of the Austrian Radio (ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien) and the Arnold Schoenberg Chor. Christof Loy directs.

The opera should last about 2 hours and 15 minutes. The first performance will be broadcast by Austrian Radio OE1 on Friday 16 September.