Today : world première of 'Egmont' by Christian Jost in Vienna

Today, the Theater an der Wien presents the world première of Egmont, an opera in 15 scenes composed by Christian Jost, with a libretto by Christoph Klimke and the composer using works of Goethe.

It is the composer's 10th opera. His previous operas include Hamlet (Komische Oper Berlin, June 21st, 2009), Mikropolis (Komische Oper Berlin, October 30, 2011) and Rote Laterne (Zürich, March 8, 2015).

The Spanish Netherlands rise up against the rule of Philip II. They are demanding freedom of religion and greater autonomy for their country. Spain’s governor, Philip’s half-sister Margarete of Parma, repeatedly  tries to find compromises. The Dutch nobility hope that she will act as their ally in search for a diplomatic solution. In  particular, Prince Egmont of Gaure is one of those wishing to negotiate a satisfactory  and fair peace with her help. Philip II, however, sends the Duke of Alba, who has a reputation for ruthlessness, to his sister with the task of putting an end to all discussion through armed force. Egmont refuses to believe that Philip is so inflexible. But it quickly becomes clear how hopeless this all is: Alba secretly has Margarete  murdered. Now he has the imprudent Egmont arrested and the only hope the  prisoner and his beloved Clara have is Alba’s son Ferdinand who seems fascinated  by Egmont’s ideas of freedom: will he break the cycle of oppression and exploitation or will he only perpetuate it ? (reproduced from the Theater an der Wien website)

The cast includes tenor Edgars Montvidas (Egmont), soprano Maria Bengtsson (Clara), mezzo Angelika Kirchschlager (Margarete von Parma), bass baritone Karoly Szemeredy (Macchiavelli) and baritone Bo Skovhus (Herzog Alba). Michael Boder conducts the ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien and the Arnold Schoenberg Chor. Keit Warner directs.

The score is published by Schott.

Received in the mail this morning : program book for Jost's 'Rote Laterne' in Zurich

This Wednesday morning, I have received in the mail the program book published by Opernhaus Zurich for the world premiere performance of Christian Jost's last opera, Rote Laterne.

The 76 pages book contains :

- color photos of the production ;
- synopsis ;
- dialogue with the composer ;
- several quotes from Jean-Paul Sartre, Paul Celan, Georg Büchner, Su Tong
- dialogue with director and designer ;
- an article on Su Tong, the author of the original novel ;
- the composer's biography ;
- the complete libretto ;
- a separate 16 pages brochure with complete cast and biographies of performers.

It is entirely in German.

Today : world première of 'Rote Laterne' by Christian Jost in Zurich

Today, the new opera composed by Christian Jost, Rote Laterne (Red Lantern), with a libretto by the composer after Su Tong's Wives and Cocubines, will be performed in Zurich.

 

It is the composers's eighth opera, since Death Knocks in 2001. His operas include Hamlet (2008), Mikropolis (2010), Rumor (2011) and Heart Sutra (2012, video available on YouTube).

the story of a young woman who is married off into a traditional Chinese family as the fourth and youngest wife and perishes as the result of their backward attitudes. Four wives of different generations live under one roof with their husband, Master Chen, and form a hopelessly catastrophic ménage à cinq. The piece is about female desire and social constraints, dreams, emotional self-determination, domination, envy, jealousy and death. (reproduced from the Zurich Opera house website)

The cast includes Shelley Jackson (soprano, Song-Lian), Claudia Boyle (soprano, May-Shan), Nora Gubisch (mezzo, Zhuo-Yun), Liliana Nikiteanu (alto, Yu-Ru), Rod Gilfry (baritone, Master Chen) and Anna Goryachova (mezzo, Yen-Er). Alain Altinoglu conducts and Nadja Loschky directs.

The orchestra is the following :

- 2 flutes (II. also alt flute), 1 oboe, 1 English horn, 1 clarinet, 1 bass clarinet, 1 bassoon, 1 contrabassoon ;
- 4 horns, 1 tuba ;
- 6 percussionists : vibraphone, marimba, chimes, 3 cymbals, Chinese cymbal, 6 tomtoms, 2 timpani, bass drum, 2 woodblocks ;
- harp, solo violin, strings

The opera should last about 1 hour and 45 minutes.

2014-2015 season in Zürich, Opernhaus

During the 2014-2015, 27 operas will be performed at the Opernhaus in Zürich, including 1 world première, 1 false new production, 9 new productions and 16 revivals.

The world première is Christian Jost's seventh opera, Rote Laterne. Conducted by Alain Altinoglu and directed by Nadja Loschky, it will be performed in March 2015.

The false new production is Richard Wagner's Lohengrin, conducted by Simone Young and directed by Andreas Homoki. It was first performed in Vienna last April.

The new productions are the follwing :

- Benjamin Britten : The Turn of the Screw, conducted by Constantin Trinks, directed by Willy Decker ;
- Frank Schwemmer : Robin Hood, conducted by Michael Zlabinger, directed by Sam Brown ;
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart : Die Zauberflöte, conducted by Cornelius Meister, directed by Tatjana Gürbaca ;
- Bohuslav Martinu : Juliette, conducted by Fabio Luisi, directed by Andreas Homoki ;
- Giuseppe Verdi : La Traviata, conducted by Marco Armiliato, directed by David Hermann ;
- Antonio Vivaldi : La Verita in cimento, conducted by Ottavio Dantone, directed by Jan-Philipp Gloger ;
- Vincenzo Bellini : I Capuleti e i Montecchi, conducted by Fabio Luisi, directed by Christof Loy ;
- Oscar Strasnoy : Slutchai, conducted by Carrie-Ann Matheson, directed by Jan Eßinger ;
- Iris ter Schiphorst : Die Gänsemagd, conducted by Thomas Barthel, directed by Nina Russi.

The follwing operas will be revived :

- Ludwig van Beethoven : Fidelio (directed by Andreas Homoki) ;
- Vincenzo Bellini : Norma (directed by Robert Wilson) ;
- Domenico Cimarosa : Il Matrimonio segreto (directed by Cordula Däuper) ;
- Gaetano Donizetti : Anna Bolena (directed by Giancarlo del Monaco), Lucia di Lammermoor (directed by Damiano Michieletto) and L'Elisir d'amore (directed by Grischa Asagaroff) ;
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart : Le Nozze di Figaro (directed by Sven-Eric Bechtolf) and Il Rè pastore (directed by Grischa Asagaroff) ;
- Giacomo Puccini : La Fanciulla del West (directed by Barrie Kosky) ;
- Gioachino Rossini : Il Barbiere di Siviglia (directed by Cesare Lievi) and La Cenerentola (directed by Cesare Lievi) ;
- Richard Strauss : Die Frau ohne Schatten (directed by David Pountney), Ariadne auf Naxos (directed by Claus Guth) and Elektra (directed by Martin Kusej) ;
- Giuseppe Verdi : Luisa Miller (directed by Damiano Michieletto) and Aida (directed by Tatjana Gürbaca) ;
- Richard Wagner : Tristan und Isolde (directed by Claus Guth).

The Zurich Opera House remains one of the most active theater in Europe, with 185 performances of 27 operas in only 4 languages.

Program books for new operas, 2012-2013 season

In the 2012-2013 season, I have managed to acquire the program books for the following new operas :

- Timo Juhani Kyllönen : The Seal, Savonlinna, July 20, 2013
- André Tchaikowsky : The Merchant of Venice, Bregenz, July 18, 2013
- Vasco Mendonça : The House Taken Over, Aix-en-Provence, July 6, 2013 (PDF)
- Mark Adamo : The Gospel of Mary Magdalene, San Francisco, June 19, 2013

 
- D. J. Sparr : Approaching Ali, Washington, June 8, 2013 (PDF)
- Diego Collatti : Die Ballade von El Muerto, Vienna (Festwochen), June 6, 2013
- Matthias Heep : Momo, Stuttgart, June 6, 2013
- David Lang : The Whisper Opera, Chicago (International Contemporary Ensemble), May 31, 2013

 
- Georg Friedrich Haas : Thomas, Schwetzingen, May 24, 2013
- Adam Roberts : Giver of Light, Boston (Guerilla Opera), May 23, 2013
- Cristobal Halffter : Schachnovelle, Kiel, May 18, 2013

 
- Knut Vaage : Khairos, Oslo, May 10, 2013
- Franz Koglmann : Join !, Vienna (Festwochen), May 8, 2013
- Helmut Schmidinger : Lynx, der Luchs, Linz, May 1, 2013 (PDF)
- Anno Schreier : Wunderland, Würzburg, April 18, 2013 (PDF)
- Kamran Ince : The Judgement of Midas, Milwaukee, April 12, 2013
 

 
- Michel van der Aa : Sunken Garden, London (English National Opera at the Barbican), April 12, 2013
- Thierry Escaich : Claude, Lyon, March 27, 2013
- Sidney Corbett : Das grosse Heft, Osnabrück, March 16, 2013

 
- Claire Renard : Orimita, Reims, March 8, 2013 (PDF)
- Michel Fourgon : Lolo Ferrari, Rouen, March 8, 2013
- Helmut Oehring : Sehnsuchtmeer oder vom fliegenden Holländer, Düsseldorf, March 8, 2013
- Benoît Mernier : La Dispute, Brussels, March 5, 2013
 

 
- Christian Jost : Heart Sutra, Taipei, March 2, 2013 (PDF)
- Nolan Gasser : The Secret Garden, San Francisco, March 1, 2013 (PDF)
- Ludger Vollmer : Lola rennt, Regensburg, February 28, 2013 (PDF)
- Alois Bröder : Die Frauen der Toten, Erfurt, February 2, 2013
- Lin Wang : Oh, wie schön ist Panama, Berlin (Deutsche Oper), January 26, 2013
- Priit Pajusaar : The Prince and the Pauper, Tallinn, January 26, 2013
 


- Douglas J. Cuomo : Doubt, St. Paul, January 26, 2013
- Peter Androsch : Spiegelgrund, Vienna (Federal Assembly Chamber of Austrian Parlament), January 25, 2013
- Philip Glass : The Perfect American, Madrid (Teatro Real), January 22, 2013

- Richard Gill : Sleeping Beauty, Melbourne, January 17, 2013
- Cristian Carrara : Oliver Twist, Modena, December 16, 2012
- Hans-Jürgen von Bose : Verkehr mit Gespenstern, Vienna (KammerOper), December 5, 2012

- Oscar Strasnoy : Slutchaï, Bordeaux, November 26, 2012
- Andres Reukauf : Die Prinzessin auf der Erbse, Hagen, November 25, 2012
- Frank Schwemmer : Die Schatzinsel, Zurich, November 17, 2012

  
- Margret Wolf : Refidim Junction, Würzburg, November 10, 2012 (PDF)
- Matthew Harris : The Mark of Cain, Chelsea, November 8, 2012 (PDF)
- Jörg Widmann : Babylon, Munich, October 27, 2012
- Thomas Beimel : Vom guten Ton, Wuppertal, October 21, 2012
- Andrea Lorenzo Scartazzini : Der Sandmann, Basel, October 20, 2012

 
- Peter-Jan Wagemans : Andreas weent, Amsterdam, October 20, 2012 (PDF)
- Gareth Williams : The Elephant Angel, Giffnock (Scottish Opera), October 19, 2012
- Jens Michael Müller (Sagardia) : Josefine, Mönchengladbach, October 13, 2012
- Carl Unander-Scharin : The Elephant Man, Umeå , October 6, 2012 (PDF)
- Felix Leuschner : Sprung in die Leere, Gelsenkirchen, October 6, 2012 (PDF)
- Victoria Bond : Mrs. President, Anchorage, October 5, 2012

  
- Olga Neuwirth : American Lulu, Berlin (Komische Oper), September 30, 2012
- Tristan Schulze : Premiere, Vienna (Theater an der Wien), September 26, 2012
- Stefano Gervasoni : Limbus-Limbo, Strasbourg (Musica Festival), September 22, 2012

  
- Elena Kats-Chernine : Orpheus / Odysseus / Poppea, Berlin (Komische Oper), September 16, 2012
- Philippe Fénelon : JJR (Citizen of Geneva), Geneva, September 11, 2012