Received in the mail this Monday morning

This Monday morning, I have received the following in the mail :

- Nils Henrik Asheim : Stormen, Oslo, program book (world première) ;
- Martijn Padding : Laika, Amsterdam, program book (world première) ;

- Bremen, Theater : July 2014 brochure ;
- Drottningholm, Slottsteater : 2014 season brochure ;
- Hagen, Theater : 2014-2015 season program book ;
- Köln, Oper : September - October 2014 brochure ;
- Ulm, Theater : July 2014 leaflet.

Today : world première of 'Laika', an opera by Martijn Padding, in Amsterdam

Today, the new opera by Martijn Padding will be performed at the Stadsschouwburg in Amsterdam, as a coproduction between Holland Festival and Dutch National Opera.

 
Martijn Padding already composed at least one opera : Tattooed Tongues with a libretto by Friso Haverkamp on the Swedish scientist Emanuel Swendenborg, first performed in Warsaw in 2001. The libretto for this new opera has been written, in Dutch, by Dutch writer Pieter Frans Thomése.

Here is the plot, as presented on the operaballet.nl website :

Robbert, the presenter of a popular television talk show, is fed up with his job. Via a radio transmitter he makes contact with the cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin and the ‘space dog’ Laika, who will drift through outer space for eternity. The show’s ratings have plummeted, Robbert loses his cool, kicks the audience out of the studio and makes a dash for it. Gagarin and Laika come to fetch him. He only has to let go...

Padding and librettist P.F. Thomése poke fun at the superficiality of ratings-obsessed television programmes. The celebrated presenter Robbert is at the end of his tether: everyone knows him, but he no longer truly knows himself. Moreover, he still lives with his domineering mother, who keeps the embalmed body of his father on display in the living room. Since his early youth Robbert has immersed himself in the cosmos, and it is there where he will find liberation.

The four acts of this 'tragic comedy' should last about 1 hour and 45 minutes including one interval, during which the audience will change seat, from the onstage bleachers to the auditorium or vice versa.

The cast includes Thomas Oliemans (Robbert), Claron McFadden (Trix Dominatrix), Marcel Beekman (Ricardo), Helena Rasker (Moeder), Marieke Steenhoek (Grimelda), Dennis Wilgenhof (Joeri Gagarin), Mattijs van de Woerd (Leporello), and a boy soprano as Laika. Etienne Siebens will conduct the Arsko|Schönberg orchestra and the VOCAALLAB chorus, Aernout Mik will direct.

Next Saturday, June 7th, the opera will be broadcast live by Radio 4 - NTR Opera Live.

New Season 2014-2015 in Amsterdam

In Amsterdam, the DNO (De Nederlandse Opera) changed its name to Nationale Opera & Ballet, but it will continue to perform mainly in the Muziektheater. The season brochure has grown from a convenient size (13.5 x 20 cm.) to a A4 size. Though Pierre Audi remains directeur, it seems to have lost its most attractive asset which was to propose at least one world première every season.

Here are the productions to be presented in Amsterdam next season :

- Claudio Monteverdi : Orfeo, conducted by Pablo Heras-Casado, directed by Sasha Waltz (new production). Further performances are scheduled in Luxembourg, Baden-Baden and Berlin ;
- Emmanuel Chabrier : L'Etoile, conducted by Patrick Fournillier, directed by Laurent Pelly (new production) ;
- Richard Wagner : Lohengrin, conducted by Marc Albrecht, directed by Pierre Audi (revival, already performed in February 2002) ;
- Giacomo Puccini : La Bohème, conducted by Renato Palumbo, directed by Benedict Andrews (new production) ;
- Gioachino Rossini : Il Viaggio a Reims, conducted by Stefano Montanari, directed by Damiano Michieletto (new production);
- Georg Friedrich Haendel : Tamerlano and Alcina, conducted by Christophe Rousset, directed by Pierre Audi (both revivals, both at the Stadsschouwburg, both first performed in October 2005) ;
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart : Die Zauberflöte, conducted by Marc Albrecht, directed by Simon McBurney (revival, first performed in December 2012) ;
- Giuseppe Verdi : Macbeth, conducted by Marc Albrecht, directed by Andrea Breth (new production) ;
- Hector Berlioz : Benvenuto Cellini, conducted by Mark Elder, directed by Terry Gilliam (coproduction with the English National Opera in London. It will open there in June 2014) ;
- Alban Berg : Lulu, conducted by Fabio Luisi, directed by William Kentridge (new production) ;

This season is rather disappointing, compared to previous seasons which usually included a new opera. At least, half of the operas are not revivals. Here is an incomplete list of operas performed there for the first time :

- Martijn Padding : Laika, June 2014 ;
- Robin de Raaff : Waiting for Miss Monroe, June 2012 ;
- Manfred Trojahn : Orest, December 2011 ;
- Peter-Jan Wagemans : Legende, February 2011 (first staged production) ;
- Alexander Raskatov : A Dog's Heart, June 2010 ;
- Louis Andriessen : Writing to Vermeer, January 2000 ;
- Louis Andriessen : Rosa, a Horse Drama, November 1994 ;
- Peter Schat : Symposion, May 1994 ;
- Alfred Schnittke : Life with an idiot, April 1992.