Today : world première of 'Seven Stones' by Ondrej Adamek in Aix-en-Provence

Today, the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence presents the world première of Seven Stones, an 'opera for 4 soloists and 12 choir singers playing instruments and objects', by Ondřej Adámek, with a libretto in English by Icelandic poet Sigurjón Birgir Sigurðsson (also known as Sjón).

It is the composer's first opera.

A mineralogist-collector who has got lost down a snowy lane remembers: many years earlier, he had gone in search of the first stone – the one that was almost used to stone to death the adulterous woman who was saved by Christ. During this seven-year long journey that takes him from Buenos Aires to Paris and from Japan to Iceland, the collector discovered many other stones... And the end of his journey leads to the conclusion of his quest – and to tragedy. (reproduced from the Festival website)

The cast includes soprano Anne-Emmanuelle Davy (Maid / Storyteller), soprano Shigeko Hata (Land Lady / Storyteller), baritone Nicolas Simeha (Stone Collector) and singer Landy Andriamboavonjy (Stone Collector's Wife). Ondřej Adámek conducts the Accentus / Axe 21 chorus. Éric Oberdorff directs.

The performance should last about 80 minutes. The venue is the Théâtre du Jeu de Paume.

Today : world première of 'The Skating Rink' by David Sawer in Garsington

Today, the Garsington Opera presents the world première of The Skating Rink, an opera composed by David Sawer, with a libretto by Rory Mullarkey based on the novel by Roberto Bolano.

It is the composer's fourth opera after The Panic (London, May 31, 1991), From Morning to Midnight (London, ENO, April 27, 2001) and Skin Deep (Leeds, Opera North, January 16, 2009).

Nuria, a beautiful young skating champion, has a powerful admirer, Enric, whose obsession drives him to pilfer funds to build her an ice rink in a deserted Spanish mansion. Discovered by an unlikely group of characters, a murder on the ice becomes the centre of this thrilling tale of jealousy, political corruption and the lengths we go to for the ones we love. (reproduced from the Garsington Opera website)

The cast includes bass baritone Grant Doyle (Enric), tenor Sam Furness (Gaspar), baritone Ben Edquist (Remo), mezzo Susan Bickley (Carmen) and soprano Claire Wild (Caridad). Garry Walker conducts the Garsington Opera Orchestra. Stewart Laing directs.

New programme books in my collection

I have recently acquired several programme books for contemporary operas :

 - John Adams, The Death of Klinghoffer, London (ENO), February 25, 2012.
It is a 98 pages book, with only 48 pages related to the opera. The opera was first performed in Brussels in 1991. I already have programme books from Lyon (1991) and Long Beach (2014).
- John Adams, Doctor Atomic, London (ENO), February 25, 2009.
It is a 78 pages book, with 36 pages related to the opera. The opera was first performed in San Francisco in 2005. I already have programme books from Amsterdam (2007) and Strasbourg (2014).
- Gavin Bryars, Doctor Ox's Experiment, London (ENO), June 15, 1998.
It is a 42 pages brochure. This is the programme for the world première performance.

 
- John Cage, Europeras 1 & 2, Braunschweig, November 25, 2017.
It is a 32 pages brochure. The operas were first performed in Frankfurt in 1987.
- Elliott Carter, What Next ?, München, November 20, 2011.
It is a 40 pages brochure. It also includes a separate 12 pages leaflet with biographies of the artists. The opera was first performed in Berlin in 1999. Puccini's Gianni Schicchi was performed as the first part of a double bill evening. I have another programme for a concert version in Paris in 2000.
- Peter Eötvös, Tri Sestri, München, February 8, 2010.
It is a 44 pages brochure. It also includes a separate 12 pages leaflet with biographies of the artists. The opera was first performed in Lyon in 1998. I have the programme book the the world première and another one for performances at the Wiener Staatsoper in March 2016.

 
- Philip Glass, The Making of the Representative for Planet 8, London (ENO), November 17, 1988.
It is a 48 pages brochure. The opera was first performed in Houston in July 1988. The performances in London were the first in Europe.
- Philip Glass, The Perfect American, London (ENO), June 1, 2013.
It is a 76 pages book, with only 38 pages related to the opera. The opera was first performed in Madrid in January 2013. I have the programme book for the world première.
- Iain Hamilton, The Royal Hunt of the Sun, London (ENO), February 2, 1977.
It is a 44 pages brochure. This is the programme for the world première.

- Hans Werner Henze, Die Bassariden, München, May, 19, 2008.
It is a 140 pages book. It also includes a separate 6 pages leaflet with biographies of the artists. The opera was first performed in Salzburg in 1966. I have another programme book for performances in Paris in 2005.
- Helmut Lachenmann, Das Mädchen mit den Schwefelhölzern, Hamburg, January 26, 1997.
It is a 48 pages book. This is the programme book for the world première. I already have two other programme books for this opera : Paris in September 2001 and Stuttgart in October 2001.
- Jost Meier, Dreyfus - Die Affäre, Basel, October 16, 1994.
It is a 112 pages book. The opera was first performed in Berlin in May 1994. I have another programme brochure for performances at New York City Opera in April 1996.

- Lucia Ronchetti, Rivale, Braunschweig, October 29, 2017.
It is a 16 pages leaflet. The opera was first performed in Berlin on October 8, 2017. I have the programme book for the world première.
- Poul Ruders, The Handmaid's Tale, London (ENO), April 3, 2003.
It is a 96 pages brochure, with only 40 pages dedicated to the opera. The opera was first performed in Copenhagen in 2000.
- Aulis Sallinen, The King Goes Forth to France, London (Royal Opera House), April 1, 1987.
It is a 72 pages brochures, with only 32 pages dedicated to the opera. The opera was first performed in Savonlinna in 1984.

- Mark Anthony Turnage, Greek, London (ENO), September 27, 1990.
It is a 64 pages brochure. The opera was first performed in München in June 1988. I have two other programme books for this opera : Wuppertal in 1992 and Paris in 2000.
- Mark Anthony Turnage, The Silver Tassie, London (ENO), February 16, 2000.
It is a 96 pages brochure. This is the programme for the world première.
- Rufus Wainwright, Prima Donna, Augsburg, February 3, 2018.
It is a 24 pages brochure. The opera was first performed in Manchester in 2009.

I now have 586 programme books for contemporary operas. I have scanned and uploaded all the covers to this flickr folder.

Today : world première of 'Erdbeben. Träume' by Toshio Hosokawa in Stuttgart

Today, the Oper Stuttgart presents the world première of Erdbeben. Träume (Earthquake. Dreams), an opera in one act composed by Toshio Hosokawa, with a libretto by Marcel Beyer based on Das Erdbeben von Chili by Heinrich von Kleist.

It is the composer's seventh opera, after Vision of Lear (Munich, April 19, 1998), Matsukaze (Brussels, May 3, 2011) and Stilles Meer (Hamburg, January 24, 2016), among others.

A child, whose parents were massacred leaving him to be raised by foster parents, goes on a journey to find his real parents asking himself, ‘Where are my real parents?’ and ‘Who am I ?’
The audience follows the aural and visual representation of the child’s existencial voyage as he prepares to become an adult. Nevertheless, this journey is by no means without peril.
Awaiting him are violent forces of nature (earthquakes and tsunamis), the terrifying unconscious mass violence hidden in the heart of humans, and the ferocity of nature; on the other hand, there emerges the love story of his parents, the solidarity of mankind, and the grace of nature. (reproduced from the Schott Music website)

The cast includes Esther Dierkes (Josephe Asteron) ; Dominic Große (Jeronimo), Sophie Marilley (Elvire), André Morsch (Fernando Ormez), Josefin Feiler (Constanze) and Torsten Hofmann (Pedrillo). Sylvain Cambreling conducts the Staatsorchester Stuttgart, the Staatsopernchor and the Kinderchor of the Stuttgart opera. Jossi Wieler and Sergio Morabito direct.

The required orchestra is the following (reproduced from the Schott Music website) :

- 2 flutes (doubling piccolo, alto flute and bass flute), 2 oboes (doubling English horn) ; 2 clarinets (doubling bass clarinet), 2 bassoons (doubling contrabasson) ;
- 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, 1 tuba ;
- 4 percussionists ;
- 1 harp, celesta ;
- strings.

The performance should last about 90 minutes. The score is published by Schott Music.

Today : world première of 'Drachenreiter' by Jan Pezold and Henning Kothe in Lübeck

Today, the Theater Lübeck presents the world première of Drachenreiter (Dragon Rider), a children opera with libretto and music by Jan Pezold and Henning Kothe, based on a novel by Cornelia Funke.

Cornelia Funke

Firedrake is a young dragon who lives in a hidden valley outside of London with other dragons. After realizing that humans intend to flood the valley and the dragons living there are no longer safe, Firedrake sets off with the guidance from the eldest member of his clan to avoid the 'Golden One' and to find the Rim of Heaven, a legendary location that is a safe haven for all dragons. (reproduced from wikipedia)

The cast includes Dominik Müller (Drache Lung), soprano Imke Looft (Waldkobold Schefelfell), Alexander Wilbert (Ben), bass Simon Rudolf (Drache Nesselbrand, der Goldene), countertenor Johann Moritz von Cube (Fliegenbein) and Marlon Hangmann (Professor Schwertling). Jan-Michael Krüger conducts the Lübeck Philharmonic Orchestra and the Vocalino Children Chorus. Jennifer Toelstede directs.

Today : world première of 'Cave' by Tansy Davies in London

Today, the Royal Opera House and the London Sinfonietta present the world première of Cave, a chamber opera in 8 scenes for 2 singers and ensemble with electronics, composed by Tansy Davies, with a libretto by Nick Drake.

(c) Maurice Foxall

It is the composer's second opera after Between Worlds, first performed by English National Opera at the Barbican on April 11, 2015.

This music theatre work follows a grieving man’s quest for survival and renewal, in a dystopian future of desert shopping malls and melting ancient glaciers. Desperate to connect one last time with his lost daughter, he enters a dark cave, and so begins his journey into the underworld of spirits. (reproduced from the Royal Opera House website)

The cast include tenor Mark Padmore (Man) and contralto Elaine Mitchener (Hannah). Geoffrey Paterson conducts the London Sinfonietta. Lucy Bailey directs.

The performance should last about 60 minutes. The venue is Printworks.

Today : world première of 'Mamzer Bastard' by Na'ama Zisser in London

Today, the Royal Opera House and the Guildhall School of Music & Drama present the world première of Mamzer Bastard, a chamber opera by Na'ama Zisser, with a libretto (in English, Hebrew and Yiddish) by Samantha Newton and Rachel C. Zisser.

It is the composer's second opera after Black Sand (London, 2013).

It is the night before Yoel’s wedding, an arranged marriage within his Orthodox Hasidic community. He is wracked with doubt. A chance encounter with a stranger reveals truths about Yoel that change everything. (reproduced from the Royal Opera House website)

The cast includes countertenor Collin Shay (Yoel), baritone Steven Page (Stranger), mezzo Gundula Hintz (Esther), tenor Robert Burt (Menash) and cantor Netanel Hershtik (David). Jessica Cottis conducts the Aurora Orchestra. Jay Scheib directs.

The venue is the Hackney Empire. The performance should last about 90 minutes (no interval).

Just received : two programme books from Hamburg (Dvorak and Ruzicka)

This Tuesday morning, I have received in the mail two programme books published by the Staatsoper Hamburg for two new operas :

- Jan Dvorak, Frankenstein, May 20, 2018 ;
- Peter Ruzicka, Benjamin, June 3, 2018.

The first one is a 48 pages book. It contains :

- Mutability, a poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley, in English with facing translation in German ;
- Ohne eine Liebe - Die Geschichte von viktor Frankenstein und seiner Schöpfung, by director Philipp Stölzl ;
- Wie das Böse in die Welt kommt, dialogue with librettist and composer Jan Dvorak, by Janina Zell and Lisa-Michelle Helten ;
- Das verachtenswerteste Leben, by Mary Shelley ;
- Die Geburtsstunde zweier Kreaturen, excerpt of the introduction to Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus, by Mary Shelley ;
- Ein Funken des Seins, excerpt of Mary Shelley's novel ;
- Effektiver Umgang mit Unwissenheit, Brian Eno über Künstliche Intelligenz ;
- Trägt irgendjemand die Verantwortung für dieses Gebilde ? David Christian über Künstliche Intelligenz ;
- several colour photos from rehearsals and several B & W stills of Boris Karloff as Frankenstein.

The book also contains a 4 pages leaflet with complete cast and crew for the first performance.

The second is a 64 pages book. I tcontains :

- synopsis, by librettiste Yona Kim ;
- Die Suche als Daseinsform, interview with composer Peter Ruzicka and librettist Yona Kim, by Detlef Brandenburg ;
- Kontexte, by Habakuk Traber ;
- Walter Benjamin, eine musiktheatralische Metapher, by librettist Yona Kim ;
- Im Augenblick der Gefahr, by Angela Beuerle ;
- Chronology of Benjamin ;
- detailed biographies of Peter Ruzicka and Yona Kim ;
- complete libretto, in German ;
- several colour photos of rehearsals.

The book also contains a 4 pages leaflet with complete cast and crew for the first performance.

I now have 568 programme books for contemporary operas. All scanned covers have been uploaded to this flickr folder.

Today : world première of 'El Cristo de Elqui' by Miguel Farias in Santiago

Today, the Teatro Municipal de Santiago presents the world première of El Cristo de Elqui (The Christ of Elqui), an opera in one prologue and four acts composed by Miguel Farias, with a libretto by Alberto Mayol, based on Hernán Rivera Letelier's novels The Art of the Resurrection and The Queen Isabel Sang Mexican Music.

He has already composed at least one opera, Renca, Paris y Liendres (2012).

The music is intended as an attempt to represent the voice of the desert and the northern pampas, with its passive nights and afternoons of howls of suffering and pleasure. The desert speaks during the interludes, while in the dramatic scenes, the music visits the common spaces of the Chilean north of the 20th century. They visit rancheras and boleros that unite miners, prostitutes, priests and elected, while the desert whispers the eternal song of their own voice and history that is mixed with the whistles of their silence. (reproduced from operala.org)

The cast includes baritonr Patricio Sabaté (Cristo de Elqui), mezzo Evelyn Ramirez (Reina Isabel), soprano Yaritza Véliz (Magalena), mezzo Paola Rodriguez (Ambulancia) and baritone Gonzalo Araya (Cardenal). Pedro-Pablo Prudencio conducts the Orquesta Filarmonica de Santiago and the Coro del Municipal de Santiago. Jorge Lavelli directs.

The performance should last about 90 minutes.

Today : world première of Peter Ruzicka's 'Benjamin' in Hamburg

Today, the Staatsoper Hamburg presents the world première of Benjamin, an opera in seven stations composed by Peter Ruzicka, with a libretto by Yona Kim.

It is the composer's third opera, after Celan (Dresden, March 25, 2001) and Hölderlin (Berlin, November 16, 2008).

Walter Benjamin was a German philosopher and cultural scientist. A Jew and Marxist, his path through the 20th century was irregular and meandering. The figures accompanying Benjamin on his last wanderings through life designate areas of his influence. Hannah Arendt spoke of the 'banality of evil', Benjamin’s chess partner Bertolt Brecht polemicised against his 'Jewish fascism', the Kabala researcher Gershom Scholem urged his friend to come to Israel, and with the Latvian actress Asja Lacis, Benjamin fantasised about proletarian children’s theatre. To Benjamin, it was not world revolution, but 'weak messianic power' that pointed the way to a just society. While escaping to the USA, Benjamin took his own life in the Spanish border town of Port-Bou in 1940. (reproduced from the Staatsoper Hamburg website)

The cast includes soprano Lini Gong (Asja L.), mezzo Dorottya Lang (Hannah A.), tenor Andreas Conrad (Bertolt B.) ; baritone Dietrich Henschel (Benjamin), bass Tigran Martirossian (Gerhsom Sholem) and mezzo Marta Swiderska (Dora S.). Peter Ruzicka conducts the Philharmoniches Staatsorchester Hamburg, the Choir of the Staatsoper Hamburg and the Hamburger Alsterspatzen. Yona Kim directs.

The score is published by Sikorski. According to the publisher's website, the required orchestra is the following :

- 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 3 clarinets (doubling bass clarinet) ; 3 bassoons (doubling contrabassoon) ;
- 3 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, 1 tuba ;
- timpani and 4 percussionists ;
- piano / celesta ;
- strings (10.8.6.5.5).

The performance should last about 100 minutes.

Walter Benjamin was already the main character of Benjamin, dernière nuit, composed by Michel Tabachnik, an opera first performed in Lyon on March 15, 2016.

Today : world première of the 2 acts version of 'An American Soldier' by Huang Ruo in Saint Louis

Today, the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis presents the world première of the new version of An American Soldier, an opera in 2 acts composed by Huang Ruo with a libretto by David Henry Hwang.

The first version was performed in Washington on June 13, 2014.

Danny Chen is the son of Chinese immigrants, and a proud American. He enlists in the US Army in 2011, eager to serve his country. In boot camp, Danny is welcomed by his band of brothers. But in Afghanistan, his own base becomes enemy territory as military hazing turns deadly. (reproduced from the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis website)

The cast includes tenor Andrew Stenson (Danny Chen), bass baritone Wayne Tigges (Sergent Aaron Marcum), mezzo Mika Shigematsu (Mother Chen) and soprano Kahtleen Kim (Josephine Young). Michael Christie conducts the Orchestra and Chorus of the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. Matthew Ozawa directs.

The score is published by Ricordi. According to the publisher, the required chamber orchestra (35 musicians) is the following :

- 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons ;
- 2 horns, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones ;
- 2 percussions ;
- strings.

The performance should last about 2 hours, including one intermission.

Today : world première of 'Wir aus Glas' by Yasutaki Inamori in Munich

Today, the Münchner Biennale (Festival of new music theater) presents the world première of Wir aus Glas, a musical theatre piece composed by Yasutaki Inamori with a libretto by Gerhild Steinbuch.

It is the composer's first work for the stage.

An apartment, five persons, seven days: the apartment becomes a world. Comfortably packed in the interior of the bubble, familiar everyday rituals and dealing with familiar things secure and protect the persons from an outside, which for a long time now one only knows about from hearsay. Home, hearth, and living room endow identity and keep fear at bay : fear of the unknown, fear of the uncontrollable, fear of the unfamiliar. The constructed 'ideal world' is not allowed to collapse, and so the outsider becomes an aggressor, whose 'otherness' has to be suppressed, because he questions one's self. (reproduced from the Münchner Biennale website)

The cast includes soprano Alexandra Hutton, mezzo Michelle Daly, tenor Clemens Bieber ; baritone Thomas Florio and actor Steffen Scheumann. Elda Laro conducts the Opera Lab Berlin. David Hermann directs.
The instrumental ensemble consists of 1 oboe, 1 bassoon, 1 trumpet, 1 trombone / tuba, 1 violin and 1 violoncello.

The score is published by Edition Gravis.

The performance should last about 90 minutes. The venue is the Muffathalle. After five performances in Munich, the production will be performed in Berlin at the Deutsche Oper (Tischlerei), starting on June 19.