Six new programme books in my collection

I have recently received six new programme books published by opera theaters for performances of contemporary operas.

- Gerald Barry : Alice's Adventures Underground, Los Angeles (LA Phil), November 22, 2016 ;
- William Bolcom : Dinner at Eight, Saint Paul (Minnesota Opera), March 11, 2017 ;
- Alois Bröder : Unverhofftes Wiedersehen, Würzburg, June 24, 2017 ;

- Mohammed Fairouz : The Dictator's Wife, Washington (Kennedy Center), January 13, 2017 ;
- André Previn : A Streetcar Named Desire, Honolulu (HOT), January 27, 2017 ;
- Ravi Shankar : Sukanya, Leicester (Curve), May 12, 2017.

The first one is a 92 pages brochure for all concerts of November 2016, including 8 pages dedicated to Gerald Barry's new opera. It is entirely in English :

- complete cast ;
- Notes by John Henken ;
- Composer profile ;
- detailed biographies with B&W headshots.

The second one is a 32 pages brochure. It is entirely in English. It contains :

- synopsis ;
- complete cast and creative team ;
- About the opera, by dramaturg David Sander ;
- Director's Notes, by stage director Tomer Zvulun ;
- detailed biographies of composer William Bolcom and librettist Mark Campbell with color headshots ;
- biographies of singers and team members, with B&W headshots ;
- Meet the artist, with soprano Brenda Harris ;
- The Making of 'Dinner at Eight'.

The third one is a 44 pages brochure. It is entirely in German. It contains :

- complete cast and crew ;
- color photos of rehearsals ;
- short synopsis ;
- Die Erde, by Johann Peter Hebel ;
- Im Spiegel der Geschichte, by Beate Kröhnert, personnal assistant to the General Director ;
- Anmerkungen zur Musik, by composer Alois Bröder ;
- Der Komet, by Johann Peter Hebel ;
- complete libretto ;
- biography of Alois Bröder.

The fourth one is a 52 pages brochure. It is entirely in English. It is the January 2017 issue of Playbill for the Kennedy Center. 7 pages are dedicated to the opera Dictator's Wife :

- complete cast and crew ;
- A Letter from Robert Ainsley, director of the American Opera Initiative ;
- synopsis of the opera ;
- Meet the Artists, biographies with B&W headshots.

The sixth one is a 36 pages brochure. It is entirely in English. It contains :

- Introduction by director Suba Das ;
- color photos of rehearsals ;
- Programme notes by Michael Church ;
- Ravi Shankar timline ;
- Ravi Shankar in photographs ;
- cast, performers and production team ;
- synopsis ;
- biographies of artists, with B&W headshots.

I now have 482 programmes for conteporary operas. I have scanned and uploaded all the covers in this flickr album.

3 new programme books in my collection : Battistelli, Fairouz and Nemtsov

I have recently received three new programme books for contemporary operas :

- Giorgio Battistelli : Lot, Hannover, April 1, 2017 ;
- Mohammed Fairouz : The New Prince, Amsterdam, March 24, 2017 ;
- Sarah Nemtsov : Sacrifice, Halle, March 5, 2017.

 The first one is a 64 pages book. It contains :

- synopsis ;
- Klaus Angermann : Experiment mit offenem Ausgang - Vorläufige Bemerkungen zu Giorgio Battistellis Oper Lot ;
- Umberto Eco : Projekt einer Apokalypse ;
- Pier Paolo Pasolini : Ach, meine nackten Füsse... ;
- Julia Kristeva : Toccata und Fuge für den Fremden ;
- Klaus Lelek : A und O ;
- Pier Paolo Pasolini : Die Zerstörung der Selbsteinschätzung ;
- biographies of composer and librettist with black and white headshots ;
- complete libretto in German ;
- complete cast for the first performance (on the last page) ;
- several colour photos of the piano dress rehearsal on March 22.

The programme book is entirely written in German.

The second is a 88 pages book. It contains :

- complete cast ;
- Marijke Schouten : Machiavelli's wijsheid van de straat (Machiavelli's wisdom of the street) ;
- Frans van Dooren : Machiavelli's ideeënwereld (Machiavelli's world of ideas) ;
- Mark de Boorder : Eigentijdse figuren (Contemporary figures) ;
- Eelco Runia : Het Ancien régime zag de revolutie ook niet aankomen (The Ancient Regime did not se the Revolution coming) ;
- Edward Said : Het gezag de waarheid zeggen (Speaking Truth to Power) ;
- Fabienne Vegt : Korte inhoud (Synopsis) ;
- complete libretto ;

The entire programme book is in Dutch. The libretto is bilingual, Dutch and English.

The third and last one is a 16 pages leaflet. It contains :

- the complete cast ;
- May I be Sacrificed - Möge ich geopfert sein, by Michael v. zur Mühlen.

It is entirely in German.

I now have 472 programme books for contemporary operas. All the scanned covers have been uploaded to this flickr folder.

Today : world première of 'The New Prince' by Mohamed Fairouz in Amsterdam

Today, the Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam presents the world première of The New Prince, by Mohamed Fairouz, with a libretto in English by David Ignatius after Niccolò Machiavelli's novel.

It is the composer's second opera after Sumeida's Song (2009).

Set in the past and in the future, the opera revolves around the publication of an anniversary edition of The Prince. Besides Machiavelli, it features well-known people of our day, including Henry Kissinger, Bill and Hillary Clinton, and Osama bin Laden, as well as a fantasy world ruler Wu Virtu. Machiavelli’s lover is Fortuna, who is also his publisher. (reproduced from the Dutch National Opera website).

The cast includes baritone Joshua Hopkins (Niccolò Machiavelli), mezzo Karin Strobos (Fortuna), bass Simon Lim (President Wu Virtu), baritone Marc Kudisch (Henry Kissinger), singer George Abud (Bin Laden / Prince of Revolution), soprano Nora Fischer (Monica Lewinsky), baritone Paulo Szot (Bill Clinton / Dick Cheney). Steven Sloane conducts the Hague Philharmonic Orchestra and the Chorus of Dutch National Opera. Lotte de Beer directs.

The performance will take place at the Stadsschouwburg and should last about 100 minutes.

Today : world première of 'The Dictator's Wife' by Mohammed Fairouz in Washington

Today, the Washington National Opera and American Opera Initiative present the world première performance of Mohammed Fairouz's new opera, The Dictator's Wife, with a libretto by Mohammed Hanif based on his own play.

It is the composer's second opera after Sumeida's Song, first performed in New York in 2013. A recording of this opera has been published by Bridge Records.

The glamorous yet tormented wife of a once-powerful dictator bemoans that she is now having to answer for all of the terrible atrocities committed by her husband, who has "taken to cowering in the bathroom" as the country falls apart. (reproduced from the Kennedy Center website)

The cast includes mezzo soprano Allegra De Vita (First Lady), soprano Ariana Wehr (Ms. Holy), baritone Hunter Enoch (ADC), mezzo soprano Leah Hawkins (I Will See My Children Mom), tenor Rexford Tester (Give-Me-Cheap-Petrol Protestor) and bass Timothy J. Bruno (Death Row Dad). The ensemble will be conducted by Nicole Paiement and directed by Ethan McSweeny.

The performance should last about 1 hour, with no intermission.