Two new programme books in my collection : Johannes Harneit and Siegfried Matthus

Yesterday, I have received two new programme books for contemporary operas :

- Johannes Harneit, Ichundich, Hamburg (opera stabile), November 3, 2019 ;
- Siegfried Matthus, Effi Briest, Cottbus, October 19, 2019.

The first one is a 24 pages brochure. It contains :

- synopsis ;
- Johannes Blum : Die Dichterin Else Lasker-Schüler ;
- Lis Arends : Reflexionen zu Else Lasker-Schülers 'Ichundich' ;
- Johannes Blum : Gespräch mit dem Komponisten Johannes Harneit ;
- composer's biography ;
- 8 pages of color photos from the piano dress rehearsal on October 28, 2019 ;
- a separate sheet of paper with the complete cast and crew.

The brochure is entirely in German.

The second one is also a 24 pages brochure. It contains :

- complete cast and crew ;
- detailed synopsis ;
- Bernhard Lenort : Zum Roman und zu den Hauptfiguren ;
- Jakobs Peters-Messer : Theodor Fontanes 'Effi Briest' als Musiktheater ;
- Siegfried Matthus : Über das Libretto, die Oper, Liudmila Lokaichuk und meinen Vater ;
- several color photos from rehearsals.

I now have 703 programme books for contemporary operas. I have scanned all the covers and uploaded them to this flickr folder.

Today : world première of 'IchundIch' by Johannes Harneit in Hamburg

Today, the Staatsoper Hamburg presents the world première of IchundIch, an opera in 5 acts composed by Johannes Harneit, with a libretto by Lis Arends after Else Lasker-Schüler's play.

It is the composer's third opera after Idiot (2001) and Alice im Wunderland (2015).

After Hitler seized power, the poet Else Lasker-Schüler fled to Zurich and lived in Jerusalem from 1939 until her death in 1945. Her eloquent and bitterly satirical play 'IchundIch' is a clear-minded drama of her times and life in Jerusalem. It is set in Biblical hell as well as in the Hinnom Valley in Jerusalem, “Hell’s Valley”, and it is set both in eternity and in the present time of 1941. The dramatis personae include (orthographically masked): Faust, Mephisto and Marta Schwertlein, but also the “Nacis” Göbbels, Göhring and Hitler, the poet (Lasker-Schüler herself), the stage director Max Reinhardt and the Haaretz reviewer Gershon Swet. In her play, the author imagines the utopian arrangement between Faust and Mephisto as a historical compromise against right-wing power, which then perishes in a stream of lava. (reproduced from the Staatsoper Hamburg website)

The cast includes soprano Gabriele Rossmanith (Dichterin), tenor Daniel Kluge (Faust), bass Martin Summer (Mephisto 1), baritone Zak Kariithi (Mephisto 2), mezzo Ida Aldrian (Marthe), tenor Hiroshi Amako (Goebbels) and soprano Hellen Kwon (Vogelscheuche). The composer conducts the Projektensemble der Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg and the Chor of the Hamburg State Opera. Christian von Treskow directs.

The performance should last 3 hours. The venue is the Rehearsal Stage 1 (Probebühne 1).

New programme books in my collection

I have recently acquired several programme books for contemporary operas :

 - John Adams, The Death of Klinghoffer, London (ENO), February 25, 2012.
It is a 98 pages book, with only 48 pages related to the opera. The opera was first performed in Brussels in 1991. I already have programme books from Lyon (1991) and Long Beach (2014).
- John Adams, Doctor Atomic, London (ENO), February 25, 2009.
It is a 78 pages book, with 36 pages related to the opera. The opera was first performed in San Francisco in 2005. I already have programme books from Amsterdam (2007) and Strasbourg (2014).
- Gavin Bryars, Doctor Ox's Experiment, London (ENO), June 15, 1998.
It is a 42 pages brochure. This is the programme for the world première performance.

 
- John Cage, Europeras 1 & 2, Braunschweig, November 25, 2017.
It is a 32 pages brochure. The operas were first performed in Frankfurt in 1987.
- Elliott Carter, What Next ?, München, November 20, 2011.
It is a 40 pages brochure. It also includes a separate 12 pages leaflet with biographies of the artists. The opera was first performed in Berlin in 1999. Puccini's Gianni Schicchi was performed as the first part of a double bill evening. I have another programme for a concert version in Paris in 2000.
- Peter Eötvös, Tri Sestri, München, February 8, 2010.
It is a 44 pages brochure. It also includes a separate 12 pages leaflet with biographies of the artists. The opera was first performed in Lyon in 1998. I have the programme book the the world première and another one for performances at the Wiener Staatsoper in March 2016.

 
- Philip Glass, The Making of the Representative for Planet 8, London (ENO), November 17, 1988.
It is a 48 pages brochure. The opera was first performed in Houston in July 1988. The performances in London were the first in Europe.
- Philip Glass, The Perfect American, London (ENO), June 1, 2013.
It is a 76 pages book, with only 38 pages related to the opera. The opera was first performed in Madrid in January 2013. I have the programme book for the world première.
- Iain Hamilton, The Royal Hunt of the Sun, London (ENO), February 2, 1977.
It is a 44 pages brochure. This is the programme for the world première.

- Hans Werner Henze, Die Bassariden, München, May, 19, 2008.
It is a 140 pages book. It also includes a separate 6 pages leaflet with biographies of the artists. The opera was first performed in Salzburg in 1966. I have another programme book for performances in Paris in 2005.
- Helmut Lachenmann, Das Mädchen mit den Schwefelhölzern, Hamburg, January 26, 1997.
It is a 48 pages book. This is the programme book for the world première. I already have two other programme books for this opera : Paris in September 2001 and Stuttgart in October 2001.
- Jost Meier, Dreyfus - Die Affäre, Basel, October 16, 1994.
It is a 112 pages book. The opera was first performed in Berlin in May 1994. I have another programme brochure for performances at New York City Opera in April 1996.

- Lucia Ronchetti, Rivale, Braunschweig, October 29, 2017.
It is a 16 pages leaflet. The opera was first performed in Berlin on October 8, 2017. I have the programme book for the world première.
- Poul Ruders, The Handmaid's Tale, London (ENO), April 3, 2003.
It is a 96 pages brochure, with only 40 pages dedicated to the opera. The opera was first performed in Copenhagen in 2000.
- Aulis Sallinen, The King Goes Forth to France, London (Royal Opera House), April 1, 1987.
It is a 72 pages brochures, with only 32 pages dedicated to the opera. The opera was first performed in Savonlinna in 1984.

- Mark Anthony Turnage, Greek, London (ENO), September 27, 1990.
It is a 64 pages brochure. The opera was first performed in München in June 1988. I have two other programme books for this opera : Wuppertal in 1992 and Paris in 2000.
- Mark Anthony Turnage, The Silver Tassie, London (ENO), February 16, 2000.
It is a 96 pages brochure. This is the programme for the world première.
- Rufus Wainwright, Prima Donna, Augsburg, February 3, 2018.
It is a 24 pages brochure. The opera was first performed in Manchester in 2009.

I now have 586 programme books for contemporary operas. I have scanned and uploaded all the covers to this flickr folder.

Just received : two programme books from Hamburg (Dvorak and Ruzicka)

This Tuesday morning, I have received in the mail two programme books published by the Staatsoper Hamburg for two new operas :

- Jan Dvorak, Frankenstein, May 20, 2018 ;
- Peter Ruzicka, Benjamin, June 3, 2018.

The first one is a 48 pages book. It contains :

- Mutability, a poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley, in English with facing translation in German ;
- Ohne eine Liebe - Die Geschichte von viktor Frankenstein und seiner Schöpfung, by director Philipp Stölzl ;
- Wie das Böse in die Welt kommt, dialogue with librettist and composer Jan Dvorak, by Janina Zell and Lisa-Michelle Helten ;
- Das verachtenswerteste Leben, by Mary Shelley ;
- Die Geburtsstunde zweier Kreaturen, excerpt of the introduction to Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus, by Mary Shelley ;
- Ein Funken des Seins, excerpt of Mary Shelley's novel ;
- Effektiver Umgang mit Unwissenheit, Brian Eno über Künstliche Intelligenz ;
- Trägt irgendjemand die Verantwortung für dieses Gebilde ? David Christian über Künstliche Intelligenz ;
- several colour photos from rehearsals and several B & W stills of Boris Karloff as Frankenstein.

The book also contains a 4 pages leaflet with complete cast and crew for the first performance.

The second is a 64 pages book. I tcontains :

- synopsis, by librettiste Yona Kim ;
- Die Suche als Daseinsform, interview with composer Peter Ruzicka and librettist Yona Kim, by Detlef Brandenburg ;
- Kontexte, by Habakuk Traber ;
- Walter Benjamin, eine musiktheatralische Metapher, by librettist Yona Kim ;
- Im Augenblick der Gefahr, by Angela Beuerle ;
- Chronology of Benjamin ;
- detailed biographies of Peter Ruzicka and Yona Kim ;
- complete libretto, in German ;
- several colour photos of rehearsals.

The book also contains a 4 pages leaflet with complete cast and crew for the first performance.

I now have 568 programme books for contemporary operas. All scanned covers have been uploaded to this flickr folder.

Today : world première of Peter Ruzicka's 'Benjamin' in Hamburg

Today, the Staatsoper Hamburg presents the world première of Benjamin, an opera in seven stations composed by Peter Ruzicka, with a libretto by Yona Kim.

It is the composer's third opera, after Celan (Dresden, March 25, 2001) and Hölderlin (Berlin, November 16, 2008).

Walter Benjamin was a German philosopher and cultural scientist. A Jew and Marxist, his path through the 20th century was irregular and meandering. The figures accompanying Benjamin on his last wanderings through life designate areas of his influence. Hannah Arendt spoke of the 'banality of evil', Benjamin’s chess partner Bertolt Brecht polemicised against his 'Jewish fascism', the Kabala researcher Gershom Scholem urged his friend to come to Israel, and with the Latvian actress Asja Lacis, Benjamin fantasised about proletarian children’s theatre. To Benjamin, it was not world revolution, but 'weak messianic power' that pointed the way to a just society. While escaping to the USA, Benjamin took his own life in the Spanish border town of Port-Bou in 1940. (reproduced from the Staatsoper Hamburg website)

The cast includes soprano Lini Gong (Asja L.), mezzo Dorottya Lang (Hannah A.), tenor Andreas Conrad (Bertolt B.) ; baritone Dietrich Henschel (Benjamin), bass Tigran Martirossian (Gerhsom Sholem) and mezzo Marta Swiderska (Dora S.). Peter Ruzicka conducts the Philharmoniches Staatsorchester Hamburg, the Choir of the Staatsoper Hamburg and the Hamburger Alsterspatzen. Yona Kim directs.

The score is published by Sikorski. According to the publisher's website, the required orchestra is the following :

- 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 3 clarinets (doubling bass clarinet) ; 3 bassoons (doubling contrabassoon) ;
- 3 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, 1 tuba ;
- timpani and 4 percussionists ;
- piano / celesta ;
- strings (10.8.6.5.5).

The performance should last about 100 minutes.

Walter Benjamin was already the main character of Benjamin, dernière nuit, composed by Michel Tabachnik, an opera first performed in Lyon on March 15, 2016.

Today : world première of Jan Dvorak's 'Frankenstein' in Hamburg

Today, the Staatsoper Hamburg presents the world première of Jan Dvorak's opera Frankenstein, with a libretto in German based on Mary Shelley's novel.

(c) Julia Kneuse

It is the composer's second opera, after 20.000 Meilen unter dem Merr (Eisenach, May 28, 2011, after Jules Verne's novel).

Frankenstein, a young scientist thirsting for knowledge creates a humanoid being which drives him and itself into death. (reproduced from the Staatsoper Hamburg website).

The cast includes actress Catrin Striebeck (Das Monster), baritone Viktor Rud (Viktor Frankenstein), soprano Andromahi Raptis (Elisabeth Delacey), tenor Sascha Emanuel Kramer (Ernst Frankenstein), baritone Alin Anca (Vater Delacay) and bass baritone Stefan Sevenich (Alois Frankenstein). Johannes Harneit conducts the chorus and orchestra of the Staatsoper Hamburg. Philipp Stölzl directs.

The required orchestra is the following :

- 1 clarinet (doubling bass clarinet in B) ; 2 horns in F ;
- 1 piano (doubling Celesta and toy piano) ;
- 1 electric guitar ;
- 2 percussionists ;
- strings : 5.4.3.3.1.

The full score published by Ricordi Berlin is available online for perusal.

The performance should last about 2 hours and 30 minutes. The venue is Kampnagel. Another opera with the same title, composed by Mark Grey, will have its first performance in Brussels on March 8, 2019.

New program books from Germany and the USA in my collection

I have recently received the following program books for recent performances of contemporary operas :

1) John Adams : Girls of the Golden West, San Francisco, November 21, 2017.
It is a 92 pages brochure. It contains :
- Richard Scheinin, Striking Gold ;
- synopsis ;
- cast and crew ;
- Alice Miller Cotter, Homeward ;
- Gary Kamiya, The Dark Side of the Gold Rush ;
- Marlene Smith-Baranzini, Louise Clappe and "Dame Shirley" in the Golden West ;
- JoAnn Levy, Inventing Lola ;
- artist profiles, with black and white headshots.
The brochure is entirely in English.

2) Jesse Broekman and Irene Galindo Quero : immer weiter, Hamburg, July 7, 2017.
It is a 24 pages booklet. It contains :
- Jana Beckmann : Bilanz im Voraus ;
- Jana Beckmann and Janina Zell : Dem Zuhören einen Freiraum schaffen, dialogue with composers Irene Galindo Quero and Jesse Broekman ;
- complete libretto ;
- complete cast and crew ;
- color photos of production.
It is entirely in German.

3) Laura Kaminsky : As One, New Orleans, June 2nd, 2017.
The opera was first performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York on September 4, 2014.
It is a 8 pages booklet. It contains :
- complete cast and crew ;
- synopsis ;
- biographies of artists with color headshots.
It is entirely in English.

4) Thomas Kürstner and Sebastian Vogel : Wahlverwandtschaften, Bremen, February 24, 2018.
It is a 64 pages booklet. It contains :
- complete cast and crew ;
- Isabelle Becker (dramaturge), Vor allem ungelöst, dialogue with director Stephan Kimmig and conductor Aki Schmitt ;
- Deborah Ziegler, Vom Aufbrechen, on Kürstner's and Vogel's theatrical works ;
- Erich Fromm : Egoismus zu zweit ;
- Robert Harrison : Paradies ;
- Gilles Clément : Sekundäre Natur ;
- Dort ist Freiheit (excerpt of Armin Petras' libretto) ;
- Simon Strauss : Planen und Träumen ;
- Hannah Fry : Mathematik der Liebe ;
- biographies of director Armin Petras and composers Thomas Kürstner and Sebastian Vogel ;
- color photos of production.
The booklet in entirely in German.

5) Ella Milch-Sheriff : Die Banalität der Liebe, Regensburg, January 27, 2018.
It is a 36 pages booklet. It contains :
- complete cast and crew ;
- synopsis ;
- Ruth Zapf (dramaturge), Ein Pakt mit dem Teufel, dialogue with composer Ella Milch-Sheriff and director Itay Tiran ;
- Martin Legros : Zwischen zwei Menschen entsteht eine Welt ;
- Catherine Newmark : Die Banalität des Bösen, dialogue with Susan Neiman ;
- Georges Bataille : Erotik und Gewalt ;
- Judith Butler : Unterwerfung des Subjekts ;
- biographies of composer Ella Milch-Sheriff, director Itay Tiran and set and costume designer Florian Etti, with color headshots ;
- color photos of production.
The booklet is entirely in German.

6) Samuel Penderbayne : I.th.Ak.A., Hamburg, April 6, 2018.
It is a 24 pages booklet. It contains :
- synopsis ;
- Johannes Blum : Nichts ist wahr, alles ist erlaubt (Nietzsche) ;
- Samuel Penderbayne : Beyoncé und Oper ;
- Es gibt keinen Raum, nur Richtungen : dialogue with director Paul-Georg Dittrich and dramaturge Johannes Blum ;
- biographies of composer Samuel Penderbayne and librettist Helmut Krausser ;
- complete cast and crew ;
- color photos of production.
It is entirely in German.

 
7) Salvatore Sciarrino : La porta della legge, Braunschweig, January 12, 2018.
The opera was first performed in Wuppertal on April 25, 2009. In Braunschweig it is the first part of a double bill performance, followed by Kurt Weill's Die sieben Todsünden.
It is a 32 pages booklet. It contains :
- complete cast and crew ;
- synopsis ;
- Sarah Grahneis (dramaturge) : dialogue with director Aniara Amos and conductors Alexis Agrafiotis and Ivan Lopez Reynoso ;
- Salvatore Sciarrino, Notizen zu "La Porta" ;
- storyboard zu "La porta della legge" ;
- Sarah Grahneis, Die Illusion von Freiheit ;
- biographies of artists ;
- color photos of the production.
The entire booklet is in German.

8) Michael Wertmüller : Weine nicht, singe, Hamburg, September 20, 2015.
It is a 24 pages booklet. It contains :
- synopsis ;
- Johannes Blum and Emilia Linda Heinrich : Den Splitter im Kopf, den Feind im Herzen - das bin ich nicht ;
- Alles muss in eine tobende Ordnung gebracht werden (Antonin Artaud), interview with conductor Titus Engel, director Jette Steckel, set designer Florian Lösche and costume designer Pauline Hüners ;
- complete cast and crew ;
- color photos of production.
It is entirely in German.

I now have 533 program books for contemporary operas. I have scanned all covers and uploaded them to this flickr folder.

Today : world première of 'I.th.Ak.A.' by Samuel Penderbayne in Hamburg

Today, the Staatsoper Hamburg presents the world première of I.th.Ak.A., an opera by Australian composer Samuel Penderbayne, with a libretto by Helmut Krausser.

It is the composer's first opera.

Ulysses in search of his island. Crossing the border between sea and land and setting foot on Ithaka is to restore his freedom, to liberate him from chaos, murder and lies. Ulysses is a clever navigator between the world of ghosts, lemurs and nightmarish creatures. Just like Juli, the main protagonist of this opera (as in “Ulysses”, pronounced in English and abbreviated), who is incarcerated in a correctional facility and has access to a computer because she administers the archives. Juli searches for a way out on the internet. She encounters cyber-creatures, humanoid artefacts, automated apps. They claim an “identity,” apparently willing to help Juli, but she cannot be sure. Cyber-bodies communicate, suggesting skin contact. Finally, the dark net opens, there is hope of crossing the border. Ithaka seems to be an underground organisation. (reproduced from the Staatsoper Hamburg website).

The cast includes soprano Lini Gong (Juli), tenor Peter Galliard (Cyclops / Borgo), mezzo Renate Spingler (Circe), and bass Bruno Vargas (Dark). Barbara Kler conducts the Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg. Paul-Georg Dittrich directs.

The opera is performed at the 'Opera stabile' and the performance should last about 90 minutes.

New in my collection : program books from Glasgow and Hamburg

I have recently two program books for contemporary operas :

- Toshio Hosokawa : Stilles Meer, Hamburg, January 24, 2016 ;
- Stuart MacRae : The Devil Inside, Glasgow, January 23, 2016.

Both are 56 pages books. The first is entirely in German. It contains :

- synopsis of the opera ;
- an introduction to the opera, by the composer Toshio Hosokawa ;
- an article on the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, by stage director Oriza Hirata ;
- Nirgendwo ein Feind in Sicht (Nowhere an enemy in sight) by Janina Zell ;
- an interview with Oriza Hirata ;
- an interview with composer Toshio Hosokawa ;
- an article on the original Noh play, Sumidagawa, by Heinz-Dieter Reese ;
- an excerpt  of a novel by Ogai Mori ;
- Schönheit der Vergänglichkeit (Beauty of Impermanence) by the Dalai Lama ;
- several black & white headshots of victims of the 2011 tsunami by Denis Rouvre (taken from the Low Tide exhibition at the State Opera) ;
- complete libretto in German ;
- several colour pictures of the piano dress rehearsal on January 13.

A separate 4 pages booklet contains the complete cast and crew for the first performace. There is no biography of any kind.

The second is entirely in English. It contains :

- the complete cast ;
- the synopsis of the opera ;
- biographies of composer Stuart MacRae and librettist Louise Welsh ;
- an article on the opera by music critic David Kettle ;
- Stevenson in the South Seas, by Edwin Moore ;
- the complete libretto in English ;
- biographies of the artists, with black and white headshots.

By following this link to flickr, you have access to the covers of all 393 program books for contemporary opera I have in my collection.

Today : world première of Toshio Hosokawa's 'Stilles Meer' in Hamburg

Today, the Staatsoper Hamburg presents the world première performance of Toshio Hosokawa's new opera, Stilles Meer, with a libretto by Hannah Dübgen after an original text by Oriza Hirata based on the Noh play Sumidagawa and translated into German by Dorothea Gasztner. The same play was adapted by William Plomer for Benjamin Britten's first church parable Curlew River in 1964.

It is Hosokawa's fifth opera, after Vision of Lear (1998), Hanjo (2004), Matsukaze (2010) and The Raven (2012).

A hill with a wide view over the ocean. Claudia spents most of her time standing there since her husband Takashi and her son Max died in the tsunami. For every dead soul there is a lantern on the sea. Claudia's former boyfriend and father to her son implores her to look at the reality. But the reality is that the evacuation following the tsunami prevented the victim's bodies to be recovered. A ritual allows Claudia to see her child's soul, but she cannot let it go. The image fades away in her arms. (freely translated from the Staatsoper website).

The cast includes soprano Susanne Elmark (Claudia), mezzo-soprano Mihoko Fujimura (Haruko), countertenor Bejun Mehta (Stephan), tenor Viktor Rud (Hiroto) and baritone Marek Gasztecki (A Fisherman). Kent Nagano conducts the Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg and the Vokalsolisten Hamburg. Oriza Hirata directs.

The orchestra is the following (according to the publisher's website, Schott Music, Tokyo) :

- 2 flutes (doubling piccolo and alto flute), 2 oboes (doubling English Horn), 2 clarinets (doubling bass clarinet), 1 bassoon, 1 contrabassoon ;
- 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, 1 tuba ;
- 4 percussions ,
- harp, celesta and strings.

The performance should last about 90 minutes. The first performance will be broadcast live by NDR Kultur.

Today : world première of Michael Wertmüller's 'Weine nicht, singe' in Hamburg

Today, the Staatsoper Hamburg presents on its second stage (Opera stabile) the world première performance of Weine nicht, singe, by composer Michael Wertmüller, with a libretto by Dea Loher.

The Levant. Mira, a fourteen-year-old girl, grandfather Zeno, mother Altai and father Ron are welcoming Aki, who left fifteen years ago. He wants to pay back the money he borrowed, trying to open an auto repair shop with his brothers in the South. But the borders were shut down. Now the former neighbor speaks a different language and believes in another God. and Mira shouts her hatred to him, because he has left his aunt Oona behind. But splinters in Zeno's brain hurts him : 'Mira has to make peace with her father' (free translation after the Staatsoper's website).

The cast includes actor Josef Ostendorf (Zeno), baritone Holger Falk (Aki), tenor Jürgen Sacher (Ron), soprano Ruth Rosenfeld (Altai), and actress Tina Keserovic (Mira). They are joined by the Ensemble Resonanz and the Steamboat Switzerland trio. Titus Engel conducts and Jette Steckel directs.

The opera should last about two hours.

July 4th : world première of Michael Langemann's 'Persona' in Hamburg

Today, Michael Langemann's new opera, Persona, with a libretto inspired by Ingmar Bergman's script, will be performed in Hamburg, at the Opera stabile of the State Opera House.

This new opera is the second part of the performance beginning with Huw Watkins' In the Locked Room, which was first performed on August 30th, 2012 at the Edinburgh Festival.

The nurse Alma is entrusted with the care of Elisabeth, an artist who suddenly fell silent. Discovering more and more similarities with her patient, Alma becomes obsessed with Elisabeth. (translated from the Hamburgische Staatsoper website)

The cast includes soprano Anat Edri (Elisabet Vogler), mezzo Ida Aldrian (Alma), tenor Daniel Todd (Herr Vogler), and bass Stanislav Sergeev (Der Arzt). Daniel Carter conducts and Petra Müller directs.

Received in the mail this morning : program books from Köln (Eötvös) and Hamburg (Furrer)

This Wednesday morning, I have received two program books for new operas in the mail :

- Peter Eötvös, Senza sangue, Köln, May 1st, 2015 ;
- Beat Furrer, la bianca notte / die helle nacht, Hamburg, May 10th, 2015.

The first one is a 144 pages book that includes the complete and detailed program for the complete 'Acht Brücken' Festival. It contains only a short notice on the new opera, with the title 'Personal comments by Peter Eötvös on the performance of Senza sangue'. The whole book is entirely in German.

The second is a 48 pages book. It contains :
- Figuren in sizbzehn Szenen, the synopsis of the opera ;
- several quotes from Beat Furrer ;
- Kontinuierliche Suggestion, by Marie Luise Maintz ;
- Kann man Licht hören ?, by Rupert Burleigh ;
- Moderne Zeiten, gestern und heute, by Francis Hüsers ;
- a new German translation of the libretto, after the vocal score ;
- several color photos of rehearsals ;
- the complete cast for the world première ;
- and a separate 4 pages leaflet withe complete cast and crew.

You can have a look at the covers of all program books for contemporary operas I have in this flickr folder.

May 10th, 2015 : World première of Beat Furrer's new opera 'La bianca notte / Die helle Nacht' in Hamburg

Today, Beat Furrer's new opera, La bianca notte / Die helle Nacht will be performed at the Opera House in Hamburg.

It is the composer's seventh composition for the musical stage since Die Blinden in 1989. His output includes Narcissus (1994), Invocation (2003) and Wüstenbuch (2010). Beat furrer has written his own libretto after the life and works of Dino Campana.

The protagonist Dino writes and invents stories in order to exist and to conjure his own exitence, his identity, his ego.  He evokes his own real identity by creating counter-realities. Dino Edison lights up the night by inventing stories. He designs his counterpart, the Mephistophelean figure of Regolo, the seducer with an addiction for novelty rooted deep into his heart, he designs Russo, his reflection, a frantic writer who is convinced he could save people by writing stories. (freely adapted from the Bärenreiter publisher e-newsletter).

 The following orchestra is required :
- 3 flutes (doubling 2 piccolos), 2 oboes, 3 clarinets (doubling bass and contrabass clarinet), 1 soprano saxophone, 2 bassoons, contrabasson ;
- 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, 1 tuba ;
- percussion (3 musicians) ;
- piano, accordion, harp ;
- strings (8,8,6,6,4).

The cast includes Golda Schultz (Sibilla, soprano), Tanja Ariane Baumgartner (Indovina, messo), Tomas Tomasson (Dino, baritone), Derek Welton (Regolo, bass baritone) and Tigran Martirossian (Il Russo, bass). The Philharmoniker Hamburg and the Chor der Hamburgischen Staatsoper are conducted by Simone Young. Ramin Gray directs. The first performance will be broadcast live by NDR Kultur.

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 Wednesday morning

This Wednesday morning, I received the following in the mail :

- Graz, Styriarte Festival : 2014 program book, with two magazines ;
- Hamburg, Staatsoper : 2014-2015 season calendar ;
- Ludwigshafen, Theater im Pfalzbau : 2014-2015 season program book ;
- Lüneburg, Theater : 2014-2015 season program book ;
- Madrid, Teatro de la Zarzuela : 2014-2015 season program leaflet ;
- Saarbrücken, Saarländisches Staatstheater : July 2014 leaflet.

Received in the mail this Friday morning

This Friday morning, I have received the following in the mail :

- Angers and Nantes, Opéra : 2014-2015 season brochure ;
- Hamburg, Staatsoper : July 2014 leaflet ;
- Hannover, Staatstheater : July 2014 leaflet ;
- Stockholm, Operan : 2014-2015 season brochure ;
- Wiesbaden, Theater : July 2014 leaflet and June-July magazine.

New Season 2014-2015 at the Staatsoper Hamburg

During the 2014-2015 season, the Staatsoper Hamburg will perform the following 32 operas in 5 languages :

8 new productions (including 2 world premières) :

- Jacques Offenbach : La Belle Hélène, conducted by Gerrit Prießnitz, directed by Renaud Doucet ;
- Arthur Honegger : Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher, conducted by Simone Young (in concert) ;
- Giuseppe Verdi : Luisa Miller, conducted by Simone Young, directed by Andreas Homoki ;
- Giacomo Puccini : La Fanciulla del West, conducted by Carlo Montanaro, directed by Vincent Boussard ;
- Erich Wolfgang Korngold : Die tote Stadt, conducted by Simone Young, directed by Karoline Gruber ;
- Beat Furrer : La bianca notte / Die helle nacht, conducted by Simone Young, directed by Ramin Gray (world première) ;
- Huw Watkins : In the Locked Room (German première) and Michael Langemann : Persona (world première), conducted by Daniel Carter, directed by Petra Müller.


and 24 revivals :

- Ludwig van Beethoven : Fidelio, directed by Hans Neuenfels ;
- Georges Bizet : Carmen, directed by Jens-Deniel Herzog ;
- Claude Debussy : Pelléas et Mélisande, directed by Willy Decker ;
- Gaetano Donizetti : L'Elisir d'amore, directed by Jean-Pierre Ponnelle ;
- Gaetano Donizetti : Lucia di Lammermoor, directed by Sandra Leupold ;
- Georg Friedrich Haendel : Almira, directed by Jetske Mijnssen ;
- Engelbert Humperdinck : Hänsel und Gretel, directed by Peter Beauvais ;
- Leos Janacek : Jenufa, directed by Olivier Tambosi ;
- Leos Janacek : The Little Cunning Vixen, directed by Johannes Erath ;
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart : Die Entführung aus dem Serail, directed by Johannes Schaaf ;
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart : Le Nozze di Figaro, directed by Johannes Schaaf ;
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart : Die Zauberflöte, directed by Achim Freyer ;
- Francis Poulenc : Dialogues des Carmélites, directed by Nikolaus Lehnhoff ;
- Giacomo Puccini : La Bohème, directed by Guy Joosten ;
- Giacomo Puccini : Madama Butterfly, directed by Vincent Boussard ;
- Gioachino Rossini : Il Barbiere di Siviglia, directed by Gilbert Deflo ;
- Gioachino Rossini : La Cenerentola, directed by Renaud Doucet ;
- Richard Strauss : Elektra, directed by August Everding ;
- Richard Strauss : Salome, directed by Willy Decker ;
- Giuseppe Verdi : Aida, directed by Guy Joosten ;
- Giuseppe Verdi : Un Ballo in maschera, directed by Alexander Schulin ;
- Giuseppe Verdi : Simon Boccanegra, directed by Claus Guth ;
- Giuseppe Verdi : La Traviata, directed by Johannes Erath ;
- Richard Wagner : Tannhäuser, directed by Harry Kupfer.

Received in the mail this Monday morning

This Monday morning, I have received the following items in the mail :

- program book for the world première of Philippe Hurel's Les Pigeons d'argile, in Toulouse, April 15th

- Antwerp, Vlaamse Opera : magazine Nr. 26, June-August ;
- Brno, Narodni divadlo : 2014-2015 season program book ;
- Frankfurt, Oper : 2014-2015 season program book ;
- Hamburg, Staatsoper : 2014-2015 season program book, with May and June leaflets ;
- Klagenfurt, Stadttheater : 2014-2015 season program book ;
- Koblenz, Theater : 2014-2015 season program book, with May-June and July-September leaflets.