My collection of programm books for contemporary operas

I have uploaded scans of the covers of all programm books for contemporary operas I have.
They are in the following flickr album :

https://www.flickr.com/photos/22297671@N03/sets/72157650574665705/

I will continue to upload covers, as long as my collection keeps growing.

Today : world premiere of Joby Talbot's 'Everest' in Dallas (TX)

Today, the Dallas Opera (Winspear Opera House) will present the world première performance of Joby Talbot's first opera Everest, as second part of a double bill evening starting with the 4th act of Alfredo Catalani's La Wally.

 

The libretto has been written by Gene Scheer, who has already written texts for Tobias Picker, Jake Heggie and Jennifer Higdon.

On the slopes of Mount Everest, luck and the weather can turn with equal ferocity and swiftness, and dreams die even for the most valiant of men. The opera confronts the tragic events surrounding an ill-fated Everest expedition. (Reproduced from the Dallas Opera website)

The cast includes tenor Andrew Bidlack (Rob Hall), mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke (Jan Arnold), bass Kevin Burdette (Beck Weathers), baritone Craig Verm (Doug Hansen), soprano Julia Rose Arduino (Meg), baritone John Boehr (Guy) and bass-baritone Mark McCrory (Mike). Nicole Paiement conducts and Leonard Foglia directs.

It is interesting to notice that this operas has been rated PG-13 by the Dallas Opera for 'adult themes, intense drama, language, onstage death'.

'Shadowtime' by Brian Ferneyhough : full score and recording

Shadowtime is an opera in 7 scenes composed by Brian Ferneyhough from 1999 to 2004, with a libretto by Charles Bernstein, dealing with the philosopher Walter Benjamin. Commissioned by the City of Munich for the Münchner Biennale, it was first performed at the Prinzregententheater on May 25th, 2000.

The duration of the opera is about 2 hours. The full score of the opera was published by Edition Peters in 2004 (with the catalogue number EP 7788).

The score simply contains a 'Contents' page. There are no information about the complete opera : orchestral setting, cast, plot summary, world première. The website of the publisher doesn't include any helpful information. Luckily, the Münchener Biennale website has online archives with details about every opera that has been performed there. There you can find the complete cast (singers and orchestra), as well as pictures of performances.

Here is a sample :

 
This opera has a very special story, considering the scenes have been performed separately before the first complete performance in Munich. The score reflects this story by giving various information before each scene. The scenes have been published separately before. So there is a double numbering of the pages : starting from 1 for each scene at the top, and 'complete' from 1 to 432 at the bottom. The second scene is an instrumental piece for which the detailed instrumentation is given on page 70. The third scene, a choral piece with a small chamber ensemble, was first performed in New York. The fourth was first performed in Belgium, and is introduced with a 'Performance Note' and a 'Composer's Note'. The fifth scene, as announce on the contents page, is printed in the landscape format.

I wonder if during a performance, the conductor has to turn the score himself at this point. Most likely each scene is a different book (as listed on the publisher website), already in the right direction.

The sixth scene was commissioned by the Ensemble Intercontemporain in Paris. It is scored for a reciter and a small ensemble. The last scene was commissioned for the IRCAM, also in Paris.

After the first performances in Munich, the opera was performed in Nanterre (near Paris), London, New York, Bochum and Stockholm (only 3 scenes). The London performances (at the Coliseum, English National Opera) were recorded by NMC and then published as a double CD.

CD 1 : scenes 1-3 (64'42)
CD 2 : scenes 4-7 (62'02)

For this recording, Jurjen Hempel conducts the Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart and the Nieuw Ensemble, with Nicolas Hodges (piano and speaker) and Mats Scheidegger (guitar). The vocal parts are sung by members of the chorus : bass Ekkehard Abele (Walter Benjamin), soprano Angelika Luz (Innkeeper), soprano Monika Meier-Schmid (Dora Benjamin), sopranos Anja Paulus and Silke Storz (2 children), alto Janet Collins (Henry Gurland), tenor Martin Nagy (Hölderlin), bass Andreas Fischer (Gershom Scholem), bass Guillermo Anzorena (Young Walter Benjamin).

It is a pity that the publisher didn't seize the opportunity of publishing the score for including as a foreword the complete and detailed history of composition, commission and performance, rather than compiling previously existing scores. These scores also had to be printed all on the same size of paper, and the first scene has been printed in so small a print, it is impossible to decypher the vocal parts and any information giving by the composer. I wonder if there has been any proof reading of the actual score, which is almost useless !

Today : world première of Anton Lubchenko's 'Doctor Zhivago' in Regensburg

Today, the second opera composed by Russian composer Anton Lubchenko, Doctor Zhivago, will be performed in Regensburg, at the Theater am Bismarckplatz.

 

The libretto in Russian, written by the composer, is based on the novel by Boris Pasternak. The opera is a commission of the Theater Regensburg, in cooperation with the Primorsky Theater in Vladivostok.

World War I : the young doctor Zhivago meets Lara, who works as a nurse. They fall in love, but are separated by the outbreak of the Russian Revolution. Years later, they meet again, but happiness can't last because he is kidnapped by revolutionary Strelnikov. Political tribulations and unwanted acquaintances from the past seem to prevent them from enjoying a shared happiness...

Cast includes bass baritone Vladimir Baykov (Zhivago), soprano Michael Schneider (Lara), tenor Vitali Ishutin (Komarovski), bass Mario Klein (Wächter), mezzo Vera Egorova (Kubaricha). The composer conducts the Regensburg Opera Chorus and Philharmonic Orchestra. Silviu Purcarete directs.

Lubchenko's first opera, The Son of Man, was composed in 2006, on the initiative of Larisa Gergieva, in memory of the victims of the school hostage crisis in Beslan, two years earlier.

Today : world première of Pelle Gudmunsen-Holmgreen's first opera in Copenhagen

Today, the first opera of Danish composer Pelle Gudmunsen-Holmgreen will be performed in Copenhagen, on the small stage of the Danish National Opera (Takkelloftet, 200 seats).

The title of the opera is Sol går op, sol går ned (Sun goes up, sun goes down) and it is described by the composer as a stage symphony with singers, actors, dancers and musicians. The libretto in Danish is inspired by the Song of Solomon and Ecclesiastes from the Old Testament.

The cast includes soprano Aileen Itani (Sulamith), baritone Andreas Landin (Young Salomo), bass Sten Byriel (Old Salomo), the actors Hadi Ka-Koush, Ida Cæcilie Rasmussen, Lado Hadzic, Lars Knutzon, the dancers Vigdis Hentze Olsen abd Alexandre Bourdat. Jakob Hultberg conducts and Eva-Maria Melbye directs.

The ochestra consists of 1 clarinet, 3 trombones, percussion, electric guitar, bass guitar, violin, viola and violoncello. There is also a 4 voices chorus. The opera is published by Wilhelm Hansen.

The opera should last about 85 minutes, not including a 25 minutes interval. There is no broadcast planned yet.

Received in the mail this morning : program book for Iain Grandage's opera 'The Riders' in Melbourne

This Tuesday morning, I have received in the mail the program book published by Victorian Opera in Melbourne for the world première of Iain Grandage's opera The Riders. It was first performed on September 23rd in the Merlyn Theatre (Coopers Malthouse).

It is a 32 pages brochure, and it contains :

- messages from Richard Mills (artistic director and conductor), Marion Potts (artistic director and director), Iain Grandage (composer), Alison Croggon (librettist) ;
- complete cast and crew ;
- synopsis ;
- biographies with pictures.

On the composer's website, this work is listed as his first opera, though his catalogue already includes Dryblower and the Water Girl (opera for children, 2002) and Red Cap (musical, 2007), among other stage works.

The librettist Alison Croggon transformed Tim Winton's novel into a libretto. Here is what she wrote about it :

The Riders is about a man whose wife inexplicably abandons him and his daughter. Scully, one of Wintons's bluff, emotionally inarticulate men, is renovating a house in Ireland, waiting for this wife Jennifer and his daughter Billie to arrive from Perth and complete the home he is making for them. But when he goes to the airport, only Billie, traumatised and silent, is waiting for him. The novel consists of what unravels after this event, as Scully hunts frantically through Europe for his wife. (reproduced from the program book).

Grandage wrote his score for a chamber orchestra including : violin, viola, cello, double bass, recorders, bass clarinet, horn, trumpet, trombone, bass trombone, guitars, piano, accordion, sampler and percussion.

The cast for the world première was : Barry Ryan (Scully), Jessica Aszodi (Jennifer), Isabela Calderon (Billie), Dimity Shepherd (Marianne), David Rogers-Smith (Alex) and Jerzy Kozlowski (Arthur). Members of the Orchestra Victoria were conducted by Richard Mills. The opera was directed by Marion Potts with sets and costumes designed by Dale Ferguson.

The performance of September 27th was recorded by ABC and broadcast by ABC Classic FM on Sunday, November 30th. The duration was 98 minutes.

Received in the mail this morning : program book for Jüri Reinvere's 'Peer Gynt' in Oslo

This morning, I have received in the mail the program book published by the Norwegian National Opera for the world première of Jüri Reinvere's opera Peer Gynt.

It is a 44 pages brochure. It contains :

- detailed synopsis ;
- complete cast (with photos in character) and crew ;
- an article by the stage director on her staging this new opera ;
- an interview with the singer of the title role, Nils Harald Sødal ;
- an interview with the composer ;
- biographies of performers.

The book in entirely written in Norwegian, with the exception of three pages in English : a foreword by Per Boye Hansen, opera director, and the detailed synopsis. I had already received by e-mail word files of the interview with the stage director and the complete libretto, both in English.

Today : world première of 'Valentina' by Arturs Maskats in Riga

Today, the first opera of Latvian composer Arturs Maskats, Valentina, will be performed by the Latvian National Opera in Riga.

The libretto (2 acts), written by Liana Langa and the composer, celebrates film historian Valentina Freimane through pages of national chronicle from 1939 to 1944.

Valentina Freimane’s childhood was divided between Riga and Berlin where her father worked as an attorney for UFA film-studios and her mother was an enchanting society lady entertaining the elite of the cinema world the family virtually lived in under their roof. On their return to Riga, future film historian’s intelligentsia family is surprised by the Holocaust unprepared. It claims lives of Valentina’s parents and husband, and the young woman is forced to hide from authorities till the end of the war.

‘Valentina Freimane’s life story is inextricably inter-twined with events of Latvian and European history opening for the eye a panoramic view of the era in all its richness of color and in all its contradictions. The most dramatic moments of Valentina’s life have coincided with the notable events of the 20th century history : the loss of independence of Latvia when an enormous spiritual force was required in order to survive physically and morally; however, our opera is more than just about politics: a love story and deep feelings shoot through all of its events,’ says Arturs Maskats. (reproduced from the Latvian National opera website, where a detailed synopsis is available)

Today, Valentina Freimane lives and works in Berlin as well as in Riga. The cast includes Inga Kalna (soprano, Valentina), Janis Apeinis (baritone, Dima), Raimonds Bramanis (tenor, Aleksey), Rihars Macanovskis (baritone, Valdis), Ieva Parsa (mezzo, Alma). Modestas Pitrenas conducts and Viestur Kairish directs.

The first performance will be broadcast live on Latvijas Radio 3 Klasika.

Today : world première of 'A Christmas Carol' by Iain Bell in Houston

Today, the new chamber opera composed by Iain Bell, A Christmas Carol, with a libretto by Simon Callow after Charles Dickens, will be performed in Houston.

The libretto is in fact based on the one-man version Dickens himself prepared for public readings and performed more than a 100 times.

Near the end of the workday on Christmas Eve, Scrooge, a penurious businessman, grudgingly gives his clerk Bob Cratchit the next day off for the holiday. When Scrooge returns home, he is visited by the ghost of his former partner, Jacob Marley, who died on Christmas Eve seven years previously. Marley wears a long, heavy chain and warns Scrooge that he faces the same fate unless he mends his selfish ways. Marley warns that Scrooge will be visited by three spirits. Scrooge is visited in turn by the ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present, and Christmas Yet to Come. At the end of the final visit, Scrooge implores the spirit to reverse his fate, promising to be a new man. (reproduced from Houston Grand Opera website)

The tenor Jay Hunter Morris will be the Narrator, accompanied by a 15-player chamber orchestra. Warren Jones conducts and Simon Callow directs. The opera will be performed at the Cullen Theater in the Wortham Theater Center.

It is Bell's second opera. His first, A Harlot's Progress, based on William Hogarth's engravings, was first performed in Vienna in October 2013.

Received in the mail this Thursday morning : program book for François Fayt's 'Das schwarze Blut' in Erfurt

This Thursday morning, I have received in the mail the program book published by Theater Erfurt for the world première performance of François Fayt's opera Das schwarze Blut. It is entirely in German.

It is a 32 pages brochure and it contains :
- photos of the production ;
- synopsis ;
- chronology of Louis Guilloux's life (French writer who wrote the original novel) ;
- the year 1917 in Europe ;
- biography of the composer ;
- an article on François Fayt's music ;
- the complete cast and crew ;
- an article on adapting the novel ;
- an article on the opera, written by the dramaturge in charge of the production ;
- biographies of performers with photos.

Received in the mail this Saturday morning : program book for Mathis Nitschke's 'Happy Happy' from Montpellier

This Saturday morning, I have received the program book published by Opéra Orchestre National Montpellier for the world première performance of Mathis Nitschke's Happy, Happy.

 

The 48 pages book contains :
- complete cast ;
- bilingual synopsis (English and French) ;
- a 7 pages article on the composer and his works ;
- the original libretto (in French, English and German) and its translation in French ;
- biographies of the artists.

Today : world première of Jüri Reinvere's opera 'Peer Gynt' in Oslo

Today, Jüri Reinvere's new opera, Peer Gynt, with a libretto (in German) by the composer after Henrik Ibsen's play will be performed in Oslo.

It is Reinvere's second opera after Puhdistus (Purge), first performed in Helsinki in 2012. It is the second opera after Ibsen's play. The first was composed by Werner Egk in 1938.

«Who are you?» That is the question Peer Gynt asks the Bøyg, the Mountain King and the Sphinx, receiving only the answer, «Myself». But who is that, and who is Peer Gynt? What does it mean to be Norwegian in 2014, 200 years after we gained our first written constitution? What or where is the core, the seed? Is there one at all ? This work is a commentary on the position of the Peer Gynt phenomenon as a national and international Norwegian symbol. It is the story of the search for an identity that constantly escapes us. Our past and our memories, on the other hand, we carry with us whether we want to or not. The story of the evasive Peer Gynt shows that we have to face them in order to better understand ourselves.(reproduced from www.operaen.no)

There are 8 singers, all of them singing several parts, except Peer Gynt : Nils Harald Sødal (tenor, Peer Gynt), Marita Sølberg (soprano, Young Solveig), Ingebjørg Kosmo (mezzo, Elderly Solveig), Kari Ulfsnes Kleiven (soprano, Ingrid / Anitra), David Hansen (countertenor, Bogey / Cheshire Cat), Thor Inge Falch (tenor, Smith / Huhu), Ketil Hugaas (bass baritone, Troll King / von Eberkopf / Professor Begriffenfeldt) and Johannes Weisser (baritone, Priest / Executioner, Minister Hussein). John Helmer Fiore will conduct the chorus and the orchestra of the Norwegian Opera. Sigrid Strøm Reibo will direct.

The orchestra is the following :
- 3 flutes, 3 oboes, 3 clarinets, 3 bassoons
- 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, 1 tuba
- timpani and 4 percussionists
- 2 harps, piano, synthesizer, celesta
- tape
- strings

The opera should last about 2 hours and 20 minutes, with one interval. The first act consists of 3 'images' and the second of 4. Though the libretto has been written in German, the Norwegian National Opera will perform this new opera in Norwegian. There is no broadcast planned yet.