New recordings of contemporary operas in my collection

Since last September, I have acquired several recordings of contemporary operas :

- Pascal Dusapin : Penthesilea, recorded live at La Monnaie in Brussels in April 2015, during the first run of performances.
The cast includes mezzo Natascha Petrinsky, soprano Marisol Montalvo, baritone Georg Nigl and bass baritone Werner van Mechelen. Franck Ollu conducts La Monnaie symphony Orchestra and Chorus.
The recording is published by Cypres.

- John Harbison : Full Moon in March, recorded at Sonic Temple (Roslindale, MA) in June 2003.
The opera was first performed on April 30, 1979.
The cast includes mezzo Lorraine Disimone, soprano Anne Harley, tenor Frank Kelley, baritone James Maddalena and mezzo Janna Baty. Gil Rose conducts the Boston Modern Orchestra Project.
The recording is published by BMOP sound.

- Tobias Picker : Fantastic Mr. Fox, recorded in Fraser Hall at WGBH Studios in Boston (MA) on December 8, 2014.
The cast includes tenor John Brancy, mezzo Krista River, bass baritone Andrew Craig Brown, tenor Edwin Vega, baritone Gabriel Preisser, soprano Elizabeth Futral and mezzo Tynan Davis. Gil Rose conducts the Boston Children's Chorus and the Boston Modern Orchestra Project.
The recording is published by BMOP sound.

- Wolfgang Rihm : Jakob Lenz, recorded live at La Monnaie in Brussels in March 2015.
The cast includes baritone Georg Nigl, bass baritone Henry Waddington and tenor John Graham-Hall. Franck Ollu conducts La Monnaie symphony Orchestra and Chorus. Andrea Breth directs.
The DVD is publised by Alpha.

- Pascal Zavaro : Manga-Café, recorded in Rochefort in May 2018, following the world première in Compiègne.
The cast includes mezzo Eléonore Pancrazi and soprano Morgane Heyse. Julien Masmondet conducts Les Apaches.
The recording is published by Maguelone.

I have catalogued all my opera recordings on LibraryThing.

New programme books for contemporary operas in my collection

I have recently acquired several programme books for contemporary operas :

- Benjamin Attahir, Le Silence des Ombres, Brussels, September 25, 2019 ;
- Pascal Dusapin, Macbeth Underworld, Brussels, September 20, 2019.

The first one is a 120 pages book. It contains :

- detailed synopsis ;
- Benjamin Attahir, Une langue qui est déjà musique ;
- Olivier Lexa, "Vous êtes au bord de ce qui nous éclaire" ;
- Sonia Hossein-Pour, À l'ombre de Debussy ;
- Franck Javourez, Trois petits drames pour marionnettes ;
- Maurice Maeterlinck, extraits de la préface des Trois petits drames.

The entire book is bilingual (French and Dutch). It also contains a 40 pages booklet with complete cast and crew and detailed biographies of the artists (with black and white headshot). It is bilingual (French and Dutch). There is a second 110 pages book with the complete libretto, also bilingual.

The second is a 128 pages book. It contains :

- Frédéric Boyer, Argument ;
- Pascal Dusapin, Ces deux-là ;
- Frédéric Boyer, Un opéra exégèse de Macbeth ;
- Alain Altinoglu, Une concentration du discours musical ;
- Thomas Jolly, Piéger l'esprit et glacer l'âme ;
- Irina Kaiserman, Under the world of Pascal Dusapin - L'outre-monde ;
- Maxime McKinley, Schéma d'orientation (pour se perdre dans les opéras de Pascal Dusapin) ;
- Line Cottegnies, 'Macbeth' ou le sommeil assassiné.

The entire book is bilingual (French and Dutch). It also contains a 48 pages booklet with complete cast and crew and detailed biographies of the artists (with black and white headshot). It is bilingual (French and Dutch).There is a second 126 pages book with the complete libretto in English, French and Dutch.

I also received two programme books from Helsinki :

- Sebastian Fagerlund, Höstsonaten (Autumn Sonata), Helsinki, September 8, 2017 ;
- Jaakko Kuusisto, Jää (Ice), Helsinki, January 25, 2019.

The first one is a 36 pages booklet. It contains :

- complete cast ;
- synopsis ;
- short biographies of crew members ;
- Pekka Hako, The torment of inevitability, an interview with Sebastian Fagerlund ;
- Gunilla Hemming, Daughter turned mother, mother turned daughter.

The booklet is in three languages : Finnish, Swedish and English.

The second is a 36 pages booklet. It contains :

- complete cast ;
- synopsis ;
- biographies of crew members ;
- Petra Rönkä, Music rings with the power of nature - Jaakko Kuusisto's thoughts about Ice.

The booklet is in three languages : Finnish, Swedish and English.

I bought one programme book from the Vienna State Opera House :

- Manfred Trojahn, Orest, Vienna, March 31, 2019 (first performance of a new production).
 The opera was first performed in Amsterdam on December 8, 2011.

It is a 172 pages book. It contains : 

- Marco Arturo Marelli, synopsis ;
- technical details about the work ;
- Günter Figal, Im Freiraum der Musik - Manfred Trojahn und seine Oper 'Orest' ;
- Oliver Lang, Oper hat sehr viel mit Arbeit zu tun, dialogue with Manfred Trojahn ;
- Robert von Ranke-Graves, Der Orest-Mythos ;
- Karlheinz Töchterle, Macht uns Theater besser oder nur Spass ? ;
- Hilde Haider-Pregler, Über Euripides und seinen Orest ;
- Konral Paul Liessmann, Der Zauber des Dionysischen ;
- Julian Schutting, Wie viele Oreste müsste man kennen ? ;
- Oliver Lang, Zwischen Blutrache und göttlicher Gnade ;
- Georg Titsche, Über des Schreckliche ;
- Bernd Deininger, Das Schuldig-Werden öffnet das innere Auge ;
- Bernhard Baumgarter, Die Last der Freiheit ;
- Oliver Lang, Die Frage nach dem Umgang mit Schuld (dialogue with Manfred Trojahn) ;
- Gerald Resch, Ein subjektives Hörprotokoll ;
- Volkhard Steude, Annäherungen an Orest ;
- Erich Seitter, Gesangsstimmen in Orest ;
- Andreas Lang, Der Zauber der Liebe zum (Musik-)Theater ;
- Oswald Panagl, Maskenspiele als Deutungsmuster ;
- Anna Baar, Morden in Echtzeit ;
- Andreas Lang, Eine ungemein gelungene und ansprechende Oper (dialogue with Michael Boder) ;
- Daniel Ender and Oliver Lang, Mit der Schuld wird Orest leben müssen (dialogue with Marco Arturo Marelli).

The book is entirely in German.

I also acquired some older programme books :

 
- Peter Aderhold, Luther, Erfurt, September 14, 2003 ;
- Philippe Boesmans, Reigen, Braunschweig, February 5, 1998 ;
- Andras Hamary, Seid still, Stuttgart, October 17, 1990 ;
- György Ligeti, Le Grand macabre, Bern, March 8, 1992 ;

and the 56 pages programme brochure from the 2004 International Festival for New Music Theater in Munich, with 5 world premières :

 
- Johannes Maria Staud, Berenice, May 12 ;
- Qu Xiao-song, Versuchung (The Test), May 13 ;
- Vykintas Baltakas, Cantio, May 18 ;
- Mark André, ...22,13..., May 20 ;
- Brian Ferneyhough, Shadowtime, May 25.

I now have 700 programme books for contemporary operas. I have scanned all covers and uploaded them to this flickr folder.
 

Today : world première of 'Macbeth Underworld' by Pascal Dusapin in Brussels

Today, the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels presents the world première of Macbeth Underworld, an opera by Pascal Dusapin with a libretto in French by Frédéric Boyer based on Shakespeare.

It is the composer's ninth opera after, among others Roméo et Juliette (1988), To Be Sung (Nanterre, November 17, 1994), Perelà, uomo di fumo (Paris, February 24, 2003), Faustus, the Last Night (Berlin, January 26, 2006) and Penthesilea (Brussels, March 31, 2015).

The composer delves into the darkest regions of the human soul, via iconic symbols of evil in humankind : Shakespeare’s Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. The result is a bloodstained gothic opera, in which the ill-fated couple is condemned to relive its own tragedy, haunting their memory and ours. (reproduced from La Monnaie website)

The cast includes mezzo Magdalena Kozena (Lady Macbeth), baritone Georg Nigl (Macbeth), soprano Ekaterina Lekhina, mezzo Lilly Jørstad, mezzo Christel Loetzsch (Three Weird Sisters), bass Kristinn Sigmundsson (Ghost) and tenor Graham Clark (Porter). Alain Altinoglu conducts La Monnaie Symphony Orchestra and Women's Chorus. Thomas Jolly directs.

The performance should last 1 hour and 45 minutes. No interval.

The opera will susequently be performed in Paris (Opéra Comique, starting March 25, 2020) and Rouen with Franck Ollu conducting.

New program books in my collection : 'Notorious' by Hans Gefors (Göteborg) and 'Penthesilea' by Pascal Dusapin (Strasbourg)

This Wednesday morning, I have received two program books in the mail :

- Pascal Dusapin : Penthesilea, (first performed in Brussels), from Strasbourg (first performance on September 26th ;
- Hans Gefors : Notorious, first performance in Göteborg, September 19th, 2015.

I have already described the program book for the world première performance of Penthesilea in Brussels. The 100 pages French program book contains :

- complete cast and crew ;
- introduction on the opera in the carrier of Pascal Dusapin ;
- Beate Haeckl : synopsis, trilingual (French, German, English) ;
- an article by the composer, reproduced from the Belgian book ;
- an interview with the conductor Franck Ollu ;
- the orchestra setting ;
- interview with the director Pierre Audi ;
- Antonin Artaud : Le Théâtre et la Cruauté, from Le Théâtre et son double (1938) ;
- Marie Faucher : Pascal Dusapin : l'invention musicale à fleur de peau ;
- Ruth Orthman : J'ai dit un mot à la place de l'autre (Aux origines du livret) ;
- Meroe's monologue from the play by Heinrich von Kleist ;
- Marie Lenormand : Sanglante fête des roses ;
- excerpt from The Bacchae by Euripides ;
- Murat Alat : Les vertus d'une existence en vitrine ;
- an excerpt of Oscar Wilde's Salome ;
- complete libretto in German and French ;
- biographies of the artists, with B&W headshots ;
- several colour photos from the original production.

The 144 pages program book for Notorious is in Swedish. It contains :

- complete cast and crew ;
- introduction and synopsis (with English translations) ;
- Hans Gefors : The Genesis of the opera (with English translation) ;
- biographies of composer Hans Gefors and librettist Kerstin Perski ;
- Kerstin Perski : The Notorious libretto (with English translation) ;
- an article by the conductor Patrik Ringborg ;
- biographies of cast and crew with B&W headshots ;
- an article by Paul Duncan on the Hitchcock movie ;
- an interview with Hans Gefors ;
- complete and detailed chronology from the commission of the opera early 2009 to the world première in 2015 ;
- complete libretto in Swedish with English translation ;
- several colour photos from the original production.

Scanned covers of all the program books I have (almost 400) in my collection are available in this flickr folder.

New season 2015-2016 at La Monnaie in Brussels

Yesterday, I also received the program book for the 2015-2016 season at La Monnaie in Brussels.

Several productions will be staged outside the usual Théâtre de La Monnaie, in several places not conceived for opera performances. Other productions had to be cancelled because of budget cut by the federal government.

Here are the remaining productions :

- Gaetano Donizetti : L'Elisir d'amore, conducted by Thomas Rösner, directed by Damiano Michieletto (first staged in Madrid in December 2013), at the Cirque Royal ;
- Thomas Adès : Powder her Face, conducted by Alejo Pérez, directed by Mariusz Trelinski (new production, with first performance in Warsaw next month), at Les Halles in Schaerbeek ;
- Gaspare Spontini : La Vestale, conducted by Alessandro de Marchi, directed by Eric Lacascade (first performed in Paris in October 2013), at the Cirque Royal ;
- Björk (with vocal arrangements and new composition by Anat Spiegel) : Medulla, conducted by Bassem Akiki, directed by Sjaron Minailo (new production), at La Monnaie, salle Malibran ;
- Engelbert Humperdinck : Hänsel und Gretel, conducted by Lothar Koenigs, with puppets and live projections by Chicago-based group Manual Cinema (new production), at Palais des Beaux-Arts ;
- Pascal Dusapin : To be Sung, conducted by Bassem Akiki, directed by Sjaron Minailo (new production), at Flagey ;
- Florian Leopold Gassmann : L'Opera seria, conducted by René Jacobs, directed by Patrick Kinmonth (new production), at the Cirque Royal ;
- Hector Berlioz : Béatrice et Bénédict, conducted by Jérémie Rhorer, directed by Richard Brunel (new production), for the reopening of La Monnaie ;
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart : Mitridate, rè di Ponto, conducted by Christophe Rousset, directed by Robert Carsen (revival, first performed in October 2007) ;
- Mark Grey : Frankenstein, conducted by Leo Hussain, directed by Alex Ollé (La Fura dels Baus), world première.

Some concert performances are also planned (at the Palais des Beaux-Arts) :
- Anton Rubinstein : Demon, conducted by Mikhail Tatarnikov ;
- Francesco Cila : Adriana Lecouvreur, conducted by Evelino Pido.

Here are the cancelled productions :

- Erich Wolfgang Korngold : Die tote Stadt, conducted by Lothar Koenigs, directed by Mariusz Trelinski (new production) ;
- Kurt Weill : Die Dreigroschenoper, conducted by Samuel Jean, directed by Olivier Py (new production) ;
- Claudio Monteverdi : L'Incoronazione di Poppea, conducted by René Jacobs, directed by Alvis Hermanis (new production).

It is amazing what one can do, even on a reduced budget, when one is really committed ! 10 operas by 10 composers in 4 languages (Italian, English, German, French) or even 5 (Russian for the Demon), from Mozart to contemporary opera, including a world première and 2 20th century operas. This season looks very promising.

Received in the mail this morning : program book for Dusapin's 'Penthesilea' in Brussels

This Tuesday morning, I have received the two volumes published for by the Théâtre de La Monnaie in Brussels for the world première performance of Pascal Dusapin's new opera Penthesilea.

The first volume (112 pages) contains :

- the complete cast ;
- the synopsis, written by librettist Beate Haeckl ;
- an article by the composer Pascal Dusapin ;
- an lettre written by Belgian artist Berlinde De Bruyckere to J. M. Coetzee ;
- an article by musicologist Harry Halbreich ;
- an article by Murat Alat ;
- an article by Hélène Cixous, Achille est Penthésilée est Achille.

There are also a number of quotes by Heinrich von Kleist, Pascal Dusapin, Gilles Deleuze, Maurice Blanchot, Michel Foucault and Georges Bataille, as well as several photos of sculptures by Berlinde De Bruyckere.

The whole book is bilingual, Dutch and French. A 40 pages separate booklet contains the complete and detailed cast and biographies.

The second volume (44 pages) contains the complete libretto in the original German, with Dutch and French translations.

Scans of the front covers of all program books for contemporary opera I have are available in a flickr folder.

Today : world première of 'Penthesilea' by Pascal Dusapin in Brussels

Today, Pascal Dusapin's new opera, Penthesilea, with a libretto (in French) by Beate Haeckl and the composer after Heinrich von Kleist, will be performed in Brussels (Théâtre de la Monnaie).

Penthesilea, the proud queen of the Amazons ! After the accidental death of her sister Hippolyta, she took part in the Trojan War to prove the courage of the Amazons. A complex and deadly game of love and hate, attraction and repulsion arose between Penthesilea and Achilles. It was Heinrich von Kleist (1808) who brought the subject into the modern era. In his version, Achilles does not kill Penthesilea, but vice versa : in a moment of tragic madness she tears apart the one she loves with her teeth. (reproduced from La Monnaie website)

The cast includes Natascha Petrinsky (Penthesilea), Marisol Montalvo (Prothoe), Georg Nigl (Achilles), Werner van Mechelen (Odysseus). La Monnaie Symphony Orchestra and Chorus are conducted by Franck Ollu. Pierre Audi directs.

It is Dusapin's seventh opera since Romeo and Juliet in 1988. His most recent stage works are Perelà - Uomo di fuomo (2001), Faustus, The Last Night (2004) and Passion (2008). Kleist's play has already been adapted to the stage : by René Koering (Scène de chasse, Montpellier, 2009) and Othmar Schoeck (1927).

The performance should last about 1 hour and 45 minutes (no intermission). The production will be available for streaming on the opera house website from April 23rd to May 13th. No broadcast seems to be planned. The opera will be also performed in Strasbourg (Musica festival) next September.

New productions of recent operas (2)

During the 2014-2015, some recent operas will be performed again in new productions :

- Pascal Dusapin : Perelà, directed by Lydia Steier, Mainz in January 2015 (first performed in Paris in February 2003, German première) ;
- Detlev Glanert : Joseph Süss, directed by Guy Montavon, Münster, Febuary 2015 (first performed in Bremen in 1999) ;
- Philip Glass : The Fall of the House of Usher, directed by Kay Neumann, Hof in March 2015 ;
- James MacMillan : Inés de Castro, directed by Olivia Fuchs, Glasgow, January 2015 in a revised version (the opera was first performed in Edinburgh in 1996) ;
- Olga Neuwirth : American Lulu, directed by Kirill Serebrennikov, Vienna (Theater an der Wien) in December 2014 (first performed at the Komische Oper in Berlin in September 2012) ;
- Peter Ruzicka : Hölderlin. Eine Expedition, directed by Vera Nemirova, Basel in May 2015 (first performed in Berlin in November 2008, Swiss première) ;
- Kaija Saariaho : L'Amour de loin, conducted by Kasper de Roo, directed by Daniela Kurz, Linz in March 2015 (first performed in Salzburg in August 2000) ;
- Aulis Sallinen : Kullervo, directed by Kari Heiskanen, in Savonlinna in July 2014 (first performed in Los Angeles in February 1992).

New Season 2014-2015 at La Monnaie (De Munt) in Brussels

During the 2014-2015 season, the following operas will be performed at La Monnaie (De Munt) in Brussels :

- Richard Strauss : Daphne, conducted by Lothar Koenigs, directed by Guy Joosten ;
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart : Don Giovanni, conducted by Ludovic Morlot, directed by Krzysztof Warlikowski ;
- Georg Friedrich Haendel : Tamerlano, conducted by Christophe Rousset, directed by Pierre Audi ;
- Georg Friedrich Haendel : Alcina, conducted by Christophe Rousset, directed by Pierre Audi ;
- Wolfgang Rihm : Jakob Lenz, conducted by Franck Ollu, directed by Andrea Breth ;
- Pascal Dusapin : Penthesilea, conducted by Ludovic Morlot,directed by Katie Mitchell ;
- Giuseppe Verdi : Un Ballo in maschera, conducted by Carlo Rizzi, directed by Alex Ollé ;
- Sergei Rachmaninov : Aleko, The Miserly Knight and Francesca da Rimini, conducted by Mikhail Tatarnikov, directed by Kirsten Dehlholm.

and in concert :
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart : Die Entführung aus dem Serail, conducted by René Jacobs ;
- Franz Schubert : Fierrabras, conducted by Adam Fischer ;
- Giovanni Paisiello : Il Barbiere di Siviglia, conducted by René Jacobs ;
- Frank Martin : Le Vin herbé, conducted by Hans-Christoph Rademann.

1 world première : Penthesilea ;
4 new productions : Daphne, Don Giovanni, Jakob Lenz and the Rachmaninov trilogy ;
3 revivals : Tamerlano (first performed in Stockholm in 2000, then in Munich in 2008), Alcina (first performed in Stockholm in 2000, then in Amsterdam in 2005) and Un Ballo in maschera (first performed in January 2013).

Since 2007, the following operas received their world première performances in Brussels :
- Luc Brewaeys, L'Uomo dal fiore in bocca, in February 2007 ;
- Benoît Mernier,  Frühlings Erwachen, in March 2007 ;
- Pierre Bartholomée, La Lumière Antigone, in April 2008 ;
- Kris Defoort, House of the Sleeping Beauties, in May 2009 ;
- Toshio Hosokawa, Matsukaze, in May 2011 ;
- Benoît Mernier, La Dispute, in March 2013 ;
- Howard Moody, Sindbad - A Journey through Living Flames, in February 2014 ;
- Philippe Boesmans, Au Monde, in March 2014.

With an average of one new opera every season, La Monnaie in Brussels remains one of the most interesting opera theatres in Europe.

New season 2014-2015 at the Opéra Comique in Paris

During the 2014-2015 season, the Opéra Comique will celebrate its 300th anniversary.

Since Jérôme Deschamps is managing director, this theatre has offered a number of typical 19th Century French opera comiques :
 

- Emmanuel Chabrier : L’Étoile, in December 2007 ;

- Ferdinand Hérold : Zampa, in March and December 2008 ;

- Daniel François Esprit Auber : Fra Diavolo, in January 2009 ;

- Emmanuel Chabrier : Le Roi malgré lui, in April 2009 ;

- André Messager : Fortunio in December 2009 ;

- Hector Berlioz : Béatrice et Bénédict, in March 2010 ;

- Ambroise Thomas : Mignon, in April 2010 ;

- Jules Massenet : Cendrillon, in March 2011 ;

- Jacques Offenbach : Les Brigands, in June 2011 ;

- Daniel François Esprit Auber : La muette de Portici, in April 2012 ;

- Reynaldo Hahn : Ciboulette, in February 2013 ;

- Henri Rabaud : Marouf, savetier du Caire, in May 2013 ;

- Léo Delibes : Lakmé, in January 2014 ;

- Charles Lecoq : Ali-Baba, in May 2014.

Many of these operas had not been staged in France for years.

Baroque operas and contemporary works have also been performed :

- Jean-Baptiste Lully : Cadmus et Hermione

- Henry Purcell : Dido and Aeneas

- Jean- Baptiste Lully : Atys

- Johann Christian Bach : Amadis de Gaule

- Pier Francesco Cavalli : Egisto

- Marc-Antoine Charpentier : David et Jonathas

- Jean-Philippe Rameau : Platée

- Pascal Dusapin : Roméo et Juliette

- Peter Eötvös : Lady Sarashina

- Georges Aperghis : Les Boulingrin

- Oscar Strasnoy : Cachafaz

- Marco Stroppa : Re Orso

- George Benjamin : Written on Skin

For his last season as managing director, and before closing the theatre for a whole season (to build an air conditioning system in the hall) Deschamps offers a season similar to the previous ones :

- Johann Strauss : La Chauve-souris, in a new French version ;

- André Campra : Les Fêtes vénitiennes ;

- Philippe Boesmans : Au Monde, the opera that received its first performance last March in Brussels ;

- Ferdinand Hérold : Le Pré aux Clercs ;

- Reynaldo Hahn : Ciboulette ;

- Xavier Dayer : Les Contes de la lune vague après la pluie, only 2 months after the world première in Rouen ;

- Louis Varney : Les Mousquetaires au couvent.

We have 3 new productions : La Chauve-souris, Les Fêtes vénitiennes and Le Pré aux Clercs, 2 coproductions : Au Monde and Les Contes de la lune vague après la pluie, and 2 revivals : Ciboulette and Les Mousquetaires au couvent (from Lausanne, December 2013).