Today : world première of 'Les Bienveillantes' by Hèctor Parra in Antwerpen

Today, the Opera Ballet Vlaanderen in Antwerpen presents the world première of Les Bienveillantes (The Kindly Ones), an opera in 2 parts and 7 scenes composed by Hèctor Parra, with a libretto by Händl Klaus based on Jonathan Littell's novel.

It is Parra's sixth work for the stage, after Das geopferte Leben (Munich, May 2014) and Wilde (Schwetzingen, May 2015).

The main character, SS officer Max Aue, is not only a witness but above all, also a participant in the horrors of war, but he is not burdened by it. (reproduced from the Opera Ballet Vlaanderen website)

The cast includes tenor Rainer Trost (Maximilian Aue), soprano Rachel Harnisch (Una Moreau), soprano Nadja Michael (Héloïse Aue), tenor David Alegret (Aristide Moreau) and baritone Günter Papendell (Thomas Hauser). Peter Rundel conducts the Symfonisch Orkest and Koor of the Opera Vlaanderen. Calixto Bieito directs.

The opera is coproduced with the Staatstheater Nürnberg and the Teatro Real Madrid.

Three new programme books in my collection

I have recently received the programme books for the three following contemporary operas :

- Chaya Czernowin : Infinite Now, Gent (Opera Vlaanderen), April 18, 2017 ;
- Moritz Eggert : Caliban, Amsterdam (De Nationale Opera), March 25, 2017 ;
- Lliam Paterson : The 8th Door, Glasgow (Scottish Opera), March 28, 2017.

The first one is a 72 pages book. It contains :

- complete cast ;
- Instap. Vreemdgaan en thuiskomen in 'Infinite Now', by Luc Joosten ;
- synopsis ;
- Structuur van het werk ;
- Homecoming, Can Xue - een schrijfster van de ziel ;
- Chaya Czernowin, een portret ;
- Kunst kan een soort laboratorium zijn voor het leven, an interview with the composer ;
- Vergeten waar niet te vergeten valt, an interview with director Luk Perceval ;
- De biografie van een werk - Luk Perceval bij het begin van de repetitie ;
- Het besef van iets wat ons in stand houdt - Chaya Czernowin bij het begin van de repetitie ;
- Over de muziek in 'Infinite Now' ;
- the complete libretto in Dutch ;
- biographies of all the artists with black and white headshots.

The complete book is entirely in Dutch.

The second one is a 16 pages brochure. It contains :

- complete cast ;
- Over het stuk - About the piece, bilingual synopsis in Dutch and English ;
- Artistiek team en cast (biographies).

The third one is a 56 page book. It contains :

- Cast & Creative team ;
- Synopsis and Director's note (by Matthew Lenton) ;
- biographies of director and composer, with colour headshots ;
- The 8th Door, by David Kettle (music critic) ;
- biographies of artists with black and white headshots.

The book is entirely in English. About a fourth of it is dedicated to Paterson's work. The other part is about Bartok's Bluebeard's Castle.

I now have 475 programmes for contemporary operas in my collection. I have uploaded the scanned covers in this flickr folder.

Today : world première of Chaya Czernowin's 'Infinite Now' in Antwerp

Today, the Opera Vlaanderen in Gent presents the world première of Chaya Czernowin's opera Infinite Now, with a libretto by Luk Perceval and Chaya Czernowin based on texts by Erich Maria Remarque, Can Xue and letters of soldiers in World War I.

It is the composer's fourth opera, after Pnima...ins Innere (Munich, May 10, 2000), Zaïde / Adama (Salzburg, August 17, 2006) and And you will love me back (2011). The opera is in 6 acts.

Infinite Now by Chaya Czernowin is the fruit of a montage of a short story by the Chinese author Can Xue and a selection of texts written on the front during the First World War: a novel by Erich Maria Remarque, À l’Ouest, rien de nouveau. In the two situations, a deadlocked situation for which nobody knows the solution, a world war or intimate destitution. (reproduced from the IRCAM website)

The cast includes soprano Karen Vourc'h, mezzo Kai Rüütel, alto Noa Frenkel, countertenor Terry Wey, baritone Vincenzo Neri and bass David Salsbery Fry, as well as actors Rainer Süβmilch (Paul Bäumer), Benjamin-Lew Klon (Katczinsky), Didier De Neck (Luitenant De Wit / Van Outryve), Gilles Welinski (Kolonel Magots) and Roy Aernouts (Soldier Seghers). Titus Engel conducts the Symfonisch Orkest Opera Vlaanderen with an extra quartett (guitar, electric guitar and 2 cellos). Luk Perceval directs.

The score is published by Schott Music. A perusal score is available on their website. The performance should last about 2 hours and 30 minutes.

The orchestral setting is the following :

- 3 flutes (3. also piccolo), 3 oboes (3. also English Horn), 3 clarinets (3. also bass clarinet), 3 bassoons (3. also contrabassoon) ;
- 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, 1 tuba ;
- percussion (3 players) ;
- strings and electronic designed with the collacoration of IRCAM, Paris.

The opera will be performed in Gent, Antwerp (April-May) and in Paris (June).

2014-2015 season at the Opera Ballet Vlaanderen in Gent and Antwerpen

Seven operas will be performed in Gent and Antwerpen during the 2014-2015 season of the Opera Vlaanderen :

- Richard Strauss : Elektra, conducted by Dmitri Jurowski, directed by David Bösch (new production) ;
- Modest Mussorgsky : Khovanshchina, conducted by Dmitri Jurowski, directed by David Alden (new production) ;
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart : Cosi fan tutte, conducted by Umberto Benedetti Michelangeli, directed by Guy Joosten (premièred in March 2009) ;
- Philip Glass : Akhnaten, conducted by Titus Engel, directed by Nigel Lowery (new production) ;
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart : Don Giovanni, conducted by Alexander Joel, directed by Guy Joosten (production to be premièred next month) ;
- Jacques Fromental Halévy : La Juive, conducted by Tomas Netopil, directed by Peter Konwitschny (new production) ;
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart : Le Nozze di Figaro, conducted by Paul McCreesh, directed by Guy Joosten (first performed in December 1999).

In addition to these 7 works in 5 languages, Opera XXI will present for the 4th time some contemporary works, including a world première :

- Annelies Van Parys : Private View, conducted by by Etienne Siebens, directed by Tom Creed ;
- Dominique Pauwles : L'Autre hiver, conducted by Filip Rathé, directed by Denis Marleau and Stéphanie Jasmin ;
- Serge Verstockt : Hrzschmrz, opéra de trash ;
- Andrea Molino : - there is no why here -, conducted by the composer, directed by Wouter Van Looy (first performed in Bologna, last April) .