New in my collection : two programme books from Cologne and Houston

I have recently received two programme books published by opera companies for two new operas :

- Carlisle Floyd : Prince of Players, Houston (Grand Opera), March 5, 2016 ;
- Liza Lim : Tree of Codes, Cologne (Oper), April 9, 2016.

The first one is a 24 pages brochure. It is entirely in English. It contains :

- A message from the artistic and music director Patrick Summers and the managing director Perryn Leech ;
- A Life for Art, by Patrick Summers, with colour photos of previous operas composed by Floyd ;
- the complete cast and crew ;
- an article by Michael Gieleta, the director ;
- the synopsis of the opera ;
- Who's Who with black and white headshots.

The second one is a 64 pages book. It is entirely in German. It contains :

- several colour photos of rehearsals ;
- the complete cast ;
- the synopsis of the opera ;
- Tree of Codes : Cut-Outs in Time, by the composer Liza Lim ;
- Field recordings als 'Ausschnitte aus der Wirklichkeit' in Tree of Codes, by Liza Lim ;
- Anmerkung zur Dramaturgie, by Claire de Ribaupierre ;
- Der Baum der Erkenntniswurzel aus Bruno Schulz, by Georg Kehren ;
- Massimo Furlan : ein Theater der Bilder, by Claire de Ribaupierre ;
- biography of the composer.

There is a separate 12 pages booklet with the biographies of the cast and crew.

I now have 409 programme books for contemporary operas. You can see the scanned covers there.

Today : world première of Lisa Lim's 'Tree of Codes' in Cologne

Today, Liza Lim's new opera, Tree of Codes, with a libretto by the composer after Jonathan Safran Foer's Tree of Codes and Bruno Schulz' Street of Crocodiles, will be performed in Cologne, in the Staatenhaus, Saal 3.

It is the composer's fourth opera after The Oresteia (Melbourne, 1993), Moon Spirit Feasting (Adelaide, 2000), and The Navigator (Brisbane, 2008).

The story begins with the intimation of a time and place that are both original and apocalyptic: fertile soils and magma, in which human characters and animals speak an identical language and blend together. Time stands still, enabling the narrative to move forwards in several directions, opening many possible paths. The identity and opposition principles don’t apply anymore: objects are what they are and something more, a woman is both a desirable figure and a repulsive animal, the son blends in with the father, and the father with the bird. The last picture comes back to the first one and the loop comes full circle: the son takes his father’s place. (reproduced from the composer's website)

The cast includes soprano Emily Hindrichs (Adela), high baritone Christian Miedl (Son / Doctor), Carl Rosman (Mutant Bird) and actor Yael Rion (Father). Clement Power conducts the Ensemble musikFabrik and Massimo Furlan directs.

The orchestra is the following :

- 2 flutes (I doubling piccolo and bass flute, II doubling piccolo and subcontrabass flute), oboe (doubling English horn), clarinet (doubling bass clarinet), bassoon ;
- horn, trumpet, trombone, euphonium ;
- percussion, piano, toy piano ;
- string quintett.

The opera should last about 75 minutes.