New in my collection : programme books from Cardiff, Los Angeles and Long Beach

I have recently received a number of programme books from various opera theaters for performances (new productions or world premieres) of contemporary operas :

- Louis Andriessen : Theatre of the World, Los Angeles (Philharmonic), May 6, 2016 ;
- Iain Bell : In Parenthesis, Cardiff, Welsh National Opera, May 13, 2016 ;

- John Adams : The Death of Klinghoffer, Long Beach, March 16, 2014 ;
- Gavin Bryars : Marilyn Forever, Long Beach, March 21, 2015 (U.S. premiere) ;
- Stewart Copeland : Tell-Tale Heart, Long Beach, May 11, 2013 (U.S. premiere, double bill with Michael Gordon's Van Gogh) ;

- Philip Glass : Hydrogen Jukebox, Long Beach, May 30, 2015 ;
- David Lang : The Difficulty of Crossing a Field, Long Beach, June 22, 2014 ;
- Peter Lieberson : King Gesar, Long Beach, September 7, 2013 ;

 
- Gabriela Ortiz : Camelia la Tejana, Long Beach, March 24, 2013 ;
- Tobias Picker : Thérèse Raquin, Long Beach, January 24, 2015 ;
- Tobin Stokes : Fallujah, Long Beach, March 12, 2016.

I now have 430 programme books for contemporary operas. All scanned covers are available in this flickr folder.

New in my collection : two programme books from Opéra de Lyon

Yesterday, I received two programme books published by the Opéra de Lyon, for the following contemporary operas :

- Alexander Raskatov : A Dog's Heart, first performance on January 20th, 2014 ;
- Michel Tabachnik : Benjamin, dernière nuit, first performance on March 15th, 2016.

The first is a 200 pages book. The opera was first performed in Amsterdam on June 7th, 2010. The book is entirely in French. It contains :

- technical information : description of the libretto and score, complete cast with tessituras, complete orchestral setting, complete casts for the world première and the performances in Lyon ;
- detailed synopsis ;
- notices on the characters ;
- complete libretto in transliterated Russian, with French translation ;
- two articles by the composer : En quelques notes and L'Opéra pour l'Histoire ;
- excerpts of secret services reports on Mikhail Bulgakov's original novel ;
- two excerpts of Bulgakov's original novel ;
- biographical timlines of Alexander Raskatov and Mikhail Bulgakov.

The second is a 200 pages book. It contains :

- technical information : description of the libretto and score, complete cast with tessituras, complete orchestral setting, complete cast for the world première ;
- detailed synopsis ;
- notices on the characters ;
- complete libretto in French ;
- interview of librettist Régis Debray ;
- interview of composer Michel Tabachnik ;
- an article by musicologist Frank Langlois on the opera ;
- excerpts of works by writers appearing in the opera : Hannah Arendt, Walter Benjamin, Bertolt Brecht, Gershom Scholem ;
- biographical timelines of composer Michel Tabachnik, librettist Régis Debray and Walter Benjamin.

I now have more than 400 programme books for contemporary operas. All scanned covers are viewable in this flickr folder.

New DVDs : 'Claude' by Thierry Escaich (BelAir) and 'Lear' by Aribert Reimann (ArtHaus)

Two contemporary operas have been recently released on DVD : Claude by Thierry Escaich, first performed in Lyon in May 2013 (BelAir Classiques) and Lear by Aribert Reimann (first performed in Munich in July 1978, ArtHaus Musik).

Both DVDs unfortunately present the same ridiculous defect : the main menu is not silent. Therefore, you hear repeatedly a short excerpt of the opera while you stay on the title page. Worse, when you have watched the whole performance, including applause, bows and final credits and patiently waited for the very end of the recording, you are immediately brought back to the noisy title menu, and that is very unfortunate. There is absolutely no reason to have any music there. Imagine a few bars of the coming act being played through loudspeakers to call the audience back to their seats after an interval, or the most famous tune being broadcast in the theater when the audience leaves. Nonsense !

The opening credits of the French opera are already accompanied by music. Considering there is no image of the conductor or the audience before the performance, it is quite impossible to know whether this music is the prelude of the opera, or just a bright idea of the editor.
The seconday menus (chapters, subtitles and bonus) are silent. Subtitles are available in English and French.
There are about 6 minutes of closing images, after the final note is played : applause, bows, with credits starting before the conductor appears on stage, followed by the director. But the composer remains out of sight.
On the other hand, the composer has been recorded in a discussion with librettist Robert Badinter (who was Minister of Justice when death penalty was abolished in France) and television interviewer Anne Sinclair. Strangely enough, the clock doesn't work during the bonus, which is supposed to last about 26 minutes.

The beginning of the Lear recording is much better : opening credits with audience noises, then orchestra tuning. There are no applause at the start, and the staging begins before the music. The opening credits are followed by the silent entrance of all the characters. It lasts almost 6 minutes. We have to wait for the end of Act I to see the conductor. There are more than 8 minutes of applauses and closing credits at the end : first the singers bow all together, then one by one in turn, followed by the chorus joined by the chorus master, the conductor (she shakes hand with the prompter !), then the composer who takes every singer in his arms. The closing credits start only after that, when all artists are bowing together. Then, as in the Claude DVD, the title menu reappears immediately, with its accompanying music. Too bad !
The oddity about this recording is the position of the last track titled "End credits" in the brochure. It starts 6 minutes after the end of the music, when the composer appears on stage. It would have made more sense to have it start at the beginning of the applause. It has been recorded in May 2014, more than two years after the première of the production, so the director isn't there.

Received in the mail this morning : program book for Iain Grandage's opera 'The Riders' in Melbourne

This Tuesday morning, I have received in the mail the program book published by Victorian Opera in Melbourne for the world première of Iain Grandage's opera The Riders. It was first performed on September 23rd in the Merlyn Theatre (Coopers Malthouse).

It is a 32 pages brochure, and it contains :

- messages from Richard Mills (artistic director and conductor), Marion Potts (artistic director and director), Iain Grandage (composer), Alison Croggon (librettist) ;
- complete cast and crew ;
- synopsis ;
- biographies with pictures.

On the composer's website, this work is listed as his first opera, though his catalogue already includes Dryblower and the Water Girl (opera for children, 2002) and Red Cap (musical, 2007), among other stage works.

The librettist Alison Croggon transformed Tim Winton's novel into a libretto. Here is what she wrote about it :

The Riders is about a man whose wife inexplicably abandons him and his daughter. Scully, one of Wintons's bluff, emotionally inarticulate men, is renovating a house in Ireland, waiting for this wife Jennifer and his daughter Billie to arrive from Perth and complete the home he is making for them. But when he goes to the airport, only Billie, traumatised and silent, is waiting for him. The novel consists of what unravels after this event, as Scully hunts frantically through Europe for his wife. (reproduced from the program book).

Grandage wrote his score for a chamber orchestra including : violin, viola, cello, double bass, recorders, bass clarinet, horn, trumpet, trombone, bass trombone, guitars, piano, accordion, sampler and percussion.

The cast for the world première was : Barry Ryan (Scully), Jessica Aszodi (Jennifer), Isabela Calderon (Billie), Dimity Shepherd (Marianne), David Rogers-Smith (Alex) and Jerzy Kozlowski (Arthur). Members of the Orchestra Victoria were conducted by Richard Mills. The opera was directed by Marion Potts with sets and costumes designed by Dale Ferguson.

The performance of September 27th was recorded by ABC and broadcast by ABC Classic FM on Sunday, November 30th. The duration was 98 minutes.

Received in the mail this morning : program book for Jüri Reinvere's 'Peer Gynt' in Oslo

This morning, I have received in the mail the program book published by the Norwegian National Opera for the world première of Jüri Reinvere's opera Peer Gynt.

It is a 44 pages brochure. It contains :

- detailed synopsis ;
- complete cast (with photos in character) and crew ;
- an article by the stage director on her staging this new opera ;
- an interview with the singer of the title role, Nils Harald Sødal ;
- an interview with the composer ;
- biographies of performers.

The book in entirely written in Norwegian, with the exception of three pages in English : a foreword by Per Boye Hansen, opera director, and the detailed synopsis. I had already received by e-mail word files of the interview with the stage director and the complete libretto, both in English.

Today : world première of 'Valentina' by Arturs Maskats in Riga

Today, the first opera of Latvian composer Arturs Maskats, Valentina, will be performed by the Latvian National Opera in Riga.

The libretto (2 acts), written by Liana Langa and the composer, celebrates film historian Valentina Freimane through pages of national chronicle from 1939 to 1944.

Valentina Freimane’s childhood was divided between Riga and Berlin where her father worked as an attorney for UFA film-studios and her mother was an enchanting society lady entertaining the elite of the cinema world the family virtually lived in under their roof. On their return to Riga, future film historian’s intelligentsia family is surprised by the Holocaust unprepared. It claims lives of Valentina’s parents and husband, and the young woman is forced to hide from authorities till the end of the war.

‘Valentina Freimane’s life story is inextricably inter-twined with events of Latvian and European history opening for the eye a panoramic view of the era in all its richness of color and in all its contradictions. The most dramatic moments of Valentina’s life have coincided with the notable events of the 20th century history : the loss of independence of Latvia when an enormous spiritual force was required in order to survive physically and morally; however, our opera is more than just about politics: a love story and deep feelings shoot through all of its events,’ says Arturs Maskats. (reproduced from the Latvian National opera website, where a detailed synopsis is available)

Today, Valentina Freimane lives and works in Berlin as well as in Riga. The cast includes Inga Kalna (soprano, Valentina), Janis Apeinis (baritone, Dima), Raimonds Bramanis (tenor, Aleksey), Rihars Macanovskis (baritone, Valdis), Ieva Parsa (mezzo, Alma). Modestas Pitrenas conducts and Viestur Kairish directs.

The first performance will be broadcast live on Latvijas Radio 3 Klasika.

Today : world première of 'A Christmas Carol' by Iain Bell in Houston

Today, the new chamber opera composed by Iain Bell, A Christmas Carol, with a libretto by Simon Callow after Charles Dickens, will be performed in Houston.

The libretto is in fact based on the one-man version Dickens himself prepared for public readings and performed more than a 100 times.

Near the end of the workday on Christmas Eve, Scrooge, a penurious businessman, grudgingly gives his clerk Bob Cratchit the next day off for the holiday. When Scrooge returns home, he is visited by the ghost of his former partner, Jacob Marley, who died on Christmas Eve seven years previously. Marley wears a long, heavy chain and warns Scrooge that he faces the same fate unless he mends his selfish ways. Marley warns that Scrooge will be visited by three spirits. Scrooge is visited in turn by the ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present, and Christmas Yet to Come. At the end of the final visit, Scrooge implores the spirit to reverse his fate, promising to be a new man. (reproduced from Houston Grand Opera website)

The tenor Jay Hunter Morris will be the Narrator, accompanied by a 15-player chamber orchestra. Warren Jones conducts and Simon Callow directs. The opera will be performed at the Cullen Theater in the Wortham Theater Center.

It is Bell's second opera. His first, A Harlot's Progress, based on William Hogarth's engravings, was first performed in Vienna in October 2013.

Received in the mail this Thursday morning : program book for François Fayt's 'Das schwarze Blut' in Erfurt

This Thursday morning, I have received in the mail the program book published by Theater Erfurt for the world première performance of François Fayt's opera Das schwarze Blut. It is entirely in German.

It is a 32 pages brochure and it contains :
- photos of the production ;
- synopsis ;
- chronology of Louis Guilloux's life (French writer who wrote the original novel) ;
- the year 1917 in Europe ;
- biography of the composer ;
- an article on François Fayt's music ;
- the complete cast and crew ;
- an article on adapting the novel ;
- an article on the opera, written by the dramaturge in charge of the production ;
- biographies of performers with photos.

Received in the mail this Saturday morning : program book for Mathis Nitschke's 'Happy Happy' from Montpellier

This Saturday morning, I have received the program book published by Opéra Orchestre National Montpellier for the world première performance of Mathis Nitschke's Happy, Happy.

 

The 48 pages book contains :
- complete cast ;
- bilingual synopsis (English and French) ;
- a 7 pages article on the composer and his works ;
- the original libretto (in French, English and German) and its translation in French ;
- biographies of the artists.

Today : world première of Jüri Reinvere's opera 'Peer Gynt' in Oslo

Today, Jüri Reinvere's new opera, Peer Gynt, with a libretto (in German) by the composer after Henrik Ibsen's play will be performed in Oslo.

It is Reinvere's second opera after Puhdistus (Purge), first performed in Helsinki in 2012. It is the second opera after Ibsen's play. The first was composed by Werner Egk in 1938.

«Who are you?» That is the question Peer Gynt asks the Bøyg, the Mountain King and the Sphinx, receiving only the answer, «Myself». But who is that, and who is Peer Gynt? What does it mean to be Norwegian in 2014, 200 years after we gained our first written constitution? What or where is the core, the seed? Is there one at all ? This work is a commentary on the position of the Peer Gynt phenomenon as a national and international Norwegian symbol. It is the story of the search for an identity that constantly escapes us. Our past and our memories, on the other hand, we carry with us whether we want to or not. The story of the evasive Peer Gynt shows that we have to face them in order to better understand ourselves.(reproduced from www.operaen.no)

There are 8 singers, all of them singing several parts, except Peer Gynt : Nils Harald Sødal (tenor, Peer Gynt), Marita Sølberg (soprano, Young Solveig), Ingebjørg Kosmo (mezzo, Elderly Solveig), Kari Ulfsnes Kleiven (soprano, Ingrid / Anitra), David Hansen (countertenor, Bogey / Cheshire Cat), Thor Inge Falch (tenor, Smith / Huhu), Ketil Hugaas (bass baritone, Troll King / von Eberkopf / Professor Begriffenfeldt) and Johannes Weisser (baritone, Priest / Executioner, Minister Hussein). John Helmer Fiore will conduct the chorus and the orchestra of the Norwegian Opera. Sigrid Strøm Reibo will direct.

The orchestra is the following :
- 3 flutes, 3 oboes, 3 clarinets, 3 bassoons
- 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, 1 tuba
- timpani and 4 percussionists
- 2 harps, piano, synthesizer, celesta
- tape
- strings

The opera should last about 2 hours and 20 minutes, with one interval. The first act consists of 3 'images' and the second of 4. Though the libretto has been written in German, the Norwegian National Opera will perform this new opera in Norwegian. There is no broadcast planned yet.

Today : world première of 'Das schwarze Blut' by François Fayt in Erfurt

Today, François Fayt's third opera, Das schwarze Blut (literally Black Blood, but usually translated as Bitter Victory), with a libretto (in German) by Marcel Maréchal after Louis Guilloux will be performed for the first time in Erfurt.

 

It is the composer's third opera, after L'Arbre de Mai (1993) and Le Dernier repas (1997). The original 1935 novel concentrates on the psychological alienation of an individual. It is based in Guilloux's memories of his philosophy tutor, Georges Palante, an anarchist thinker who eventually killed himself in 1925.

One day in 1917 an aging philosophy tutor, nicknamed Cripure (contraction of Critique of Pure Reason), feels unable to give advice to a student who is departing for the front in World War I. Amidst the horror of the war, he feels increasing disgust at life. He remembers how, years ago, he lost his wife. He is now living alone, supported only by Maia, his lazy housekeeper. His youthful promise as a writer and thinker has long since evaporated, and his body is becoming disturbingly abnormal as his feet become excessively large due to an illness. He hates himself, his colleagues and his students. He takes a class at which the students play up. In the afternoon he consoles himself with drink.
As the evening wears on he learns about disasters and local tragedies, deaths, robberies and betrayals which convince him of the irredeemable corruption of humanity. French soldiers are becoming mutinous as the war continues without hope of an end. Cripure becomes involved in an altercation at the railway station as disaffected soldiers riot. He hits a jingoistic "patriot" and is challenged to a duel, which he accepts. Convinced that he will be killed, he writes a will. To his surprise local people rally round to support him, including his housekeeper and old friends. Cripure's challenger is discovered to be a hypocrite and is forced to back off.
Saved from death, Cripure is more disturbed by the new evidence of human solidarity than he was by the consolation of despair. Unable to imagine a new life, he shoots himself. (from wikipedia)

The opera will be conducted by Jean-Paul Penin and directed by Marc Adam. The cast includes Maté Solyom-Nagy (Cripure), Jörg Rathmann (Nabucet), Katja Bildt, Marwan Shamiyeh, Daniela Gerstenmeyer, Juri Bakutov and Nils Stäfe.

Today : world première of 'Happy Happy' by Mathis Nitschke in Montpellier

Today, Mathis Nitschke's second opera, Happy Happy, will be performed at the Opéra Comédie in Montpellier. This opera is described by the composer as an 'operatic song cycle with party', and is written for soprano and chorus, chamber orchestra and electronics.

 

It is Nitschke's second opera after Jetzt, first performed in Montpellier in November 2012. The composer wrote his own libretto.

There is no alternative. The public debate is under the seal of fatalism. There is no other objective than that of universal restrictions. The economy, the climate, overpopulation – the next catastrophe lies in wait at every bend. Minute by minute, the modern media feed us bad news. We know we should act but we feel powerless. We reduce our sphere of activity. We cease asking for anything whatsoever. We retreat into our shells. The link that would constitute values other than economic ones is missing. What might we do ?
Happy Happy shows us a society in which efficacity has become the determining value. It is a matter of favouring the formation of synapses as early as possible. Schooling is shortened, studies must be useful, work better organized. Music and the muses have lost their freedom of mind as well as their playful innocence and find themselves reduced to the simple functions to fulfil : they serve for learning more efficiently, communicating more efficiently, relaxing more efficiently, and procuring a real life more efficiently. Music has lost its self-worth. Life, too, perhaps.

Happy Happy brings together, in a sort of cabinet of wonders, impressions, quotations and scenes to become the plea for autonomy and co-humanity. Going back to the origins of Greek theatre, the play, written for a singer and a chorus, explores, in so doing, the connection between individual and crowd. It turns out that the person’s singing gets lost in the hot-tempered aspiration of the multitude at the celebration. And life goes on, ‘Happy Happy’. (reproduced from the composer's website)

Soprano Karen Vourc'h will be joined by the chorus of the Opéra national Montpellier Languedoc-Roussillon and the Orchestre national Montpellier Languedoc-Roussillon. It will be conducted by Arno Waschk and directed by Urs Schönebaum.

Received in the mail this Friday morning : program book for 'Le Petit Prince' by Michaël Levinas

This Friday morning, I have received the program book published by the Opéra de Lausanne for the world première performance of the new opera by Michaël Levinas, Le Petit Prince, after Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

It is a 16 pages booklet, entirely in French. It contains :
- the synopsis,
- the complete cast,
- interview with Michaël Levinas, reproduced from the November 2014 issue of Opéra Magazine,
- the artists' biographies.

Received in the mail this Thursday morning : Program book for 'Gesualdo Shadows' by Bo Holten

This Thursday morning, I have received the program book published by The Royal Theater in Copenhagen for the world première performance of Bo Holten's opera Gesualdo - Shadows.

It is a 16 pages booklet, entirely in Danish. It contains :
- the complete cast and crew,
- the synopsis, by Eva Sommestad Holten,
- a biography of Carlo Gesualdo,
- an article on 'the opera's libretto and the libretto role',
- three acts, three cities : Napoli, Ferrara, Gesualdo,
- color photos of rehearsals,
- biographies of composer, librettist, choreographer and singers.

Received in the mail this Wednesday morning : Program book for 'The Trial' by Philip Glass

This Wednesday morning, I have received the program book published by Music Theatre Wales for the world première performance of Philip Glass' opera The Trial in London last month.

It is a 16 pages brochure unusually large (24 by 34 cm). It is bilingual (Welsh / English). It contains :
- the complete cast and crew,
- the synopsis, with a detailed description of the settings for all scenes,
- a 'profile of Philip Glass',
- an article on the relationship between Kafka and Glass,
- a few pictures of rehearsals and drawing of costumes,
- biographies,
- history of Music Theatre Wales and its involvement with Philip Glass' works,
- dates of the UK Tour 2014, with performances in 8 different locations.

The recording of the opera will be released by Orange Mountain Music.

Today : World première of 'Gesualdo Shadows' by Bo Holten in Copenhagen

Today, Bo Holten's new opera, Gesualdo - Shadows, with a libretto by Eva Sommestad Holten, will be performed for the first time in Copenhagen, on the small stage of the Opera House, the 'black box' theater, also known as Takkelloftet.

It is the composer's third opera after Maria Paradis (the story of a pianist child prodigy, contemporary of Mozart, who became blind at the age of four and was treated by Doctor Mesmer and his magnetism), and The Visit of the Royal Physician (published on DVD by Dacapo). It seems to be a new version of the 2003 work Gesualdo - Fyrste - Musiker - Morder.

We follow Carlo Gesualdo from his emotional youth in Naples to a time of artistic fervour in Ferrara and an old age of hardships, beauty, mystery and melancholy, confined to his princely palace on a mountaintop in the town of Gesualdo in Southern Italy. The story is a psychological drama about a time when art flourished, while society was scourged by reckless violence. (reproduced from the Danish Royal Theater's website)

The opera has been composed for a baroque orchestra consisting of oboe, 2 trombones, lute (theorbo), harpsichord (organ) and strings. It should last about 2 hours. It will be performed by Gert Henning-Jensen (Gesualdo), Ann-Christine Wesser Ingels (Léonora d'Este), Guido Paevatalu (Duke Alfonso of Ferrara), Jesper Buhl (Alfonso Fontanelli), Tor Lind (Shadow) and Hanna Kappelin (Maria D'Avalos). The composer will conduct the vocal ensemble Musica Ficta and the Concerto Copenhagen. Deda Cristina Colonna will direct.

It is at least the third opera to be composed after the famous Renaissance composer, after Alfred Schnittke's Gesualdo first performed at the Vienna State Opera in May 1995 and Marc-André Dalbavie's opera with the same title first performed in Zurich in October 2010.

World première of 'Le Petit Prince' by Michaël Levinas in Lausanne

Yesterday, Le Petit Prince, new opera composed by Michaël Levinas, with a libretto by the composer after the novel by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, was performed for the first time in Lausanne.

© Marc Vanappelghem

I wrote a lyrical piece addressed to children and adults from all cultures, which puts into song the story and message of the Little Prince, an extraordinary being from another place, a luminous and enigmatic child that Saint-Exupéry happens upon in the desert. The theatrical myth of the Little Prince takes on a near Mozart-like dimension. It expresses both wonder and grace, but also ultimate frailty and the sense of gravity experienced when faced with the ruthlessness of human reality: therein lies its paradoxical strength.
(Michaël Levinas, reproduced from the Opéra de Lausanne website)

The opera has been designed for audiences from 7 to 77 years. It should last about 75 minutes. It is the composer's fourth vocal work for the stage, after Go-gol (1996), Les Nègres (2003) and La Métamorphose (2010).

The cast includes Jeanne Crousaud (Le Petit Prince), Vincent Lièvre-Picard (The Aviator), Catherine Trottmann (Rose), Rodrigo Ferreira, Benoit Capt, Alexandre Diakoff and Céline Soudain. The Chamber Orchestra of Geneva is conducted by Arie van Beek. The director is Lilo Baur. The opera is a coproduction between several Swiss and French opera houses. It will be performed in Lille in December, in Geneva in January 2015 and in Paris in February.

World première of Marijn Simons' opera 'Emilia Galotti' in Koblenz

Yesterday, Dutch composer Marijn Simons had his first opera, Emilia Galotti, with a libretto by Markus Dietze after Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, performed in Koblenz.

Although love is a central theme, in reality Emilia Galotti is primarily a political commentary. The arbitrary style of rule by the aristocracy is placed in stark contrast to the new and enlightened morality of the bourgeoisie. The more feudal ideas of love and marriage thus come into conflict with the growing tendency to marry for love, rather than family tradition and power. This combination results in a rather explosive situation. (from wikipedia)

The cast includes Irina Marinas, Bart Driessen, Anne Catherine Wagner, Monica Mascus, Christoph Plessers, Kai Uwe Schöler, Jurai Holly and Hana Lee. Enrico Delamboye conducts and Elmar Goerden directs.

The orchestra consists of woodwinds (2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons), brass (2 horns, 2 trumpets), 1 percussionist (snare drum, tenor drum, 2 tom-toms, tam-tam and 3 crotales), accordion and strings. 3 trombones and a celesta are also required behind the stage.
The duration is 85 minutes.

Today : world première of 'Anna Karenina' by Thomas Kürstner and Sebastian Vogel in Bremen

Today, the Theater Bremen presents the world première performance of Anna Karenina, 'three athmospheres' composed by Thomas Kürstner and Sebastian Vogel, with a libretto by Armin Petras, after Leo Tolstoy's novel.

 

The director had adapted the novel for the stage in 2008. This is not a musical version of the novel and there is no linear story. It is rather a musical theater piece, for singers, actors / actresses and orchestra with 'human problems and the search for happiness and love' as a background.


The cast includes Nadine Lehner, Patrick Zielke, Hubert Wild, Nerita Pokvytyte, Christoph Heinrich, Nathalie Mittelbach and Martin Baum. The children chorus, chorus and orchesra are conducted by Clemens Heil. Armin Petras directs.

The composers, both in their forties, have worked together for about 15 years, mostly composing stage music for theater plays in Germany and Austria.

The performance should last about two and a half hours, including an interval.