Today, the Komische Oper in Berlin presents the world première performance of a new children opera composed by Australian composer Elena Kats-Chernin, Schneewittchen und die 77 Zwerge (Snow White and the 77 Dwarves), with a libretto by Susanne Felicitas Wolf, after the fairytale by the brothers Grimm.
The world famous fairy tale has been adapted into a witty and cheeky version :
Princess Snow White is sick of it: forever having to practise her calligraphy! She yearns for the big wide world, for adventure and a wealth of new experiences. Her vain stepmother, the queen who is practically obsessed by her own beauty, is not only completely lacking in empathy – even worse, she feels no tenderness whatsoever towards her stepdaughter. Luckily for Snow White, she has a trusty companion in the form of a slightly too-large rabbit named Richard III. Together, they manage to flee from the murderous queen... (reproduced from the Komische Oper website)Elena Kats-Chernin has already composed several works for the lyrical stage, including The Rage of Life (Antwerpen, 2010), and a trilogy based on Monteverdi's operas (Odysseus, Orpheus and Poppea, Berlin, 2012).
The cast includes soprano Alma Sadé (Snow White), mezzo soprano Susanne Kreusch (Stepmother) and actor Dirk Johnston (Richard III). Pawel Poplaswki conducts and Christian von Götz directs. The performance should last about 2 hours.
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