Today : world première of Jörn Arnecke's Welcome to Paradise Lost in Weimar

 

Today, the Nationaltheater Weimar presents the world première of Welcome to Paradise Lost, a new opera composed by Jörn Arnecke with a libretto by Falk Richter after Farid ud-Din Attar's The Conference of the Birds.

It is the composer's 14th work for the stage. His previous operas include Das Fest im Meer (Hamburg, 17 June 2003) Kryos (Bremen, 14 May 2011) Ronja Räubertochter (Duisburg, 26 February 2015) and The Frost Flower Forest (Weimar, 21 May 2019).

The humans are visited by a flock of birds that denounce our political, cultural, socio-economic and ecological transgressions. The birds urge humans both to journey toward themselves and to reach a global agreement to finally change the devastating conditions. The libretto takes on the explosive sociopolitical issues of turbo-capitalism, climate change and the destruction of nature : What are we willing to give up ? What are we losing ?
It focuses on the confrontation between the current supporters and profiteers of the self-destructive system and the youthful protest movements that radically question their way of life. The spectators become involved in a kind of passion play and make their own pilgrimage through the various rooms of the e-werk Weimar. (reproduced from the Kunstfest Weimar website)

The cast includes soprano Ylva Sofia Stenberg (Knabe), contralto Noa Frenkel (Ältere Frau), soprano Heike Porstein (Frau 1) contralto Sarah Mehnert (Frau 2), tenor Alexander Günther (Mann 1) and baritone Alik Abdukayumov (Mann 2). Andreas Wolf conducts the Musiktheaterensemble and a choir of fifteen young people. Andrea Moses directs.

The performance should last about 90 minutes. The venue is e-werk Weimar.

Today : world première of 'The Frost Flower Forest' by Jörn Arnecke in Weimar

Today, the Deutsches National Theater in Weimar presents the world première of Der Eisblumenwald (The Frost Flower Forest), a children opera composed by Jörn Arnecke, with a libretto by the composer after Jörg Steiner's book.

Jörn Arnecke has already composed several works for the stage, including Das Fest im Meer (Hamburg, June 17, 2003), Kryos (Bremen, May 14, 2011), Ronja Räubertochter (Duisburg, February 27, 2015)

Princess Salicha is sad because all the plants in the desert have withered. But then a boy named Samir suggests bringing an iceberg into the desert to make the land fertile again. The two of them board a ship to the South Pole, and the exciting journey begins. It is a magical story of friendship, of the death of nature in the context of climate change, and of the courage to actively seek solutions to help the environment - as crazy as they may be. (reproduced from the DNT website)

The cast includes actor Julius Kuhn (Märchenerzähler), soprano Giulia Montanari (Salicha), mezzo Julian Bookhagen (Samir) and bass Andreas Koch (König von Amun). Niuniu Miao Liu conducts members of the Staatskapelle Weimar. Clara Kalus directs.

The opera is published by Sikorski.

The performance should last about 65 minutes. The venue is the Studiobühne.

New recordings (audio and video) of contemporary operas in my collection

Since April 2016, I have acquired several recordings of contemporary operas. Most of them are audio recordings :

- Mark Abel : Home is a Harbor, conducted by Benjamin Makino (Delos, 2015)
- Jörn Arnecke : Das Fest im Meer, conducted by Cornelius Meister (New Classical Adventure, 2003)
- Gerald Barry : The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant, conducted by Gerhard Markson (RTE, 2005)

- Francesco D'Avalos : Maria di Venosa, conducted by the composer (Chandos, 1994)
- Leonid Desyatnikov : The Children of Rosenthal, conducted by Alexander Vedernikov (Melodiya, 2015)
- Gordon Getty : The Canterville Ghost, conducted by Matthias Foremny (Pentatone, 2015)

- Hans Werner Henze : Die Bassariden, conducted by Gerd Albrecht (Koch Schwann, 1986)
- Michael Levinas : La Conférence des Oiseaux, conducted by Michel Swierczewski (Adès, 1986)
- James MacMillan : The Sacrifice, conducted by Anthony Negus (Chandos, 2007)

- Thanos Mikroutsikos : The Return of Helen, conducted by Alexandros Myrat (EMI, 1999)
- Bernard Rands : Vincent, conducted by Arthur Fagen (Naxos, 2011)

- Karlheinz Stockhausen : Montag aus Licht, conducted by the composer (Stokhausen Stiftung, 1988)
- Karlheinz Stockhausen : Dienstag aus Licht, conducted by the composer (Stockhausen Stiftung, 1993)

- Karlheinz Stockhausen : Mittwoch aus Licht (4 scènes), conducted by the composer (Stockhausen Stiftung, 1996 and 2012)

 

- Karlheinz Stockhausen : Donnerstag aus Licht, conducted by Peter Eötvös and Karlheinz Stockhausen (Stockhausen Stiftung, 1980 to 1982)
- Karlheinz Stockhausen : Freitag aus Licht, conducted by the composer (Stockhausen Stiftung, 1992, 1994, 1996 and 2002)
- Karlheinz Stockhausen : Samstag aus Licht, conducted by the composer (Stockhausen Stiftung, 1981, 1983 and 1984)

- Karlheinz Stockhausen : Sonntag aus Licht (5 scènes), conducted by the composer (Stockhausen Stiftung, 1999, 2000, 2005 and 2003)

- Michael Tippett : The Midsummer Marriage, conducted by Sir Colin Davis (Lyrita, 1970)
- Marco Tutino : Le Braci, conducted by Francesco Cilluffo (Dynamic, 2015)

- Julian Wagstaff : Breathe Freely, conducted by Derek Clark (Linn Records, 2014)
- Rufus Wainwright : Prima Donna, conducted by Jayce Ogren (Deutsche Grammophon, 2015)

I also bought several video recordings :

- Philip Glass : Einstein on the Beach (Blu Ray), conducted by Michael Riesman, directed by Don Kent, with choreography by Lucinda Childs (Opus Arte, 2014)
 - Toshio Hosokawa : Stilles Meer (DVD), conducted by Kent Nagano, directed by Oriza Hirata (EuroArts, 2016)

- Rodion Shchedrin : The Left-Hander (Blu Ray), conducted by Valery Gergiev, directed by Alexei Stepanyuk (Mariinsky, 2013)
- Mauricio Sotelo : El Publico (Blu Ray), conducted by Pablo Heras-Casado, directed by Robert Castro (BelAir, 2015)

 That's all for today !

Today : World première of Jörn Arnecke's 'Ronja Räubertochter' in Duisburg

Today, Jörn Arnecke's new children opera, Ronja Räubertochter (Ronja, the Robber's Daughter) is being performed for the first time in Duisburg. The libretto by Holger Potocki is based on Astrid Lindgren's novel. Arnecke has already composed a dozen stage works for children.

In the night when Ronia was born, thunder rolled over the mountains. Yes it was such a stormy night that even all the monsters who lived in Mattis’ Forest crawled away in fright … ” – Ronia, daughter of Mattis, a robber chieftain, grows up in the middle of the forest. One day on her travels she meets Birk, son of the enemy robber tribe of Borka. When the two’s parents forbid them to become friends, Ronia and Birk run away into the woods… (reproduced from the opera house's website)

The cast includes Maria Kataeva (Ronja), Heidi Elisabeth Meier (Birk), Torben Jürgens (Mattis), Cornel Frey (Borka), Marta Marquez (Lovis). Lukas Beikircher conducts and Johannes Schmid directs. It should last about 2 hours, including one interval. Performances will follow in Düsseldorf.

New Season 2014-2015 at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein (Düsseldorf - Duisburg)

Running two opera houses in Düsseldorf and Duisburg, the Deutsche Oper am Rhein has the opportunity to perform 24 operas, including 8 new productions (according to the program book). We shall see it is not exactly accurate.

The eight new productions are the following :

- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart : Die Zauberflöte, conducted by Marc Piollet, directed by Barrie Kosky and Suzanne Andrade. In fact, this production is new only in Düsseldorf. It has already been performed at the Komische Oper in Berlin, in Duisburg and in St. Paul, MN ;
- Richard Strauss : Ariadne auf Naxos, conducted by Axel Kober, directed by Dietrich W. Hilsdorf ;
- Emmerich Kalman : Die Zirkusprinzessin, conducted by Wofram Koloseus, directed by Josef E. Köpplinger (the production will have its première in Munich next July) ;
- Giuseppe Verdi : Aida, conducted by Axel Kober, directed by Philipp Himmelmann ;
- Jules Massenet : Werther, conducted by Lukas Beikircher, directed by Joan Anton Rechi. This production has already been performed this season in Düsseldorf ;
- Gaetano Donizetti : L'Elisir d'amore, conducted by Lukas Beikircher, directed by Joan Anton Rechi ;
- Jörn Arnecke : Ronja Räubertochter, conducted by Lukas Beikircher, directed by Johannes Schmid (children opera, world première) ;
- Sergei Prokofiev : The Fiery Angel, conducted by Wen-Pin Chien, directed by Immo Karama.

In fact, there are only 5 new productions, including a world première.

The revivals are as follows :

- Georges Bizet : Carmen, directed by Carlos Wagner ;
- Georg Friedrich Haendel : Serse, directed by Stefan Herheim ;
- Engelbert Humperdinck : Hänsel und Gretel, directed by Andreas Meyer-Hanno ;
- Emmerich Kalman : Die Csardasfürstin, directed by Joan Anton Rechi ;
- Marius Felix Lange : Vom Mädchen, das nicht schlafen wollte. This children opera was performed for the first time last February in Duisburg ;
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart : Don Giovanni, directed by Karoline Gruber ;
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart : Le Nozze di Figaro, directed by Michael Hampe ;
- Giacomo Puccini : Tosca, directed by Dietrich W. Hilsdorf ;
- Giacomo Puccini : Il Trittico, directed by Dietrich W. Hilsdorf ;
- Richard Strauss : Der Rosenkavalier, directed by Otto Schenk ;
- Giuseppe Verdi : Rigoletto, directed by David Hermann ;
- Giuseppe Verdi : La Traviata, directed by Andreas Homoki ;
- Giuseppe Verdi : Un ballo in maschera, directed by Stein Winge ;
- Ludger Vollmer : Gegen die Wand, directed by Gregor Horres. The opera will be performed for the first time ever in Duisburg next month ;
- Richard Wagner : Der fliegende Holländer, directed by Adolf Dresen ;
- Richard Wagner : Lohengrin, directed by Sabine Hartmannshenn.