Two new programme books from Berlin and Luxembourg

I have recently received two programme books for contemporary operas :

- Alexandre Desplat, En Silence, Luxembourg, February 26, 2019 ;
- Jörg Widmann, Babylon, Berlin (Staatsoper Unter den Linden), March 9, 2019.

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

- complete cast and crew ;
- Alexandre Desplat : Mot du compositeur ;
- Solrey : Note de la metteure en scène, vidéaste ;
- complete libretto (only in French) ;
- biographies of the artists (only in French).

The book is bilingual : French and English.

The second one is a 96 pages book. It contains :

- Synopsis ;
- Roman Reeger : Jedes Arbeiten über Babylon ist auch immer Grabungsarbeit (Interview of composer Jörg Widmann) ;
- Roman Reeger : Eine Welt des Wahns (Interview of director Andreas Kriegenburg) ;
- Florian Henri Besthorn : Hereinspaziert nach Babylon, hier gibt's die ganze Welt ;
- Peter Sloterdijk : Notizen zu Babylon : excerpts of Zeilen und Tage and Neue Zeilen und Tage ;
- Eva Horn : Die romantische Verdunklung ;
- Stefan Maul : Religion in Babylon ;
- Christoph Türcke : Das Opferritual ;
- Jan Assmann : Identität und Gewalt ;
- Arno Declair : color photos of the production (February 27, 2019) ;
- complete cast and crew for the world première.

The book is entirely in German. There is a separate 8 pages leaflet with the complete cast and crew for the first performance, a separate 36 pages booklet with biographies of the artists and a 44 pages booklet with the complete libretto.

I already had in my collection the programme book for world première performance of the original version (Munich, October 27, 2012).

I now have 650 programme books for contemporary operas. I have scanned all the covers and uploaded the images to this flickr folder.

Today : world première of 'Babylon' (new version) by Jörg Widmann in Berlin

Today, the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin presents the world première of the new version of Babylon, an opera composed by Jörg Widmann, with a libretto by Peter Sloterdijk.

It is the composer's second opera after Das Gesicht im Spiegel (Munich, July 17th, 2003). The original version was first performed in Munich on October 27, 2012.

Jörg Widmann’s Babylon deals with the boundaries of language, and indeed of linguistic confusion. The composer places the multicultural society of the pre-ancient, culturally advanced metropolis of Babylon at the centre of his opera. It is not only the Babylonians who move between chaos and order, but also the Jewish exile Tammu, who forsakes his erstwhile love, the Soul, to turn instead to the Babylonian priestess of war and free love, Inanna. When a human sacrifice is called for to appease the gods who once punished the people of Babylon with the Flood, the Priest-King chooses Tammu. After Tammu is executed, Inanna decides to go down into the underworld to convince its ruler, Death, to allow her lover to return to the world of the living. Finally, a new covenant is made between the gods and the people, and order is – at least temporarily – restored. (reproduced from the Staatsoper Berlin website)

The cast includes soprano Mojca Erdmann (The Soul), tenor Charles Workman (Tammu), soprano Susanne Elmark (Inanna), bass John Tomlinson (The Priest King), mezzo Marina Prudenskaya (The Euphrates) and countertenor Andrew Watts (The Scorpion Human). Daniel Barenboim conducts the Staatskapelle Berlin and the Staatsopernchor. Andreas Kriegenburg directs.

The required orchestra is the following (reproduced from the Schott Music website) :

- 4 flutes, 4 oboes, 4 clarintes, 4 bassoons ;
- 4 horns, 4 trumpets, 4 trombones, 1 tuba ;
- timpani and percussions (4 players) ;
- 2 harps, celesta, accordion, piano, organ ;
- strings : 14.12.10.8.8.

The performance should last about 2 hours and 40 minutes, including interval. The score is published by Schott Music.

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