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).

Received in the mail this morning : program books from Gera and Budapest

This Saturday morning, I have received the two following program books in the mail :

- Johannes Harneit, Alice im Wunderland, Gera, May 2nd, 2015 ;
- Zsofia Taller, Leander and Linseed, Budapest, April 11, 2015.

The first one is a twenty page brochure. It is entirely in German. It contains :

- complete cast and crew ;
- the synopsis of the opera ;
- an interview with the composer ;
- 4 drawings for the costumes of the main characters ;
- the biography of Lewis Carroll ;
- an article by librettist Lis Arends on her libretto ;
- a couple of black and white photos.

The second one is a 28 pages brochure. It contains :

- complete cast and crew ;
- several color pictures of the production ;
- the complete original story by Andor Szilagyi.

It is entirely in Hungarian.

May 2nd, 2015 : world première of 'Alice in Wunderland', opera by Johannes Harneit, in Gera

Today, Saturday May 2nd, 2015, Alice in Wunderland, the new 'chamber opera for children and adults' composed by Johannes Harneit will be performed for the first time in Gera (Bühne am Park).

The libretto by Lis Arends is an adaptation of the world famous novel by Lewis Carroll. This is at least the third lyrical work composed after this work. Previous operas on the same subject include works by Peter Westergaard (2006) and Unsuk Chin (Munich, 2007).

On a hot, long summer day, the little girl Alice encounters a white rabbit with a clock – she follows him into his hutch and thus becomes immersed in a fascinating world full of absurdities and peculiar challenges. But everything in Wonderland that perhaps appears senseless or arbitrary at first glance reveals itself to be logical and providing of new insights. Alice encounters a mouse, the Mad Hatter, the Marchrabbit, a smoking caterpillar, a grinning cat that can simply dissolve into the air, and the dominating Queen of Hearts in command of an entire army of playing cards. Alice faces up to all situations, full of courage and curiosity; these become ever more threatening until they ultimately become a matter of death or freedom. (reproduced from the Sikorski website)

The main parts will be performed by members of the Thüringer Opernstudio : Anja Elz, Sin Ae Choi, Jaegyeong Jo, Eleonora Vacchi and Salomon Zulic del Canto. Holger Krause conducts and Cornelia Poppe directs.

Received in the mail this morning : program book for Johannes Harneit's 'Abends am Fluss / Hochwasser' in Heidelberg

This Friday morning, I have received in the mail the program book published by Theater und Orchester Heidelberg for the world première performance of Abends am Fluss and Hochwasser, two operas composed by Johannes Harneit. The first performance was on February 6th.

It is a 40 pages brochure. It contains :

- complete cast and crew ;
- color photos of the production ;
- synopses of both operas ;
- biographies of the composer and the librettist ;
- an article by the librettist on writing the libretti ;
- 3 stanzas from a poem by Ferdinand Freiligrath, Die Revolution ;
- a conversation with the production team : composer, director (Peter Konwitschny), sets and costumes designer (Helmut Brade) and dramaturgist Bettina Bartz ;
- a poem by Paul Celan ;
- an article by Rosa Luxemburg ;
- a text by Karl Jaspers, philosopher and psychiatrist ;
- biographies of the cast and crew members, with black and white photos.

It is entirely in German.

2014-2015 Season in Gera and Altenburg

During the 2014-2015 season, the Theater & Philharmonie Thüringen will present a number of modern operas, including a world première performance.

The world première is an chamber opera for children based on Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wunderland. Composed by Johannes Harneit, it will be performed in Gera in May 2015. Alexander Kanifel and Unsuk Chin have also composed operas after Carroll's book.

The following two modern operas will be performed :
- Grigori Frid : Van Gogh's Letters, conducted by Takahiro Nagasaki, directed by Michael Dissmeier (composed in 1975) ;
- Per Nørgård : Nuit des Hommes, conducted by Takahiro Nagasaki, directed by Kay Kuntze (first performed in 1996).

Premières and revivals include :

- Benjamin Britten : Peter Grimes, conducted by Laurent Wagner, directed by Kay Kuntze ;
- Friedrich von Flotow : Martha, oder Der Markt zu Richmond, conducted by Thomas Wicklein ;
- Christoph Willibald Gluck : Iphigenie auf Tauris, conducted by Laurent Wagner, directed by Elmar Gehlen ;
- Leos Janacek : Jenufa, conducted by Laurent Wagner, directed by Kay Kuntze (in German) ;
- Franz Lehar : Die lustige Witwe, directed by Roland Schwab ;
- Giacomo Puccini : La Bohème, conducted by Laurent Wagner, directed by Anthony Pilavachi ;
- Richard Strauss : Der Rosenkavalier, conducted by Laurent Wagner, directed by Maximilian von Mayenburg.

New productions of recent operas

Here are listed a few world premières and a few new productions of recent operas :

- Johannes Harneit : Abends am Fluss and Hochwasser, in Heidelberg (February 2015), conducted by Johannes Harneit, directed by Peter Konwitschny ;
- Johannes Maria Staud : Die Antilope, in Luzern (September 2014), conducted by Howard Arman, directed by Dominique Mentha ;
- Philip Glass : Akhnaten, directed by Nanine Linning, in Heidelberg (September 2014), revival ;
- Jake Heggie : Another Sunrise and For a Look or a Touch in Braunschweig (May 2015), conducted by Burkhard Bauche ;
- Bernard Herrmann : Wuthering Heights, in Braunschweig (April 2015), conducted by Enrico Delamboye, directed by Philipp Kochheim ;
- Charles Wuorinen : Brokeback Mountain, in Aachen (December 2014), conducted by Kazem Abdullah, directed by Ludger Engels. The opera was first performed in January 2014 in Madrid.