Three new programme books in my collection

I have recently received the programme books for the three following contemporary operas :

- Chaya Czernowin : Infinite Now, Gent (Opera Vlaanderen), April 18, 2017 ;
- Moritz Eggert : Caliban, Amsterdam (De Nationale Opera), March 25, 2017 ;
- Lliam Paterson : The 8th Door, Glasgow (Scottish Opera), March 28, 2017.

The first one is a 72 pages book. It contains :

- complete cast ;
- Instap. Vreemdgaan en thuiskomen in 'Infinite Now', by Luc Joosten ;
- synopsis ;
- Structuur van het werk ;
- Homecoming, Can Xue - een schrijfster van de ziel ;
- Chaya Czernowin, een portret ;
- Kunst kan een soort laboratorium zijn voor het leven, an interview with the composer ;
- Vergeten waar niet te vergeten valt, an interview with director Luk Perceval ;
- De biografie van een werk - Luk Perceval bij het begin van de repetitie ;
- Het besef van iets wat ons in stand houdt - Chaya Czernowin bij het begin van de repetitie ;
- Over de muziek in 'Infinite Now' ;
- the complete libretto in Dutch ;
- biographies of all the artists with black and white headshots.

The complete book is entirely in Dutch.

The second one is a 16 pages brochure. It contains :

- complete cast ;
- Over het stuk - About the piece, bilingual synopsis in Dutch and English ;
- Artistiek team en cast (biographies).

The third one is a 56 page book. It contains :

- Cast & Creative team ;
- Synopsis and Director's note (by Matthew Lenton) ;
- biographies of director and composer, with colour headshots ;
- The 8th Door, by David Kettle (music critic) ;
- biographies of artists with black and white headshots.

The book is entirely in English. About a fourth of it is dedicated to Paterson's work. The other part is about Bartok's Bluebeard's Castle.

I now have 475 programmes for contemporary operas in my collection. I have uploaded the scanned covers in this flickr folder.

Today : world première of Chaya Czernowin's 'Infinite Now' in Antwerp

Today, the Opera Vlaanderen in Gent presents the world première of Chaya Czernowin's opera Infinite Now, with a libretto by Luk Perceval and Chaya Czernowin based on texts by Erich Maria Remarque, Can Xue and letters of soldiers in World War I.

It is the composer's fourth opera, after Pnima...ins Innere (Munich, May 10, 2000), Zaïde / Adama (Salzburg, August 17, 2006) and And you will love me back (2011). The opera is in 6 acts.

Infinite Now by Chaya Czernowin is the fruit of a montage of a short story by the Chinese author Can Xue and a selection of texts written on the front during the First World War: a novel by Erich Maria Remarque, À l’Ouest, rien de nouveau. In the two situations, a deadlocked situation for which nobody knows the solution, a world war or intimate destitution. (reproduced from the IRCAM website)

The cast includes soprano Karen Vourc'h, mezzo Kai Rüütel, alto Noa Frenkel, countertenor Terry Wey, baritone Vincenzo Neri and bass David Salsbery Fry, as well as actors Rainer Süβmilch (Paul Bäumer), Benjamin-Lew Klon (Katczinsky), Didier De Neck (Luitenant De Wit / Van Outryve), Gilles Welinski (Kolonel Magots) and Roy Aernouts (Soldier Seghers). Titus Engel conducts the Symfonisch Orkest Opera Vlaanderen with an extra quartett (guitar, electric guitar and 2 cellos). Luk Perceval directs.

The score is published by Schott Music. A perusal score is available on their website. The performance should last about 2 hours and 30 minutes.

The orchestral setting is the following :

- 3 flutes (3. also piccolo), 3 oboes (3. also English Horn), 3 clarinets (3. also bass clarinet), 3 bassoons (3. also contrabassoon) ;
- 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, 1 tuba ;
- percussion (3 players) ;
- strings and electronic designed with the collacoration of IRCAM, Paris.

The opera will be performed in Gent, Antwerp (April-May) and in Paris (June).