I have recently acquired several programme books for contemporary operas :
- Benjamin Attahir, Le Silence des Ombres, Brussels, September 25, 2019 ;
- Pascal Dusapin, Macbeth Underworld, Brussels, September 20, 2019.
The first one is a 120 pages book. It contains :
- detailed synopsis ;
- Benjamin Attahir, Une langue qui est déjà musique ;
- Olivier Lexa, "Vous êtes au bord de ce qui nous éclaire" ;
- Sonia Hossein-Pour, À l'ombre de Debussy ;
- Franck Javourez, Trois petits drames pour marionnettes ;
- Maurice Maeterlinck, extraits de la préface des Trois petits drames.
The entire book is bilingual (French and Dutch). It also contains a 40 pages booklet with complete cast and crew and detailed biographies of the artists (with black and white headshot). It is bilingual (French and Dutch). There is a second 110 pages book with the complete libretto, also bilingual.
The second is a 128 pages book. It contains :
- Frédéric Boyer, Argument ;
- Pascal Dusapin, Ces deux-là ;
- Frédéric Boyer, Un opéra exégèse de Macbeth ;
- Alain Altinoglu, Une concentration du discours musical ;
- Thomas Jolly, Piéger l'esprit et glacer l'âme ;
- Irina Kaiserman, Under the world of Pascal Dusapin - L'outre-monde ;
- Maxime McKinley, Schéma d'orientation (pour se perdre dans les opéras de Pascal Dusapin) ;
- Line Cottegnies, 'Macbeth' ou le sommeil assassiné.
The entire book is bilingual (French and Dutch). It also contains a 48 pages booklet with complete cast and crew and detailed biographies of the artists (with black and white headshot). It is bilingual (French and Dutch).There is a second 126 pages book with the complete libretto in English, French and Dutch.
I also received two programme books from Helsinki :
- Sebastian Fagerlund, Höstsonaten (Autumn Sonata), Helsinki, September 8, 2017 ;
- Jaakko Kuusisto, Jää (Ice), Helsinki, January 25, 2019.
The first one is a 36 pages booklet. It contains :
- complete cast ;
- synopsis ;
- short biographies of crew members ;
- Pekka Hako, The torment of inevitability, an interview with Sebastian Fagerlund ;
- Gunilla Hemming, Daughter turned mother, mother turned daughter.
The booklet is in three languages : Finnish, Swedish and English.
The second is a 36 pages booklet. It contains :
- complete cast ;
- synopsis ;
- biographies of crew members ;
- Petra Rönkä, Music rings with the power of nature - Jaakko Kuusisto's thoughts about Ice.
The booklet is in three languages : Finnish, Swedish and English.
I bought one programme book from the Vienna State Opera House :
- Manfred Trojahn, Orest, Vienna, March 31, 2019 (first performance of a new production).
The opera was first performed in Amsterdam on December 8, 2011.
It is a 172 pages book. It contains :
- Marco Arturo Marelli, synopsis ;
- technical details about the work ;
- Günter Figal, Im Freiraum der Musik - Manfred Trojahn und seine Oper 'Orest' ;
- Oliver Lang, Oper hat sehr viel mit Arbeit zu tun, dialogue with Manfred Trojahn ;
- Robert von Ranke-Graves, Der Orest-Mythos ;
- Karlheinz Töchterle, Macht uns Theater besser oder nur Spass ? ;
- Hilde Haider-Pregler, Über Euripides und seinen Orest ;
- Konral Paul Liessmann, Der Zauber des Dionysischen ;
- Julian Schutting, Wie viele Oreste müsste man kennen ? ;
- Oliver Lang, Zwischen Blutrache und göttlicher Gnade ;
- Georg Titsche, Über des Schreckliche ;
- Bernd Deininger, Das Schuldig-Werden öffnet das innere Auge ;
- Bernhard Baumgarter, Die Last der Freiheit ;
- Oliver Lang, Die Frage nach dem Umgang mit Schuld (dialogue with Manfred Trojahn) ;
- Gerald Resch, Ein subjektives Hörprotokoll ;
- Volkhard Steude, Annäherungen an Orest ;
- Erich Seitter, Gesangsstimmen in Orest ;
- Andreas Lang, Der Zauber der Liebe zum (Musik-)Theater ;
- Oswald Panagl, Maskenspiele als Deutungsmuster ;
- Anna Baar, Morden in Echtzeit ;
- Andreas Lang, Eine ungemein gelungene und ansprechende Oper (dialogue with Michael Boder) ;
- Daniel Ender and Oliver Lang, Mit der Schuld wird Orest leben müssen (dialogue with Marco Arturo Marelli).
The book is entirely in German.
I also acquired some older programme books :
- Peter Aderhold, Luther, Erfurt, September 14, 2003 ;
- Philippe Boesmans, Reigen, Braunschweig, February 5, 1998 ;
- Andras Hamary, Seid still, Stuttgart, October 17, 1990 ;
- György Ligeti, Le Grand macabre, Bern, March 8, 1992 ;
and the 56 pages programme brochure from the 2004 International Festival for New Music Theater in Munich, with 5 world premières :
- Johannes Maria Staud, Berenice, May 12 ;
- Qu Xiao-song, Versuchung (The Test), May 13 ;
- Vykintas Baltakas, Cantio, May 18 ;
- Mark André, ...22,13..., May 20 ;
- Brian Ferneyhough, Shadowtime, May 25.
I now have 700 programme books for contemporary operas. I have scanned all covers and uploaded them to this flickr folder.
