Received in the mail : Rolf Riehm, 'Sirenen', program book

This Monday morning, I have received the program book for the world première performance of Rolf Riehm's Sirenen from Frankfurt in the mail.

The 72 pages book (in German) contains :

- a detailed chronology of the conception, composing, producing and staging the opera ;
- a plot summary ;
- some samples of the composer's writings about his music ;
- texts and poems that have inspired the composer in writing his libretto ;
- color pictures of the staging ;
- a separate booklet with the complete cast, photos and biographies of the artists ;
- a short synopsis in English.

Today : World première of Rolf Riehm's 'Sirenen' in Frankfurt

Today, Rolf Riehm's new opera, Sirenen - Scenes of Desire and Destruction will receive its world première performance in Frankfurt.

 

It is the composer's second opera, twenty years after Das Schweigen der Sirenen, with a libretto after Franz Kafka. This time, the composer wrote his own libretto based on Homer's Odyssey.

The orchestra consists of 16 woodwinds, 12 brass, 4 percussionists, piano, accordion, keyboard and 32 strings. There will be no interval and the opera should last about 95 minutes.

Here is how the opera house presents the work, quoting the composer :

A passionate twist to the Odyssey, something which could happen to anyone at some point in their life. When nothing promises safety, nothing can be trusted any more, but is real. Circe, knowing she must let her beloved Odysseus leave, devises a plan. She sends his ship past the sirens, knowing all too well that his survival will inevitably mean their death. "The main theme in the opera," said the composer, "is Odysseus, his encounter with the goddess Circe and the mesmerising, lethal, song of the sirens. I would be delighted if my music could make it clear that we, like Circe, the sirens and Odysseus, could also find ourselves in danger when caught up in conflicts of love, betrayal, leave taking and desire." (reproduced from the website)

The cast is the following : Tanja Ariane Baumgartner (Kirke), Lawrence Zazzo (young Odysseus), Michael Mendel (old Odysseus), Dominic Betz (Telegonos) and 8 sirens. Martyn Brabbins conducts and Tobias Heyder directs.

Radio HR2 dedicated part of its breakfast program to the composer yesterday, but there seems to be no broadcast of the opera planned yet.

New Season 2014-2015 at the Oper Frankfurt

With 11 new productions, 2 operas in concert and 14 revivals (in 4 languages), Oper Frankfurt has announced a great 2014-2015 season.

The 11 new productions (including 2 world premières) present a great variety of styles and genre :

- Rolf Riehm : Sirenen, conducted by Martyn Brabbins, directed by Tobias Heyder (world première), with a libretto after Homer's Odyssey ;
- Engelbert Humperdinck : Hänsel und Gretel, conducted by Sebastian Weigle, directed by Keith Warner ;
- Vincenzo Bellini : La Sonnambula, conducted by Eun Sun Kim, directed by Tina Lanik ;
- Claudio Monteverdi : L'Incoronazione di Poppea, conducted by Simone Di Felice, directed by Ute .M Engelhardt ;
- Antonio Cesti : L'Orontea, conducted by Ivor Bolton, directed by Walter Sutcliffe ;
- Mieczyslaw Weinberg : Die Passagierin, conducted by Leo Hussain, directed by Anselm Weber ;
- Carl Maria von Weber : Euryanthe, conducted by Roland Kluttig, directed by Johannes Erath ;
- Richard Strauss : Der Rosenkavalier, conducted by Sebastian Weigle, directed by Claus Guth ;
- Lior Navok : An unserem Fluss, conducted by Sebastian Zierer, directed by Corinna Tetzel (world première) ;
- Bohuslav Martinu : Julietta, conducted by Sebastian Weigle, directed by Florentine Klepper ;
- Bohuslav Martinu : The Tears of the Knife, Comedy on the Bridge and Alexander bis, conducted by Hartmut Keil, directed by Beate Baron.

The following productions will be revived :

- Giacomo Puccini : La Bohème, directed by Alfred Kirchner ;
- Giuseppe Verdi : Falstaff, directed by Keith Warner ; Otello, directed by Johannes Erath ; Simon Boccanegra, directed by Christof Loy ;
- Richard Strauss : Die Frau ohne Schatten, directed by Christof Nel, Ariadne auf Naxos, directed by Brigitte Fassbaender ;
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart : Die Entführung aus dem Serail, directed by Christof Loy ; Don Giovanni, directed by Christof Loy ;
- Benjamin Britten : Owen Wingrave, directed by Walter Sutcliffe ;
- Antonin Dvorak : Rusalka, directed by Jim Lucassen ;
- Richard Wagner : Parsifal, directed by Christof Nel ;
- Gioachino Rossini : La Cenerentola, directed by Keith Warner ;
- Ildebrando Pizzetti : Murder in the Cathedral, directed by Keith Warner (in English) ;
- Engelbert Humperdinck : Königskinder, directed by David Bösch.