Today : world première of 'Orlando' by Olga Neuwirth in Wien

Today, the Wiener Staatsoper presents the world première of Orlando, an opera in 19 scenes composed by Olga Neuwirth with a libretto by Catherine Filloux and Olga Neuwirth after Virginia Woolf's novel.

(C) Harald Hoffmann

It is the composer's fourth opera after Bählamms Fest (Vienna, June 19, 1999), Lost Highway (Graz, October 31, 2003) and American Lulu (Berlin, September 30, 2012).

Ever since I was a child I have been interested in everything from the arts to politics, from the sciences to human psychology (…) I have let myself be inspired by the small and big things that the world has to offer, by the wonderful diversity of life, and I see this reflected in Orlando. For it is a love of oddities, of the paradoxical, the grotesque, virtuosity, exaltation and exaggeration that are the essence of this fictional biography, which aims to create a new morphology of narration. At all times it is also about (…) a sophisticated and highly subtle form of sexual attraction that rejects being pigeonholed in any one gender. As well as about refusing to be patronised and treated in a condescending manner – something that continually happens to women, with no end in sight. (reproduced from the Wiener Staatsoper website)

The cast includes mezzo Kate Lindsey (Orlando), countertenor Eric Jurenas (Angel), soprano Agneta Eichenholz (Sasha) and baritone Leigh Melrose (Shelmerdine). Matthias Pintscher conducts the Orchestra and Chorus of the Vienna State Opera. Karoline Gruber directs.

The following orchestra is required (according to the Ricordi website) :

- 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons ;
- 3 horns, 2 trumpets, 1 trombone ;
-  timpani ;
- strings (12.10.8.6.4).

The score is published by Ricordi.

New in my collection : programme book for Peter Aderhold's 'Orlando' in Braunschweig

This Tuesday morning, I have received in the mail the programme book published by the Staatstheater Braunschweig for the world première performance of Peter Aderhold's Orlando.

It is a 48 pages booklet. It contains :

- color photos of the production ;
- the complete cast and crew ;
- the synopsis ;
- biographies of Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West ;
- Zur Virginia Woolfs "Orlando", by Heide Hollmer ;
- Alle Grenzen sprengen, by Sarah Grahneis : a discussion with composer Peter Aderhold and director Roland Schwab ;
- the complete libretto, by Sharon L. Joyce ;
- biographies : composer, librettist, conductor, director, set and costume designer, and singers, all with black & white headshots.

It is the 410th programme book for contemporary opera I have in my collection. All the scanned covers are in this flickr folder.

Today : world première of Peter Aderhold's 'Orlando' in Braunschweig

Today, Peter Aderhold's new opera, Orlando, with a libretto by Sharon L. Joyce after Virginia Woolf's novel will be performed for the first time in Braunschweig, in the Kleines Haus.

It is Aderhold's third opera after Odysseus und der Fremde (Munich, 2001) and Luther (Erfurt, 2003).

At the beginning of the action, Orlando is a young man in 16th century England, 'favorite ' of the Queen. He falls in love with the Russian girl Sascha, but she leaves him. As a man of letters, he experiences an artistically devastating self criticism. Consequently, he leaves his homeland. The now immortal Orlando lives through the centuries, experiencing their different social structures and discovering their inherent achievements. But one day he wakes up with the opposite gender and lives henceforth as a woman. During all this time, Orland keeps working on his poem The Oak Tree. (adapted from the original German on the theater's website).

The cast includes mezzo Milda Tubelyte (Orlando), mezzo Lydia Moellenhoff (Virginia Woolf), soprano Mirella Hagen (Sascha), mezzo Anne Schuldt (Pepita), tenor Matthias Stier (Queen) and bass Rossen Krastev (Nick Greene). Christopher Hein conducts the Staatsorchester Braunschweig. Roland Schwab directs.