Today : world première of Kaija Saariaho's 'Innocence' in Aix-en-Provence

 

Today, the Festival International d'Art Lyrique in Aix-en-Provence presents the world première of Innocence, an opera in five acts composed by Kaija Saariaho with an original Finnish libretto by Sofi Oksanen and a multilingual libretto by Aleksi Barrière (Finnish, Czech, Romanian, French and English).

 

It is the composer's fifth opera after L'Amour de loin (Salzburg, August 15, 2000), Adriana Mater (Paris, April 3, 2006), Émilie (Lyon, March 1, 2010) and Only the Sound Remains (Amsterdam, March 15, 2016).

It is a typical wedding for a cosmopolitan city, in present-day Finland. The fiancé is Finnish, the bride Romanian, and the mother-in-law French. But suddenly, during the wedding banquet, the Czech waitress feels ill… Ten years earlier, these characters were struck by a tragic event. Ghosts revive their memories of the trauma, which occurred in a school; there is a guilty haze, a lost innocence. (reproduced from the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence website)

The cast includes mezzo Magdalena Kozena (The Waitress Tereza), soprano Lilian Farahani (The Bride Stela), soprano Sandrine Piau (The Mothe-in-Law Patricia), tenor Markus Nykänen (The Bridegroom Tuomas), baritone Tuomas Pursio (The Father-in-Law Henrik) and bass baritone Jukka Rasilainen (The Priest). Susanna Mälkki conducts the London Symphony Orchestra and the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir. Simon Stone directs.

The score is published by Chester Music. The required orchestra is the following :

- 3 flutes, 3 oboes, 3 clarinets, 3 bassoons ;

- 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 2 trombones, 1 tuba ;

- timpani and 4 percussions ;

- harp, piano and celesta ;

- strings (14.12.10.8.6).

The performance should last 1 hour and 45 minutes.The venue is the Grand Théâtre de Provence.

 

New programme books in my collection

I have recently acquired 14 programme books for contemporary operas :

- Wolfgang Böhmer : SommerNachtTraum, Berlin, July 27, 2001, with complete cast leaflet. The opera was first performed at the Kloster Neuzelle on July 22, 2000. It is a 16 pages booklet ;
- Edison Denisov : L'Ecume des jours (Froth on the Daydream), Stuttgart, December 1, 2012, with complete cast leaflet. The opera was first performed in Paris (Opéra Comique) on March 15, 1986. It is a 76 pages book ;
- Detlev Glanert : Die drei Rätsel (The Three Riddles), Bonn, July 11, 2004, with complete cast on separate sheet paper. The opera was first performed in Halle on October 12, 2003. It is a folded poster ;

 - Volker David Kirchner : Belshazar, München, January 28, 1986 (with complete cast leaflet). The opera was first performed in München on January 25, 1985. It is a 96 pages book ;
- Luca Lombardi : Prospero, Nürnberg, April 15, 2006 (world première performance). It is a 48 pages book ;
- Siegfried Matthus : Judith, Berlin (Komische Oper), March 4, 1989 (with complete cast leaflet). The opera was first performed in the same theater on September 29, 1985. It is a 20 pages booklet ;

- Siegfried Matthus : Omphale, Weimar, September 7, 1976 (world première), with complete cast on separate sheet paper. It is a 16 pages booklet ;
- Olivier Messiaen : Saint François d'Assise, Leipzig, November 8, 1998, with complete cast on separate sheet paper. It is a 56 pages booklet. The opera was first performed in Paris (Palais Garnier) on November 28, 1983. I have other programme books for performances in Paris (1992) and München (2011) ;
- Einojuhani Rautavaara : Vincent, Hagen, October 5, 1991 (with complete cast leaflet). The opera was first performed in Helsinki on May 17, 1990. It is a 28 pages booklet ;

- Aribert Reimann : Melusine, Nürnberg, May 12, 2007. The opera was first performed in Schwetzingen on April 29, 1971. It is a 48 pages book. I have another programme book for performances in München (1997) ;
- Aribert Reimann : Troades, München, July 7, 1986 (world première), with complete cast leaflet. It is a 116 pages book ;
- Wolfgang Rihm : Jakob Lenz, Stuttgart, November 2, 2014, with complete cast on a separate leaflet. It is a 56 pages book. The opera was first performed in Hamburg on March 8, 1979. I also have programmes for performances in Strasbourg (1993), Nanterre (1995) and Lugo (2012) ;

- Kaija Saariaho : Adriana Mater, Helsinki, February 23, 2008. It is a 32 pages booklet. The opera was first performed in Paris (Opéra Bastille) on April 3, 2006. I also have the programme book for the world première ;
- Vladimir Tarnopolski : Wenn die Zeit über die Ufer tritt (When Time Overflows), München (Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz im Prinzregententheater), April 25, 1999 (world première). It is a 64 pages book, with the complete cast on a separate leaflet.

I now have 627 programme books for contemporary operas.

Today : world première of Kaija Saariaho's 'Only the sound remains' in Amsterdam

Today, De Nerderlandse Opera in Amsterdam presents the firstperformance of two new operas composed by Kaija Saariaho, under the title Only the sound remains.

Saariaho already composed three operas : L'Amour de loin (Salzburg, 2000), Adriana Mater (Paris, 2006) and Emilie (Lyon, 2010).

The first opera, Always strong (original title Tsunemasa) is based on a translation by Ezra Pound.

A young lute player named Tsunemasa returns as a spirit to the court following his death under violent circumstances. When alive, his playing on the Biwa lute was erotic and heavenly but he cannot find happiness again. The monk Gyōkei contacts the spirit and offers the Biwa lute before the altar of the deceased and performs a service with music. Tsunemasa’s spirit touches the lute briefly before disappearing slowly. (reproduced from Kaija Saariaho's website)

The second one, Feather Mantle (original title Hagoromo), is based on a translation by Ernest Fenollosa.

A fisherman named Hakuryō goes fishing with his companions and finds a beautiful robe hung on a pine branch. When he attempts to take it home as a family heirloom, a celestial maiden appears and asks him to return the robe to her. At first, Hakuryō refuses to return it. However he is moved by the celestial maiden who laments that she cannot go home to heaven without it. The fisherman argues with her and finally promises to return it if she will show to him her dance or at least part of it. She accepts his offer and eventually disappears in the haze, beyond the peak of Mount Fuji – only the sound remains. (reproduced from Kaija Saariaho's website)

Only two singers are needed for both operas : countertenor Philippe Jaroussky (Spirit of the young man / Angel) and bass baritone Davone Tines (Monk / Fisherman). André de Ridder conducts the chamber ensemble consisting of the Dudok Quartet joined by Eija Kankaanranta (kantele), Camilla Hoitenga (flute) and Niek KleinJan (percussion). Peter Sellars directs.

New productions of recent operas (2)

During the 2014-2015, some recent operas will be performed again in new productions :

- Pascal Dusapin : Perelà, directed by Lydia Steier, Mainz in January 2015 (first performed in Paris in February 2003, German première) ;
- Detlev Glanert : Joseph Süss, directed by Guy Montavon, Münster, Febuary 2015 (first performed in Bremen in 1999) ;
- Philip Glass : The Fall of the House of Usher, directed by Kay Neumann, Hof in March 2015 ;
- James MacMillan : Inés de Castro, directed by Olivia Fuchs, Glasgow, January 2015 in a revised version (the opera was first performed in Edinburgh in 1996) ;
- Olga Neuwirth : American Lulu, directed by Kirill Serebrennikov, Vienna (Theater an der Wien) in December 2014 (first performed at the Komische Oper in Berlin in September 2012) ;
- Peter Ruzicka : Hölderlin. Eine Expedition, directed by Vera Nemirova, Basel in May 2015 (first performed in Berlin in November 2008, Swiss première) ;
- Kaija Saariaho : L'Amour de loin, conducted by Kasper de Roo, directed by Daniela Kurz, Linz in March 2015 (first performed in Salzburg in August 2000) ;
- Aulis Sallinen : Kullervo, directed by Kari Heiskanen, in Savonlinna in July 2014 (first performed in Los Angeles in February 1992).