Today : world première of 'Falscher Verrat' by Marco Tutino in Kiel

Today, the Theater Kiel presents the world première of Falscher Verrat (False Betrayal), an opera composed by Marco Tutino, with a libretto in German by Luca Rossi and Wolfgang Haendeler inspired by the Kiel mutiny in November 1918.

Marco Tutino has already composed several operas, including Senso (Palermo, January 2011), Le Braci (Budapest, October 2014), La Ciociara (Two Women, San Francisco, June 2015) and Miseria e nobilta (Genova, February 2018).

It is the fictitious story about the sailor Gabriel, the Lieutenant Commander Arno von Stahl and Gabriel's childhood friend Henriette, now Lola the prostitute. Political convictions and intentions are overshadowed by private feelings : the officer Arno wants to support the uprising, but is betrayed out of jealousy by the sailor Gabriel. In the end, both men perish, but the rebellion can not be stopped. Lola, the woman between the two men, survives. (freely adapted from the Kiel Theater website)

The cast includes soprano Agnieszka Hauzer (Lola), tenor Michael Müller-Kasztelan (Gabriel Jensen), bass Tomohiro Takada (Arno von Stahl), mezzo Tatia Jibladze (Elsa von Stahl), bass baritone Jörg Sabrowski (Rufus Kropp), bass baritone Matteo Maria Ferretti (Richard) and tenor Fred Hoffmann (Helmut Schulze Rohr). Georg Fritzsch conducts the Orchestra, the Chorus and the Children's Chorus of the Kiel Opera House. Daniel Karazek directs.

The performance should last 2 hours and 30 minutes, including the interval.

Today : world première of Marco Tutino's 'Miseria e nobilta' in Genova

Today, the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genova presents the world première of Marco Tutino's new opera, Miseria e nobilta, with a libretto in 2 acts by Luca Rossi and Fabio Cesera, loosely based on Eduardo Scarpetta's homonymous play.

Tutino has already composer a dozen of stage works, including Pinocchio (1983), La Lupa (1990), Le Braci (2011) and La Ciociara (2015) and Le Braci (2015).

The version of Miseria e nobiltà created by Rossi, Ceresa and Tutino makes no claim to be entirely faithful to the original. The events are imagined at a much later date, in the days of the 1946 referendum in Italy, which ousted the monarchy and ushered in the republic. We’ve limited the characters, Scarpetta’s lowly crew is made up of the Sciosciammocca family, and that’s it. As for the plot, we weren’t exactly into settling for 19th-century gags that seem to follow one another in a kind of domino effect, where situations give rise to other situations, oftentimes with no end in sight. Things begin to unfold following a series of more complex events. The characters’ motivation is more connected to a story that delves even further into the psychological context, as well as social and cultural influences. (reproduced from the Ricordi website)

The cast includes soprano Valentina Mastrangelo (Bettina), mezzo Francesca Sartorato (Peppiniello), mezzo Martina Belli (Gemma), tenor Fabrizio Paesano (Eugenio), baritone Alessandro Luongo (Felice Sciosciammocca) and bass baritone Alfonso Antoniozzi (Don Gaetano). Francesco Cilluffo conducts the Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro Carlo Felice. Rosetta Cucchi directs.

According to the publisher Ricordi's website, the required orchestra is the following :

- 2 flutes (II. doubling piccolo), 2 oboes (II. doubling English horn), 2 clarinets, 1 bass clarinet, 2 bassoons ;
- 2 horns, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones ;
- timpani, percussion, harp ;
- strings.

The full score is available online on the publisher's website.

New recordings (audio and video) of contemporary operas in my collection

Since April 2016, I have acquired several recordings of contemporary operas. Most of them are audio recordings :

- Mark Abel : Home is a Harbor, conducted by Benjamin Makino (Delos, 2015)
- Jörn Arnecke : Das Fest im Meer, conducted by Cornelius Meister (New Classical Adventure, 2003)
- Gerald Barry : The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant, conducted by Gerhard Markson (RTE, 2005)

- Francesco D'Avalos : Maria di Venosa, conducted by the composer (Chandos, 1994)
- Leonid Desyatnikov : The Children of Rosenthal, conducted by Alexander Vedernikov (Melodiya, 2015)
- Gordon Getty : The Canterville Ghost, conducted by Matthias Foremny (Pentatone, 2015)

- Hans Werner Henze : Die Bassariden, conducted by Gerd Albrecht (Koch Schwann, 1986)
- Michael Levinas : La Conférence des Oiseaux, conducted by Michel Swierczewski (Adès, 1986)
- James MacMillan : The Sacrifice, conducted by Anthony Negus (Chandos, 2007)

- Thanos Mikroutsikos : The Return of Helen, conducted by Alexandros Myrat (EMI, 1999)
- Bernard Rands : Vincent, conducted by Arthur Fagen (Naxos, 2011)

- Karlheinz Stockhausen : Montag aus Licht, conducted by the composer (Stokhausen Stiftung, 1988)
- Karlheinz Stockhausen : Dienstag aus Licht, conducted by the composer (Stockhausen Stiftung, 1993)

- Karlheinz Stockhausen : Mittwoch aus Licht (4 scènes), conducted by the composer (Stockhausen Stiftung, 1996 and 2012)

 

- Karlheinz Stockhausen : Donnerstag aus Licht, conducted by Peter Eötvös and Karlheinz Stockhausen (Stockhausen Stiftung, 1980 to 1982)
- Karlheinz Stockhausen : Freitag aus Licht, conducted by the composer (Stockhausen Stiftung, 1992, 1994, 1996 and 2002)
- Karlheinz Stockhausen : Samstag aus Licht, conducted by the composer (Stockhausen Stiftung, 1981, 1983 and 1984)

- Karlheinz Stockhausen : Sonntag aus Licht (5 scènes), conducted by the composer (Stockhausen Stiftung, 1999, 2000, 2005 and 2003)

- Michael Tippett : The Midsummer Marriage, conducted by Sir Colin Davis (Lyrita, 1970)
- Marco Tutino : Le Braci, conducted by Francesco Cilluffo (Dynamic, 2015)

- Julian Wagstaff : Breathe Freely, conducted by Derek Clark (Linn Records, 2014)
- Rufus Wainwright : Prima Donna, conducted by Jayce Ogren (Deutsche Grammophon, 2015)

I also bought several video recordings :

- Philip Glass : Einstein on the Beach (Blu Ray), conducted by Michael Riesman, directed by Don Kent, with choreography by Lucinda Childs (Opus Arte, 2014)
 - Toshio Hosokawa : Stilles Meer (DVD), conducted by Kent Nagano, directed by Oriza Hirata (EuroArts, 2016)

- Rodion Shchedrin : The Left-Hander (Blu Ray), conducted by Valery Gergiev, directed by Alexei Stepanyuk (Mariinsky, 2013)
- Mauricio Sotelo : El Publico (Blu Ray), conducted by Pablo Heras-Casado, directed by Robert Castro (BelAir, 2015)

 That's all for today !

July 15th : world première of Marco Tutino's 'LeBraci' in Martina Franca

Today, the new version of Marco Tutino's opera, Le Braci, with a libretto by the composer after Hungarian Sándor Márai's novel, will be performed for the first time, at the Festival della Valle d'Itria in Martina Franca.

Marco Tutino has already composed several operas since Pinocchio (1985). His last stage works are The Servant (2008), Senso (2011) and Two Women (2015).

The libretto tells the meeting in 1940 of two old childhood friends who first met each other at the Military Academy of Vienna: Henrik (the son of a Hungarian prince) and Konrad (belonging to a Polish lower middle class family). They loved the same woman, Krisztina, but she married Henrik. Konrad suddenly left for the tropics and the colonies, after a hunt that threatened to turn into a murder and, forty years later, the two men see each other again one last time to evoke the past and talk again of Krisztina, dead many years ago.(reproduced from the Opera di Firenze website)

The cast includes soprano Angela Nisi (Kristina), mezzo Romina Tomasoni (Nini), tenor Davide Giusti (Young Konrad), baritone Pavol Kuban (Young Henrik), baritone Alfonso Antoniozzi (Konrad) and bass Roberto Scandiuzzi (Henrik). Francesco Cilluffo conducts the Orchestra Internazionale d'Italia and Leo Muscato directs.

Received in the mail this morning : program book for Marco Tutino's 'Two Women (La Ciociara)' from San Francisco

This morning, I have received in the mail the program book published by San Francisco Opera for the world première performance of Marco Tutino's new opera Two Women (La Ciociara), that took place on June 13th.

It is a 86 pages brochure. It contains :

- David J. Baker : Anna Caterina Antonacci : Italy's Most Galmorous Export ;
- synopsis ;
- complete cast and crew ;
- notes from director Francesca Zambello and conductor Nicola Luisotti ;
- Marina Romani in conversation with composer Marco Tutino ;
- Rape : Weapon of War (courtesy of the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights) ;
- Dolores McElroy : Two Women and World War II ;
- Artist profiles (with B&W photos) ;

The program is entirely in English.

The opera, co-commissioned and co-produced by San Francisco Opera and Teatro Regio Torino, will be performed in Italy in 2018.

Here is a link to the flickr folder with the covers of all program books I have for contemporary operas.

June 13th : world première of Marco Tutino's 'Two Women' in San Francisco

Today, Marco Tutino's new opera, Two Women, with a libretto in Italian by Fabio Ceresa and the composer, will be performed in San Francisco, at the War Memorial Opera House.

It is Tutino's 13th opera, since Pinocchio in 1983. The composer's lyrical output includes The Servant (2008) and Senso (2011). The libretto, based on Alberto Moravia's novel La Ciociara, was first transformed into a script by Luca Rossi, then adapted to the opera stage.

As the Allies invade Italy toward the end of World War II, a strong-willed widow and her 16-year-old daughter flee Rome for the nearby mountains in a vain attempt to find safety. (reproduced from the San Francisco opera website)

The complete libretto (two acts) is available for download from the San Francisco opera website.

The cast includes soprano Anna Caterina Antonacci (Cesira), soprano Sarah Shafer (Rosetta), tenor Dimitri Pittas (Michele) and baritone Mark Delavan (Giovanni). Nicola Luisotti conducts the chorus and the orchestra. Francesca Zambello directs. The opera should last about 2 hours and 40 minutes, including the intermission.

New Season 2014-2015 in San Francisco

During the 2014-2015 season, ten operas will be performed at the War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco, including one world première and one 20th century work. 8 operas will be performed in Italien, 1 in French and 1 in English.

The world première is :

Marco Tutino : Two Women (La Ciociara), with a libretto by Marco Tutino and Fabio Ceresa after Alberto's Moravia's novel. Anna Caterina Antonacci will perform the leading part, with Nicola Luisotti conducting and Francesca Zambello directing.

The season also includes :

- Vincenzo Bellini : Norma, conducted by Nicola Luisotti, directed by Kevin Newbury (new production, to be later performed in Barcelona) ;
- Carlisle Floyd : Susannah, conducted by Karen Kamensek, directed by Michael Cavanagh (new production) ;
- Giuseppe Verdi : Un ballo in maschera, conducted by Nicola Luisotti, directed by Jose Maria Condemi (new production) ;
- Georg Friedrich Haendel : Partenope, conducted by Christian Curnyn, directed by Christopher Alden (first performed at English National Opera in London in October 2008) ;
- Giacomo Puccini : Tosca, conducted by Riccardo Frizza, directed by Jose Maria Condemi (revival, first performed in November 2012) ;
- Gioachino Rossini : La Cenerentola, conducted by Jesus Lopez-Cobos, directed by Jean-Pierre Ponnelle (this production is at least 20 years old) ;
- Giacomo Puccini : La Bohème, conducted by Giuseppe Finzi, directed by John Caird (first performed in Houston in October 2012) ;
- Hector Berlioz : Les Troyens, conducted by Donald Runnicles, directed by David McVicar (first performed at Covent Garden in London in June 2012) ;
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart : Le Nozze di Figaro, conducted by Patrick Summers, directed by Robin Guarino (new production).

The San Francisco regularly performs contemporary operas. During the last years, they have produced :

- André Previn : A Streetcar Named Desire, in Octobre 1998 ;
- Douglas Moore : The Ballad of Baby Doe, in September 2000 ;
- Jake Heggie : Dead Man Walking, in October 2000 ;
- Olivier Messiaen : Saint François d'Assise, in October 2002 ;
- György Ligeti : Le Grand Macabre, in October 2004 ;
- John Adams : Doctor Atomic, in October 2005 ;
- Philip Glass : Appomattox, in October 2007 ;
- Stewart Wallace : The Bonesetter's Daughter, in September 2008 ;
- Christopher Theofanidis : Heart of a Soldier, in September 2011 ;
- John Adams : Nixon in China, in June 2012 ;
- Jake Heggie : Moby-Dick, in October 2012 ;
- Mark Adamo : The Gospel of Mary Magdalene in June 2013 ;
- Tobias Picker : Dolores Claiborne, in September 2013.