Two new programme books in my collection : Eggert and Holten

I have recently received two programme books for two new operas :

- Moritz Eggert : M - Eine Stadt sucht einen Mörder, Berlin (Komische Oper), May 5, 2019 ;
- Bo Holten : Schlagt sie tot !, Malmö, May 11, 2019.

The first one is a 40 pages book. It contains :

- characters and orchestral setting ;
- synopsis ;
- Ulrich Lenz : 90 Minuten Achterbahnfahrt, dialogue with director Barrie Kosky and composer Moritz Eggert ;
- Ulrich Lenz : Und mit mir rennen die Gespenster, Psychogramm eines (vermeintlichen ?) Mörders ;
- synopsis in English, French and Turkish ;
- several colour photos of the piano dress rehearsal (April 25).

There is a separate 6 pages leaflet with the complete cast and crew for the first performance.

The book is entirely in German.

The second one is a 66 pages book. It contains :

- complete cast and crew ;
- Catarina Ek : En värld i förändring (A Changing World) ;
- Persongalleri : short biographies of historical characters with their portraits and headshots of singers playing their roles (Martin Luther, Philip Melanchthon, Georg Spalatin, Lucas Cranach, Erasmus, among others) ;
- detailed synopsis ;
- Eva Sommestad Holten : Förändringens eld - Tankar bakom texten till 'Schlagt sie tot !' (Fire of Change - Thoughts behind the text of 'Schlagt sie tot !') ;
- Bo Holten : Om musiken i 'Schlagt sie tot !' (About the music of 'Schlagt sie tot !') ;
- Eva Sommestad Holten : Luthers värld - En översikt (Luther's world - an overview) ;
- Eva Sommestad Holten : Musiken som Guds verktyg (Music as God's instrument) ;
- Arne Järtelius : Luther som antisemit (Luther as antisemit) ;
- Arne Järtelius : 500 år med Luther i Sverige (500 years with Luther in Sweden) ;
- biographies of artists with black and white headshots ;
- synopsis in English ;
- several colour photos of rehearsals.

The book is entirely in Swedish.

I now have 680 programme books for contemporary operas in my collection. I have scanned the covers and uploaded the images to this flickr folder.

Today : world première of 'M' by Moritz Eggert in Berlin

Today, the Komische Oper in Berlin presents the world première of M - Eine Stadt sucht einen Mörder (M - A City searches for a Murderer), an opera in one act composed by Moritz Eggert with a libretto by Barrie Kosky and Ulrich Lenz based on Fritz Lang's film and using poems by Walter Mehring.

Moritz Eggert has already composed several works the stage, including All diese Tage (Bremen, April 28, 2012), Terra Nova (Linz, May 26, 2016) and Caliban (Amsterdam, March 25, 2017).

The city is up in arms! A serial murderer is on the loose. Several girls have already been found dead. Under great pressure and using all the means at their disposal, the police search for the culprit. And the city’s criminals are also keeping busy, as the increased police activities – which involve raids and house-to-house searches – is bad for business in every sense. And so the murderer, ultimately a victim of his own sick urges, is pursued, hunted and driven to madness by all the city’s thieves, burglars, whores, fences, beggars and con artists. (reproduced from the Komische Oper website)

The cast includes baritone Scott Hendricks (M. the Murderer), soprano Alma Sadé and tenor Tansel Akzeybek. Ainars Rubikis conducts the Orchestra and the Children Chorus of the Komische Oper. Barrie Kosky directs.

The score is published by Sikorski. The required orchestra is the following :

- 1 flute, 1 oboe, 1 clarinet, 1 tenor saxophone, 1 bassoon ;
- 1 horn, 1 trumpet, 2 trombones, 1 tuba ;
- timpani, percussion (2 players), electric guitar, electric bass guitar, 3 keyboards, accordion, celesta (doubling organ and harpsichord) ;
- strings (6.6.4.3.2).

(reproduced from the Sikorski website)