3 new programme books in my collection : Battistelli, Fairouz and Nemtsov

I have recently received three new programme books for contemporary operas :

- Giorgio Battistelli : Lot, Hannover, April 1, 2017 ;
- Mohammed Fairouz : The New Prince, Amsterdam, March 24, 2017 ;
- Sarah Nemtsov : Sacrifice, Halle, March 5, 2017.

 The first one is a 64 pages book. It contains :

- synopsis ;
- Klaus Angermann : Experiment mit offenem Ausgang - Vorläufige Bemerkungen zu Giorgio Battistellis Oper Lot ;
- Umberto Eco : Projekt einer Apokalypse ;
- Pier Paolo Pasolini : Ach, meine nackten Füsse... ;
- Julia Kristeva : Toccata und Fuge für den Fremden ;
- Klaus Lelek : A und O ;
- Pier Paolo Pasolini : Die Zerstörung der Selbsteinschätzung ;
- biographies of composer and librettist with black and white headshots ;
- complete libretto in German ;
- complete cast for the first performance (on the last page) ;
- several colour photos of the piano dress rehearsal on March 22.

The programme book is entirely written in German.

The second is a 88 pages book. It contains :

- complete cast ;
- Marijke Schouten : Machiavelli's wijsheid van de straat (Machiavelli's wisdom of the street) ;
- Frans van Dooren : Machiavelli's ideeënwereld (Machiavelli's world of ideas) ;
- Mark de Boorder : Eigentijdse figuren (Contemporary figures) ;
- Eelco Runia : Het Ancien régime zag de revolutie ook niet aankomen (The Ancient Regime did not se the Revolution coming) ;
- Edward Said : Het gezag de waarheid zeggen (Speaking Truth to Power) ;
- Fabienne Vegt : Korte inhoud (Synopsis) ;
- complete libretto ;

The entire programme book is in Dutch. The libretto is bilingual, Dutch and English.

The third and last one is a 16 pages leaflet. It contains :

- the complete cast ;
- May I be Sacrificed - Möge ich geopfert sein, by Michael v. zur Mühlen.

It is entirely in German.

I now have 472 programme books for contemporary operas. All the scanned covers have been uploaded to this flickr folder.

Today : world première of Sarah Nemtsov's 'Sacrifice' in Halle

Today, the Buehnen Halle presents the world première of Sarah Nemtsov's opera Sacrifice, with a libretto by Dirk Laucke.

(c) Neda Navaee

It is the composer's fourth opera, after Herzland (Munich, 2009), L'Absence (Munich, 2012) and Alt (Salzburg, 2015). The opera is in 4 acts.

You want to go to the opera. Henry and Jana want to go to IS. Off Lesbos sinks a ship and you are invited to a party. The news agencies report : atrocities in Syria, borders are closed, tear gas used against desperate people fleeing. Tax returns are yet to be filed. Youngsters are fleeing from a burning refugee camp. Jungle camp is to be extended. A guy on the street explains that everything is actually quite different as presented in the media. Distressing times of crisis caused by a flood of contradictory information. Pictures you want to keep at a distance. (freely adapted from the Buehne Halle website)

The cast includes soprano Anke Berndt (Frau), baritone Gerd Vogel (Stereo-Typ, Azuz), bass Vladislav Solodyagin (Mann) and soprano Tehila Goldstein (Henny). Michael Wendeberg conducts the Staatskapelle Halle. Florian Lutz directs.

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

- band : piano, electric guitar, piano, harp and drum kit ;
- 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons ;
- 1 horn, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, 1 tuba ;
- electric guitar, keyboard, piano, harp ;
- 3 percussions ;
- strings (6.6.5.4.3).

The performance should last about 90 minutes, with no intermission.