Five new programme books in my collection

I have recently acquired 5 new programme books for contemporary operas :

1) George Benjamin : Lessons in Love and Violence, London (ROH), May 10, 2018.
It is a 92 pages book. It is entirely in English. It contains :

- complete cast ;
- synopsis, by librettist Martin Crimp ;
- Creating Psychological Sound-Worlds, George Benjamin talks to Oliver Mears, the Director of Opera for the Royal Opera House ;
- colour photographs of rehearsals, by Stephen Cummiskey ;
- A Flair for the Dramatic, by Guy Dammann ;
- Love in a Political Context, Martin Crimp talks to Oliver Mears ;
- Re-imagining Edward II, by Richard Rowland ;
- The Loves of the Powerful, by Melanie Marshall ;
- biographies with black and white headshots.

2) Sidney Corbett : San Paolo, Osnabrück, April 28, 2018.
It is a 32 pages booklet. It is entirely in German. It contains :

- full cast and crew ;
- colour photographs of rehearsals ;
- synopsis ;
- Vom Filmskript zur Oper ;
- Pier Paolo Pasolini : Filmprojekt über den heiligen Paulus ;
- Klaus Englert : Pier Paolo Pasolini - Unkonventionell religiös ;
- biographies of Pier Paolo Pasolini, Paulus von Tarsus and composer Sidney Corbett.

3) Benoît Menut : Fando et Lis, Saint-Etienne, May 2, 2018.
It is a 28 pages brochure. It is entirely in French. It contains :

- complete cast and crew ;
- Une aventure ancrée dans mes veines, by director Kristian Frédric ;
- L'éloge du chant, interview with composer Benoît Menut, by Michèle Tosi ;
- complete libretto by Kristian Frédric, in French ;
- biographies of the artists, with black and white headshots.

4) Alexander Raskatov : GerMANIA, Lyon, May 19, 2018.
It is a 192 pages book. It is entirely in French. It contains :

- technical information : writing of the libretto, composition of the score, characters, orchestral setting, complete cast for the world première ;
- synopsis ;
- the characters ;
- complete original libretto (in German and Russian, with lines in Hebrew and French), with French translation ;
- Alexander Raskatov : À la mémoire de toutes les âmes ruinées ;
- Frank Langlois : GerMANIA, matériaux ;
- several other texts by Bertolt Brecht, Heiner Müller, Paul Celan, Erich Kästner, Vassili Grossman, Ossip Mandelstam, Charles de Gaulle, Vassili Axionov ;
- Laurent Brunner : À propos de Germania 3, des souvenirs dans l'histioire ;
- biographies of Raskatov and Müller.

There is a separate 24 pages booklet with complete cast and biographies.

5) José Maria Sanchez-Verdu : Argo, Schwetzingen, April 27, 2018.
It is a 64 pages book. It contains :

- complete cast and crew ;
- excerpts of : Die Fahrt der Argonauten by Apollonios von Rhodos ; Die Odyssee by Homer ;
- colour photographs of rehearsals ;
- Interview with the composer José Maria Sanchez-Verdu, by Ina Karr ;
- Bewegung als zentrales Element, by director Mirella Weingarten ;
- Die Begegnung mit dem Imaginären, by Maurice Blanchot ;
- Odysseus oder Mythos und Aufklärung, by Max Horkheimer and Theodor W. Adorno ;
- complete libretto in German ;
- biographies of artists.

I have also acquired the librettos published by Faber Music of Lessons in Love and Violence and Written on Skin, 2 operas composed by George Benjamin, with librettos by Martin Crimp.

I now have 566 programme books for contemporary. I have scanned and uploaded all the covers to this flickr folder.

Today : world première of 'San Paolo' by Sidney Corbett in Osnabrück

Today, the Theater Osnabrück presents the world première of San Paolo, an opera composed by Sidney Corbett, with a libretto by Ralf Waldschmidt, inspired by Pier Paolo Pasolini's project of a film on Saint Paul.

It is the composer's fifth opera, following X und Y (Stuttgart, 2002), Noach (Bremen, 2001) and Das Große Heft (Osnabrück, 2013).

Pasolini's Paul is a tattered man, a fascinating mystic, an inspiring teacher of his disciples, and at the same time a dogmatist consumed with doubts and fears, founder of the institution of the church, which already carries the betrayal of itself. 'San Paolo' will ask questions to the city of peace in Osnabrück, in which tolerance and lived ecumenism will be tested again and again. (freely adapted from the Theater Osnabrück website)

The cast includes baritone Jan Friedrich Eggers (Paolo), tenor Daniel Wagner (Stefano / Timoteo), bass baritone Genadijus Bergorulko (Anania / Barnaba), baritone Rhys Jenkins (Pietro) and soprano Susann Vent-Wunderlich (Giovanni detto Marco). Daniel Inbal conducts the orchestra, chorus and children chorus of the Theater Osnabrück. Alexander May directs.

According to the full score shared onlie by Edition Peters, the required orchestra is the following :
- 2 flutes (doubling piccolo and alto flute), 2 oboes (doubling English horn and oboe d'amore), 3 clarinets in A (doubling bass clarinet in B and clarinet in E flat), 2 bassoons (doubling contrabassoon) ;
- 2 horns, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, 1 bass trombone, 1 tuba ;
- harp, accordion ;
- percussion (3 players) ;
- strings.

The libretto is in Italian. The performance should last 90 minutes, no intermission.

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.

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.