Showing posts with label Magdeburg. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Magdeburg. Show all posts

Saturday, 16 March 2019

Today : world première of 'The True Story of King Kong' by Jeffrey Ching in Magdeburg


Today, the Theater Magdeburg presents the world première of Die wahre Geschichte von King Kong (The True Story of King Kong), a chamber opera with puppets composed by Jeffrey Ching with a libretto in English by Roscha A. Säidow.


It is the composer's third opera after The Orphan (Erfurt, November 2009) and Before Brabant (Hong Kong, March 2014).
A godlike judge holds the protagonists of the famous story to account before a mythical court to determine the real circumstances of the death of King Kong. The perspectives of what happened are compared in flashbacks, whereby librettist and composer highlight the themes dealt with in the story such as power, corruption, western claims to hegemony and, of course, love, in bizarre fashion, inextricably linking the worlds of opera and puppet theatre in the process. (reproduced from the Theater Magdeburg website)
The cast includes soprano Lauren Urquhart (Ann), alto Andion Fernandez (Miranda), tenor Bradley Smith (Denham), bass James Bobby (Kong) and alto Caitlin Redding (Richter). Kiril Stankow conducts the Magdeburgische Philharmonie. Roscha A. Säidow directs.

The venue is the Schauspielhaus.

Wednesday, 31 October 2018

New programme books in my collection


I have recently acquired several programme books for contemporary operas :



- Jonas S. Bohlin, Tristessa, Stockholm, October 6, 2018
It is a 28 pages brochure. It contains :
- complete cast and crew with B & W headshots ;
- synopsis (in Swedish and English) ;
- Torbjörn Elensky : Angela Carter satte allt på spel (Angela Carter put everything at stake) ;
- Torbjörn Eriksson : interview with Katharina Thoma ;
- Katarina Aronsson : Operan är scenkonstens moder (Opera is the mother of the performing arts), interview with visual artist Ann-Sofi Sidén ;
- Jonas S. Bohlin : Känslan av att stå utanför är en erfarenhet som påverkat mitt liv (The feeling of standing outside is an experience that has affected my life) ;
- Tiina Rosenberg : Divor är trasiga tanter, excerpt of HBTQ spelar roll (LGBT plays a role) ;
- several color photos.
The brochure is entirely in Swedish, unless otherwise stated.

- Niklas Brommare, När då då, Stockholm, October 13, 2018
It is a 28 pages brochure. It contains :
- complete cast and crew with B & W headshots ;
- color photos of rehearsals and drawings (sketches of characters), with quotes of the libretto.
The brochure is entirely in Swedish.

- Christian Diendorfer, Die Wand, Linz, Septembre 16, 2018
It is a 32 pages brochure. It contains :
- complete cast and crew ;
- synopsis ;
- Ira Goldbecher : Marlen Haushofer, kurze biografische Einblicke ;
- Hermann Schneider : Zum Libretto ;
- Dialogue with Eva-Maria Melbye (director) and Marcus Olson (set designer) : Eine poetische Neufassung ;
- Composer's biography ;
- several color photos.
The brochure is entirely in German.


 - Adam Gorb, The Path to Heaven, Leeds, June 19, 2018
It is a 20 pages brochure. It contains :
- complete cast and crew ;
- synopsis ;
- biographies of artists with color headshots ;
- color photos of rehearsals ;
- complete libretto.
The brochure is entirely in English.

- Michael Jarrell, Bérénice, Paris, September 29, 2018
It is a 136 pages book. It contains :
- Complete cast ;
- In Brief (French and English) ;
- Synopsis and Characters (Franch and English) ;
- Timeline (French and English) ;
- Michael Jarrell : Faire chanter le français de Racine ;
- Philippe Albèra : Un portrait de Michael Jarrell ;
- Julia de Gasquet : L'instant et le moment : l'alexandrin métamorphosé ;
- Georges Forestier : Racine et le choix de Bérénice ;
- Christian-Georges Schwentzel : La reine "amie" et l'empereur ;
- Konrad Kuhn : Une pièce contemporaine ;
- Nathalie Azoulai : Tous les cahots de l'abandon (excerpt of Titus n'aimait pas Bérénice) ;
- complete libretto ;
- B & W photos of rehearsals ;
- biographies of the artists, with B& W headshots.
The book is entirely in French, unless otherwise stated.

- David Sawer, The Skating Rink, Wormsley (Garsington Opera), July 5, 2018
It is a 128 pages book that contains information on all four operas performed this year. There are actually 10 pages about The Skating Rink, not included the artists' biographies. It contains :
- complete cast and crew ;
- synopsis ;
- Creative Collaboration, David Sawer and Rory Mullarkey in conversation with Fiona Maddocks ;
- Chris Andrews : Roberto Bolaño and 'The Skating Rink' ;
- Enric's dream of skating, excerpt of Bolañ's The Skating Rink.
Biographies of artists with B & W headshots are included in the general roster for the Festival.

Other new programmes for past operas :


- Thomas Adès, Powder Her Face, Irish National Opera, Wexford, February 24, 2018. The opera was first performed in 1995. I also have the programme book for performances in Bologna (November 2010) ;
- Harrison Birtwistle, The Last Supper, Berlin (Staatsoper Unter den Linden), April 18, 2000 (world première). It contains a leaflet with complete cast and crew and another leaflet with biographies ot the artists ;
- Friedrich Cerha, Onkel Präsident, Munich (Gärtnerplatztheater im Prinzregententheater), June 1st, 2013 (world première) ;


- Silvia Colasanti, La metamorfosi, Firenze (Teatro Goldoni), March 9, 2014. The opera was first performed in the same theatre in May 2012 ;
- Nico Muhly, Two Boys, London (English National Opera), June 24, 2011 (world première) ;



- Hans Schanderl, Der Maschinist, Magdeburg, September 23, 2000. The opera was first performed on September 16, 2000 in Hannover. It contains a separate leaflet with the complete cast and crew ;
- Marco Tutino, Le Braci, Firenze, November 5, 2015. The opera was first performed in Budapest in October 2014.

I now have 599 programme books for contemporary operas. I have scanned all the covers and uploaded them to this flickr folder.

Thursday, 21 April 2016

3 new programme books in my collection


I have recently received in the mail the programme books for the 3 following contemporary operas :

- Sidney Corbett : Die Andere, Magdeburg, March 18, 2016 ;
- Alexander Muno : Sogno d'un mattino di primavera, Detmold, April 8, 2016 ;
- Hans Thomalla : Kaspar Hauser, Freiburg, April 9, 2016.



 The first one is a 36 pages brochure. It contains :

- The synopsis ;
- Die biblische Vorlage (excerpt from the Bible, Genesis 11) ;
- Stammvater Abraham, by Hans Küng ;
- Auf der Suche nach den Erzvätern, by Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman ;
- color photos of rehearsals ;
- conversation with librettist Christoph Hein and composer Sidney Corbett, by Ulrike Schröder ;
- Monotheismus und Gewalt, by Jan Assmann ;
- an excerpt of the libretto ;
- Die Musik weiß, was sie braucht, by composer Sidney Corbett ;
- Scheiternde Väter, by Jürgen Ebach ;
- Ein Leben in Polygamie, by Rosaline Massado ;
- Gefährliche Symbolpolitik, by Susanne Knaul ;
- biographies of Sidney Corbett and Christoph Hein.

It is entirely in German. Attached are a 16 pages booklet with the complete libretto in German, and a leaflet with the complete cast and crew.

The second is a 68 pages brochure. It contains :

- color photos of rehearsals ;
- complete cast and crew ;
- the synopsis ;
- Alexander Muno und Gabriele d'Annunzio ;
- Der Dichter Gabriele d'Annunzio : Todgesagte leben länger ;
- Psychologische Funktion der Farben, by Harald Braehm ;
- Trauma & Dissoziation ;
- Rot ist die Strassfarbe, by Harald Braehm ;
- the composer's biography ;
- Die Abgründigkeit des Textes, a dialogue with the composer.

It is entirely in German.

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

- complete cast and crew ;
- the synopsis ;
- Kaspar Hauser Lied, by Georg Trakl ;
- Pro und Contra Kaspar Hauser ;
- several color photos of rehearsals ;
- Von Stiliseirungen und Meteoriten, excerpts reproduced from the magazine Die deutsche Bühne ;

It is entirely in German.

I know have 407 programme books for contemporary operas. The scanned covers are available in this flickr folder.

Friday, 18 March 2016

Today : world première of Sidney Corbett's 'Die Andere' in Magdeburg


Today, Sidney Corbett's new opera, Die Andere, with a libretto by Christoph Hein, will be premiered at the Theater Magdeburg.


It is the composer's sixth (and second biblical) opera. His previous stage works include Noach (Bremen, 2001), Ubu (Gelsenkirchen, 2012) and Das große Heft (Osnabrück, 2013).
Abraham was prophesied that he would be the progenitor of a people. But he must face the fact that his wife Sara  gave birth to no son. She sugggests he should make her maid Hagar pregnant instead. Hagar becomes pregnant, but against all odds, Sara expects a child too. Abraham's claims to power seem ensured, but the seed of conflict - not only between the two women - is planted (freely adapted from the Theater Magdeburg website).
The cast includes baritone Roland Fenes (Abraham), mezzo Undine Dreißig (Sarah), soprano Julie Martin du Theil (Hagar) and tenor Manfred Wulfert (Nachor). Michael Wendeberg directs the Magdeburg Philharmonic Orchestra and Ulrich Schulz directs.

The performance takes place at the Schauspielhaus.

Thursday, 4 September 2014

Recently received in the mail


I have recently received the following items in the mail :

- Frankfurt, Alte Oper : October 2014 leaflet ;
- Giessen, Stadttheater : October 2014 leaflet
- Linz, Landestheater : September and October 2014 leaflets ;
- Ludwigshafen, Theater im Pfalzbau : Festspiele Ludwigshafen leaflet ;
- Magdeburg, Theater : 2014-2015 season program book ;
- Montpellier, Opéra Orchestre National : 2014-2015 season program book ;
- Trier, Theater : September and October 2014 leaflets ;
- Weimar, Deutsches Nationaltheater und Staatskapelle : October 2014 leaflet ;
- Wien, Volksoper : October 2014 leaflet.

Saturday, 2 August 2014

Recently received in the mail


I have recently received the following articles in the mail :

- Atlanta, Opera : 2014-2015 season brochure ;
- Avignon, Opéra : 2014-2015 season program book ;
- Braunschweig : October 2014 leaflet ;
- Bremen, Theater : September 2014 leaflet and brochure :
- Chemnitz, Theater : September October 2014 leaflet ;
- Darmstadt, Staatstheater : September October 2014 leaflet ;
- Dresden, Semperoper : 2014-2015 Semper ! Magazin No. 1 ;
- Frankfurt, Oper : September October 2014 leaflet ;
- Göteborg, Operan : 2014-2015 season program book ;
- Magdeburg, Theater : September 2014 leaflet ;
- Montréal, Opéra : 2014-2015 season brochure ;
- Vilnius, Lietuvos nacionalinis teatras : 2014-2015 leaflet.

Friday, 16 May 2014

Received in the mail this Friday morning


This Friday morning, I have received the following in the mail :

- Dresden : Semperoper, magazine Nr. 6 ;
- Essen : Aalto-Musiktheater, 2014-2015 season program book ;
- Magdeburg : Theater, June-July 2014 leaflet ;
- Massy : Opéra, 2014-2015 season brochure ;
- Gent / Antwerpen : Opera Ballet Vlaanderen, 2014-2015 season program book.