Received : programme book for Aribert Reimann's 'L'Invisible' in Berlin

Last Friday, I received in the mail the programme book published by the Deutsche Oper Berlin for the world première performance of Aribert Reimann's 'trilogie lyrique' L'Invisible.

It is a 48 pages book. It contains :

- the synopsis ;
- Ein Kreislauf des Schrecklichen, the composer in dialogue with dramaturge Jörg Königsdorf ;
- Der musikalische Kern einer theatralischen Frucht, by Belgian writer Jacques De Decker ;
- several colour photos of the production, by Bernd Uhlig (16 pages) ;
- Todesakkord und Vokalpolyfonie, by dramaturge Sebastian Hanusa ;
- Ein Stück über Leben und Tod, by director Vasily Barkhatov ;
- Aribert Reimann und die Deutsche Oper Berlin ;
- Synopsis, in English.

The programme is entirely in German, with the exception of the English synopsis. There is also a separate 8 pages leaflet with the complete cast and crew and biographies.

I now have 490 programme books for contemporary operas. I have uploaded scans of the covers to this flickr folder.

Today : world première of Aribert Reimann's 'L'Invisible' in Berlin

Today, the Deutsche Oper in Berlin presents the world première of L'Invisible, composed by Aribert Reimann, with a libretto in French by the composer after three short plays by Maurice Maeterlinck : Intruder, Interior and The Death of Tintagiles.

It is the composer's ninth opera, since Ein Traumspiel (Kiel, 1965). His operatic output includes Lear (Munich, 1978), Die Gespenstersonate (Berlin, 1984), Das Schloss (Berlin, 1992) and Medea (Vienna, 2010).

The three plays provided variations on the themes of the inescapable fact of death and people’s helplessness when faced with it. Spaces are created that are, at once, bourgeois salon and folk-tale castle, dream and nightmare vision. And the work features characters who, in their everyday conversations, try to distract people from the unutterability of their sorrow, cruelty, helplessness and fears. (reproduced from the Deutsche Oper Berlin website)

The cast includes soprano Rachel Harnisch, mezzo soprano Annika Schlicht, mezzo soprano Ronnita Miller, bass baritone Seth Carico, bass baritone Stephen Bronk and tenor Thomas Blondelle. Donald Runnicles conducts the Orchestra of the Deutsche Oper. Vasily Barkhatov directs.

A perusal score is available on the Schott music publisher website. The required orchestra is the following :

- Piccolo, 2 Flutes, Alto Flute, Bass Flute, Oboe, English Horn, Heckelphone, Clarinet in E flat, Clarinet in B flat, Bass Clarinet in B flat, Double Bass Clarinet in B flat, 2 Bassoons, Contrabassoon ;
- 4 Horns in F, 3 Trumpets in C, 3 Trombones, Tuba ;
- Timpani, 6 Gongs, 2 Harps
- Strings (12-12-10-8-6).

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.

New season 2015-2016 at the Opéra National de Paris

This Saturday morning, I have received the program of the 2015-2016 season at the Opéra National de Paris. It is the first season entirely conceived by new general manager Stéphane Lissner, back from the Teatro alla Scala in Milan.

20 operas by 16 composers will be performed in 5 languages (there are 16 operas by 12 composers in 4 languages during the 2014-2015 season).

The season includes 8 new productions :

- Arnold Schönberg : Moses und Aron, conducted by Philippe Jordan, directed by Romeo Castellucci, with Thomas Johannes Mayer and John Graham-Hall ;
- a double bill with Bela Bartok's Duke Bluebeard's Castle and Francis Poulenc's La Voix humaine, conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen, directed by Krzysztof Warlikowski, with Johannes Martin Kränzle, Ekaterina Gubanova and Barbara Hannigan ;
- Hector Berlioz : La Damnation de Faust, conducted by Philippe Jordan, directed by Alvis Hermanis, with Sophie Koch, Jonas Kaufman and Bryn Terfel ;
- Giuseppe Verdi : Il Trovatore, conducted by Daniele Callegari, directed by Alex Ollé, with Ludovic Tézier, Anna Netrebko, Ekaterina Sementchuk and Marcelo Alvarez ;
- Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky : Iolanta, conducted by Alain Altinoglu, directed by Dmitri Tcherniakov, with Sonya Yoncheva and Alexander Tsymbalyuk (double bill with the ballet Nutcracker) ;
- Giuseppe Verdi : Rigoletto, conducted by Nicola Luisotti, directed by Claus Guth, with Quinn Kelsey and Olga Peretyatko ;
- Aribert Reimann : Lear, conducted by Fabio Luisi, directed by Calixto Bieito, with Bo Skovhus, Gidon Saks, Ricarda Merbeth and Edda Moser.

Also advertised as a new production but already performed in Salzburg in 2013, Richard Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, conducted by Philippe Jordan, directed by Stefan Herheim, with Gerald Finley, Bo Skovhus and Julia Kleiter.

Another contemporary opera will have its first performance in France (and in French) : Joanna Lee's The Way back Home (as Vol retour), conducted by Stephen Higgins and directed by Katie Mitchell.

The following productions will be revived :

- Giacomo Puccini : Madama Butterfly, directed by Robert Wilson ;
- Jean-Philippe Rameau : Platée, directed by Laurent Pelly ;
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart : Don Giovanni, directed by Michael Haneke ;
- Gaetano Donizetti : L'Elisir d'amore, directed by Laurent Pelly ;
- Jules Massenet : Werther, directed by Benoit Jacquot ;
- Richard Strauss : Capriccio, directed by Robert Carsen ;
- Gioachino Rossini : Il Barbiere di Siviglia, directed by Damiano Michieletto ;
- Richard Strauss : Der Rosenkavalier, directed by Herbert Wernicke ;
- Giuseppe Verdi : La Traviata, directed by Benoit Jacquot ;
- Giuseppe Verdi : Aida, directed by Olivier Py.

Here are some interesting statistics :

- 2 operas composed in the 18th century, 11 from the 19th century, 6 from the 20th century and 1 from the 21st century ;
- 8 operas in Italian, 5 in French, 5 in German, 1 in Hungarian and 1 in Russian.

Reimann's opera is a welcome new production considering we will celebrate the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death in 2016. This season is the most interesting we had ath the Opéra national de Paris for years. Let's hope that it will be followed by other new productions including world premières.

DVD recordings of contemporary operas in my collection

I have the following DVD recordings of contemporary operas in my collection :

- Mark Adamo : Little Women, Summers / Webster, Naxos
- John Adams : Doctor Atomic, Gilbert / Woolcock, Sony
- John Adams : Doctor Atomic, Renes / Sellars, Opus Arte

- John Adams : El Nino, Nagano / Sellars, ArtHaus Musik
- John Adams : Nixon in China, Adams / Sellars, Nonesuch
- Thomas Adès : Powder her Face, Adès / Alden, Digital Classics

- Thomas Adès : The Tempest, Adès / Lepage, Deutsche Grammophon
- George Benjamin : Written on Skin, Benjamin / Mitchell, Opus Arte
- Harrison Birtwistle : The Minotaur, Pappano / Langridge, Opus Arte

- Philippe Boesmans : Julie, Ono / Bondy, BelAir Classiques
- Daniel Catan : Il Postino, Gershon / Daniels, Sony
- Unsuk Chin : Alice in Wonderland, Nagano / Freyer, Unitel Classica

- Kyong Mee Choi : The Eternal Tao, Lewanski / Choi, Ravello
- John Corigliano : The Ghosts of Versailles, Levine / Graham, MetOpera

- Chaya Czernowin : Pnima... ins Innere, Kalitzke / Guth, mode

- Michael Daugherty : Jackie O, Franklin / Michieletto, Dynamic

- Jonathan Dove : The Adventures of Pinocchio, Parry / Duncan, Opus Arte
- Pascal Dusapin : Faustus, the Last Night, Stockhammer / Mussbach, naïve

 

- John Eaton : The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Kramer-Johansen / Capalbo, Albany

- Philip Glass : Kepler, Russell Davies / Missotten, OMM

- Philip Glass : Satyagraha, Russell Davies / Freyer, ArtHaus Musik

- Philip Glass : The Perfect American, Russell Davies / McDermott, Opus Arte
- Joan Guinjoan : Gaudi, Pons / Huerga, Columna Musica

- Cristobal Halffter : Lazaro, Fritzsch / Schulin, Neos

- Jake Heggie : Moby-Dick, Summers / Foglia, EuroArts
- Mikko Heiniö : Eerik XIV, Segerstam / Söderblom, Turku Music Festival
- Hans Werner Henze : Boulevard Solitude, Pesko / Lehnhoff, EuroArts

- Hans Werner Henze : Der junge Lord, von Dohnanyi / Sellner, Medici Arts
- Hans Werner Henze : Der Prinz von Homburg, Sawallisch / Lehnhoff, ArtHaus Musik
- Hans Werner Henze : L'Upupa und der Triumph der Sohnesliebe, Stenz / Dorn, EuroArts

- Bo Holten : The Visit of the Royal Physician, Holten / Oskarson, Dacapo
- Rued Langgaard : Antikrist, Dausgaard / Holm, Dacapo
- György Ligeti : Le Grand Macabre, Boder / Ollé, ArtHaus Musik

- Lorin Maazel : 1984, Maazel / Lepage, Decca
- Nicholas Maw : Sophie's Choice, Rattle / Nunn, Opus Arte
- Benoît Mernier : Frühlings Erwachen, Alber / Boussard, cypres

- Olivier Messiaen : Saint François d'Assise, Metzmacher / Audi, Opus Arte
- Luca Mosca : Signor Goldoni, Molino / Livermore, Dynamic
- Elisabeth Naske : Das Städtchen Drumherum, Praxmarer / Lutz, Belvedere

- Laurent Petitgirard : Joseph Merrick, The Elephant Man, Petitgirard / Mesguich, Marco Polo
- André Previn : A Streetcar Named Desire, Previn / Graham, ArtHaus Musik
- Einojuhani Rautavaara : Aleksis Kivi, Franck / Milonoff, Ondine

- Einojuhani Rautavaara : Rasputin, Franck / Kiljunen, Ondine
- Einojuhani Rautavaara : The Gift of the Magi, Sakari / Heikinheimo, ArtHaus Musik
- Aribert Reimann : Die Gespenstersonate, Layer / Lukas-Kindermann, ArtHaus Musik

- Aribert Reimann : Medea, Boder / Marelli, ArtHaus Musik
- Wolfgang Rihm : Dionysos, Metzmacher / Audi, EuroArts
- Wolfgang Rihm : Œdipus, Prick / Friedrich, ArtHaus Musik

- Poul Ruders : Selma Jezkova, Schønwandt / Holten, Dacapo
- Kaija Saariaho : L'Amour de loin, Salonen / Sellars, Deutsche Grammophon
- Aulis Sallinen : The Palace, Kamu / Holmberg, ArtHaus Musik

- Aulis Sallinen : The Red Line, Franck / Milonoff, Ondine
- Salvatore Sciarrino : Luci mie traditrici, Angius / Pade, EuroArts
- Elzbieta Sikora : Madame Curie, Michniewski / Weiss, Dux

- Tan Dun : Marco Polo, Tan Dun / Audi, Opus Arte
- Tan Dun : The First Emperor, Tan Dun / Yimou, EMI Classics
- Kari Tikka : Luther, Tikka / Tapola, Ondine

- Michael Tippett : King Priam, Norrington / Hytner, ArtHaus Musik
- Mark-Anthony Turnage : Anna Nicole, Pappano / Jones, Opus Arte
- Mark-Anthony Turnage : Greek, Bernas / Maniura - Moore, ArtHaus Musik

- Peter Westergaard : Alice in Wonderland, Pratt / Westergaard, Albany
- Bernd Alois Zimmermann : Die Soldaten, Kontarsky / Kupfer, ArtHaus Musik
- Bernd Alois Zimmermann : Die Soldaten, Metzmacher / Hermanis, EuroArts

Other DVDs recently acquired :
http://cowarc.blogspot.fr/2014/09/newly-acquired-tchaikowsky-merchant-of.html
http://cowarc.blogspot.fr/2014/05/recently-acquired-recordings.html
http://cowarc.blogspot.fr/2014/04/blog-post.html