10 new program books in my collection

I have recently acquired the program books for the following performances :

- Michel van der Aa, After Life, Lyon, March 18, 2010
The opera was first performed in Amsterdam on June 2, 2006, and I have the program book for the new version first performed in Amsterdam on September 28, 2009.
It is a 113 pages book, with the complete bilingual libretto (English / French).
- Robert Aldridge, Sister Carrie, Milwaukee, October 7, 2016
It is a 52 pages brochure. The opera was recorded and published by Naxos.
- Ricky Ian Gordon, The House Without a Christmas Tree, Houston, November 30, 2017.
It is a 64 pages brochure.

- Hans Werner Henze, L'Upupa und der Triumph der Sohnesliebe, Lyon, June 24, 2005
The opera was first performed in Salzburg on August 12, 2003. I have the program book for the world première, the DVD recording (EuroArts) as well as the two scores published by Chester Music (vocal score and full score).
It is a 158 pages book, with the complete bilingual libretto (German / French).
- Toshio Hosokawa, Hanjo, Lyon, March 5, 2008
The opera was first performed in Aix-en-Provence on July 8, 2004.
It is a 87 pages book, with the complete bilingual libretto (English / French) and a separate 12 pages booklet with cast and biographies.
- Helmut Oehring, Kunst muss (zu weit gehen) oder der Engel schwieg, Köln, December 9, 2017.
It is a 64 pages book.

- Rachel J. Peters, Rootabaga Country, Sarasota, November 11, 2017.
It is a 80 pages book published for the 2017 Fall Season of Sarasota Opera.
- Kevin Puts, Elizabeth Cree, Philadelphia, September 14, 2017.
It is a 132 pages book for the Festival O17, including also complete cast for two other new operas : The Wake World by David Hertzberg (September 17, 2017) and We Shall Not Be Moved by Daniel Bernard Roumain (September 16, 2017).

- Andres Reukauf, König Drosselbart, Hagen, November 12, 2017.
It is a 16 pages booklet.
- Kaija Saariaho, Only the Sound Remains, Paris, January 23, 2018
The opera was first performed in Amsterdam on March 15, 2016. I have the Blu Ray recording of the Dutch production.
It is a 120 pages book, the the complete bilingual libretto (English / French).

I now have 516 program books for contemporary operas. I have scanned all the covers and uploaded them to this flickr folder.

Today : world première of 'Kunst muss (zu weit gehen) oder der Engel schwieg' bu Helmut Oehring in Köln

Today, the Köln Oper presents the world première of Kunst muss (zu weit gehen) oder der Engel schwieg (Art must go too far or the Angel was silent), a 'docupoetical instrumental theater' composed by Helmut Oehring. The libretto is based on Heinrich Böll's speech The Freedom of Art (Wuppertal, 1966) and recollections of other participants.

(c) Daniel Naupold

Since 1996 (Dokumentation, Spoleto), Helmut Oehring has composed several works for the stage including Effi Briest (Bonn, 2001), Die Brüder Löwenherz (Dresden, 2015) and Agota (Wiesbaden, 2016).

Under the postulate 'Art has to go too far' he expressed the relationship between art, politics and society. In doing so, he spoke out firmly against the idea of ​​an art that has to please society and the power in place. (freely adapted from the Köln Oper website)

The cast includes soprano emily Hindrichs (Engel 1), mezzo Adriana Bastidas-Gamboa (Engel 2), mezzo Dalia Schaechter (Engel 3), Mia Oehring (Das junge Mädchen) and Joscha Oehring (Der Junge). Bas Wiegers conducts the Ensemble Musikfabrik, Helmut Oehring and Stefanie Wördemann direct.

The performance takes place at the Staatenhaus (Saal 3) and should last about 90 minutes.

New in my collection : 3 programme books for contemporary operas

I have recently received in the mail the programme books for the three following contemporary operas :

- Viktor Åslund : Der Steppenwolf, Würzburg, May 7, 2016 ;
- Bernhard Lang : Der Golem, Mannheim, April 16, 2016 ;
- Helmut Oehring : Agota ?, Wiesbaden, May 4, 2016.

The first one is a 36 pages brochure, entirely in German. It contains :

- complete cast and crew ;
- synopsis ;
- Tractat vom Steppenwolf, by Hermann Hesse ;
- color photos of rehearsals ;
- Verschmitzte Suggestionskraft, by Christoph Blitt ;
- Lerne, zu lachen !, by Hermann Hesse (the end of the novel Der Steppenwolf) ;
- Entdecke den Steppenwolf in dir !, by librettist Rainer Lewandowski ;
- Ein Spiel mit musikalischen Identitäten, by composer Viktor Åslund ;
- Spaziergang in Würzburg, by Hermann Hesse ;
- biographies of the composer, the librettist, the conductor, the stage director and the costume and set designer, with headshots.

The second is a 88 pages book. It is entirely in German. It contains :

- cast and crew ;
- excerpts of the Gustav Meyrink novel ;
- biography of the composer ;
- synopsis ;
- color photos of the piano dress rehearsal (April 4, 2016) ;
- Von der Legende über den Roman zur Oper, by Merle Fahrholz ;
- Eine Ode an die Schizophrenie oder Musiktheater in 22 Kapiteln, by Christine Dysers with musical quotes from the full score of the opera ;
- 22 Karten, die man auflegt wie ein Orakel, by Merle Farhrholz (interview withe the composer and the librettist and director Peter Missotten) ;
- Jetzt und für immer, by Tilman Baumgärtel ;
- Gustav Mayrink und der Okkultismus, by Jean-Jacques Pollet ;
- Der Golem des Hoch-Rabbi-Löw, poem by A. M. Tendlau ;
- Vom Siegeszug der künstlichen Intelligenz, by Hans Moravec ;
- Glossar zum Textbuch von Der Golem ;
- complete libretto.

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

- complete cast and crew ;
- the work structure ;
- Agota Kristof : Muttersprache - Feindessprachen - Schicksalsprache ;
- Das Autoren-Team : Komposition - Textbuch - Sounddesign ;
- In-Schriften, by Stefanie Wördermann, dialogue with sound designer Torsten Ottersberg and composer Helmut Oehring.

I know have 414 programme books for contemporary operas in my collection. I have uploaded all the scanned covers to this flickr folder.

Today : world première of Helmut Oehring's 'Agota' in Wiesbaden

Today, the Hessisches Staatstheater in Wiesbaden presents the world première of Helmut Oehring's new work for the stage : Agota ? Die Analphabetin, a melodrama with a libretto by Stefanie Wördemann after texts by Ágota Kristóf.

© Jens Oellermann

Since 1993, Helmut Oehring has composed numerous musical theatre pieces, including AscheMOND oder The Fairy Queen (2013).

The search for identity in a strange world: this is the fundamental subject matter permeating the narratives of Hungarian author Ágota Kristóf, who lived in exile in French-speaking Switzerland from 1956 until her death in 2011. Experiencing her “exiled language” as foreign until the end, this feeling of loss and the search for linguistic understanding became the very centre of Kristóf’s work.(reproduced from the Staatstheater Wiesbaden website)

The actress Dagmar Manzel plays the role of Agota, accompanied by the Ensemble Modern conducted by Peter Rundel. Ingo Kerkhof directs.

Received in the mail this morning : program book for 'Die Brüder Löwenherz' von Helmut Oehring

This Monday morning, I have received in the mail the program published by the Semperoper Dresden for the world première performance of Helmut Oehring's children opera Die Brüder Löwenherz.

It is a 8 pages brochure. It contains :

- complete cast and crew ;
- biographies of the performers (on a separate page) ;
- an interview with the composer ;
- a goose game.

I have scanned all the covers of the program books for contemporary operas I have. You can find the images in this flickr folder.