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On 16 December, the world premiere of Wilfried Hiller’s children’s opera Momo will take place at Munich’s Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz, staged by Nicole Claudia Weber and conducted by Michael Brandstätter. Anna Woll will play the title role of Momo, alongside the Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz chorus and children’s choir.

Commissioned by the Munich Gärtnerplatztheater and with a libretto by Wolfgang Adenberg, Momo is based on the eponymous children’s novel by the late Michael Ende, with whom Hiller had a long-standing artistic partnership. As a tribute to their friendship Hillier affectionately modelled the character Gigi on Ende, including references even within the music itself, such as when Hiller quotes a guitar melody of Ende’s in a pizzicato melody in the cellos and double basses. Hiller’s instrumentation is purposefully restrained in the beginning, only engaging the full orchestra at the climax of the action, and in keeping with Hiller’s unorthodox style, the character Master Hora is represented by a chorus rather than an individual.

 Wilfried Hiller – Momo: A music theatre piece for children

Momo is poor and lives alone in a modest dwelling just outside the city. Nevertheless, the young girl has many friends, as she has the rare gift of being a very good listener. One day, the mysterious Men in Grey of the Time Savings Bank appear in the city, convincing people to bank their time. Only Momo realises that the people are being cheated out of their time, and so declares war on the Men in Grey. With the help of Master Hora and his turtle Kassiopeia, Momo tricks the Men in Grey, and manages to free the stolen time, returning it to its rightful owners.

Momo: What's the time?
Master Hora: Time is always there, it's like music that we do not hear because it's always in us. Sometimes you can hear it, like ripples on the water caused by the wind.

9 further performances of Momo will be staged at the Gärtnerplatztheater from 17 December to 18 January 2019. Also this month, Hiller’s Singspiel Das Traumfresserchen will be performed at the Staatstheater Cottbus on 27 December.

• Wilfried Hiller - profile


• Momo - details


• Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz München

© Christian POGO Zach

To celebrate Bernd Alois Zimmermann's centenary year, the Volksbühne Berlin will present his radio oratorio Des Menschen Unterhaltsprozess gegen Gott (The People’s Maintenance Payments case against God) staged for the first time on 26 November in a production by Christian Filips. A number of ensembles from Berlin will come together for the performance to form an immense cast, with Kai-Uwe Jirka conducting.

Living amongst the devastation of World War II in Cologne, Zimmermann composed Des Menschen Unterhaltsprozess gegen Gott based on Hubert Rüttger’s German translation of Pedro Calderón de la Barca’s play Los Alimentos del hombre. The oratorio was first broadcast in 1952 in collaboration with the Cologne Westdeutscher Rundfunk, but was subsequently largely forgotten. The work features elements of melodrama, opera and early electronic music, while also drawing upon the music of Germany’s post-war occupiers, such as the jazz of the Americans, the French timbre of Debussy, and musical quotations from the Ballet Russes.

Bernd Alois Zimmermann – Des Menschen Unterhaltsprozess gegen Gott: a radio oratorio

Des Menschen begins with Adam violating God’s command, resulting in his banishment from the Garden of Eden to live on earth working as a farmer. Adam quickly grows tired of his new life, so when he one day meets the Devil, he readily accepts the Devil’s advice to sue God for maintenance, beginning a great metaphysical trial.

“The peculiarity and significance of this dedication to the glorification of the Holy Eucharist, with such intimate combinations of words and music, lends itself perfectly to the form of radio oratorio … I am looking forward to this great and beautiful task, above all because it could rescue an almost completely unknown work by Calderón from undeserved oblivion.” – Bernd Alois Zimmermann

Further performances commemorating Zimmermann’s centenary year include Dialogues, Symphony in One Movement and Monologues by the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks in Munich on 14 December, and the WDR Symphony Orchestra will present a selection of Zimmermann's works at the Kölner Philharmonie on 14 & 15 December, including his Violin Concerto.

• Bernd Alois Zimmermann – profile


• Des Menschen Unterhaltsprozess gegen Gott – Work Details and Online Score


• Volksbühne Berlin

On 22 November, the RIAS Kammerchor will perform Anton Bruckner's Reqiuem in D minor and Libera me in F minor at the Berlin Philharmonie alongside the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, conducted by Łukasz Borowicz. They will perform using the new Anton Bruckner Urtext Complete Edition, edited by Benjamin-Gunnar Cohrs.

Bruckner composed his Requiem in D minor in 1849 in memory of his close friend Franz Sailor, while working at the Austrian monastery of St. Florian where the work was premiered later that year on 15 September. The latest findings of the Anton Bruckner Urtext Complete Edition propose Bruckner’s Libera in F minor may have been written at the same time as the Requiem, despite being premiered five years later. In light of this Benjamin-Gunnar Cohrs has collated both compositions into one volume. Unlike previous versions, the Complete Edition will also use multi-coloured imaging to comprehensively indicate all variations of the musical text, such as original manuscripts and first print editions.

Anton Bruckner – Requiem in D minor and Libera me in F minor: in memory of Franz Sailer

The influence of Mozart is audible in Bruckner's Requiem, and as Libera me shares stylistic similarities with Mozart’s Requiem a connection between Bruckner’s Requiem and Libera me is further supported. The Requiem is divided into five major sections – Introit, Sequence, Offertorium, Sanctus & Benedictus, and Communium – following the structure of the Missa pro defunctis. For this reason, the new edition being performed by the RIAS Kammerchor also incorporates Bruckner’s Gradual and Tractus (after the Introitus) and the antiphon In Paradisum as they are conventional parts of the requiem.

On Founders’ Day, a requiem was performed by St. Florian’s teaching assistant – Anton Bruckner. It turned out very well; the 25-year-old young man is a virtuoso on the organ. After the Vespers, he introduced himself and he and his companion were invited to the table. - P. Beda Piringer (11 December 1849)

The RIAS Kammerchor will perform the same programme on 25 November in a guest appearance at the Philharmonie Essen.

• Anton Bruckner - profile


• Requiem in D minor and Libera me in F minor - details 


• RIAS Kammerchor

 

On 10 November 2018, the BBC Symphony Orchestra will perform Mark-Anthony Turnage’s opera The Silver Tassie (1997-1999) in concert  as part of their In Remembrance World War I series at the Barbican in London. Ryan Wigglesworth will conduct, with an excellent cast including Sally Matthews, Sir John Tomlinson, Claire Booth, Marcus Farnsworth, Louise Alder, Susan Bickley, and Ashley Riches as Harry, the lead character.

Based on Sean O’Casey’s 1928 play on the futility of war, The Silver Tassie is set in Dublin during World War I. Its title, referring to a footballing trophy, comes from a Scottish song text by Robert Burns “Go fetch to me a pint o’ wine, an’ fill it in a silver tassie; that I may drink before I go, a service to my bonnie lassie”. The opera was co-commissioned by English National Opera whilst Turnage was their Composer in Association, and Dallas Opera.

Mark-Anthony Turnage - The Silver Tassie: the tragedy of war

The story of The Silver Tassie centres around Harry Heagen - a handsome soldier on leave from the Great War, and a renowned footballer. Triumphant after winning the football cup ‘The Silver Tassie’ for his team, Harry leaves his family and girlfriend Jessie for the front. There he is rescued from death by his best friend Barney, but loses the use of his legs and is confined to a wheelchair. Harry then discovers Jessie has deserted him for Barney, and the final act brings a poignant and moving conclusion, as he sets off to face an uncertain future.

It is not only words that come across vividly, but feelings too. The sheer theatricality of the music is dazzling. Turnage knows precisely how to hold the audience's interest and sympathy, timing each scene consummately and providing haunting "tag" tunes and a series of grand operatic gestures. – Rupert Christiansen, The Telegraph

Further upcoming performances for Turnage include the staging of his explosive first opera Greek (1986-1988) at New York’s Brooklyn Academy of Music from 5-9 December 2018.

• Mark-Anthony Turnage - profile


• The Silver Tassie - details 


• Barbican Centre

 

© Foto: Keith Saunders

From 3 November, the Dresden Semperoper Ballet will present Paul Hindemith’s Theme with Four Variations as part of their evening of ballet “Labyrinth”. The ballet will employ George Balanchine’s original choreography, accompanied by the Staatskapelle Dresden and pianist Alfredo Miglionico, conducted by Nathan Fifield.

Hindemith was commissioned to compose Theme with Four Variations by the renowned choreographer George Balanchine for a new ballet, scheduled to premiere in late May 1941 as a prelude to the School of American Ballet’s South American tour. However, due to the events of WWII they were forced to abandon using the work of the German “hostile foreigner” Hindemith, despite the fact that the Nazis had also banned his music in Europe. As a result the ballet was not premiered until 1943 when it was performed in concert in the Swiss city of Winterthur, and the first scenic performance was given in 1946 by Balanchine’s newly founded New York City Ballet.

Paul Hindemith – Theme with Four Variations: the four temperaments of man

Hindemith’s Theme with Four Variations has the subtitle ‘according to the Four Temperaments’ and was inspired by the Ancient Greek theory suggesting there are four fundamental personality types: the melancholic, the sanguine, the phlegmatic and the choleric. Based on this model of classification, Hindemith divided his work into four movements plus an overture. The first section introduces a simple but central musical theme, which is developed differently in each of the following sections to musically emulate the four ancient temperaments. As part of the musical arrangement of the variations, Hindemith specified: "C is a kind of waltz, D a shorter piece, and E becomes a very wild thing."

I tried to portray Hindemith's austere score physically in my choreography, as if my dances provide the negative to his positive film. [...] Although the score is based on the idea of four temperaments, neither the music nor the choreography itself is a literal interpretation of this idea. The understanding of Greek medical ideas of temperaments was merely the starting point for our creative process. – George Balanchine

Five further performances of the "Labyrinth" evening of ballet will be given at the Semperoper Dresden from 5-21 November.

• Paul Hindemith - profile


• Theme with four Variations - work details


• Semperoper Ballet

 

© Staatstheater Stuttgart / Foto: Ulrich Beuttenmüller (Jelena Bushuyeva, Ami Morita, Marijn Rademaker, Alessandra Tognoloni und Miriam Kacerova in Phlegmatisch)

On 24 October, ArtPower and the music department of the University Of California San Diego will present the world premiere of Lei Liang’s new chamber opera Inheritance. The performance will take place at San Diego’s Conrad Prebys Music Center, with Steven Schick conducting and soprano Susan Narucki in the title role of Sarah Winchester, joined on stage by baritone Josueì Cerón and sopranos Kirsten Ashley Wiest and Hillary Jean Young.

Inheritance tells the story of eccentric widow and heiress Sarah Winchester, juxtaposing elements from her biography with contemporary incidents of gun-related violence in the US, raising issues of responsibility and atonement in its exploration of America's complex relationship with firearms and violence. The chamber opera was commissioned and produced by Susan Narucki, with a libretto written by Matt Donovan.

Lei Liang – Inheritance: political relevance meets legend

Liang’s Inheritance explores the life of Sarah Winchester, heiress to the Winchester Rifle Company and fortune. According to popular belief, she secreted herself away in her labyrinth-like villa, seeking refuge from the spirits of those killed by the rifles which gave her indescribable wealth. Haunted by this, she continuously and chaotically expanded her house, trying to find sanctuary whilst being driven to madness.

By investigating a woman trapped in circumstances she inherited, by portraying the ways in which Sarah Winchester is reduced to perpetual acts of ineffectual penance, by interrogating a far-reaching history that extends from 19th-century massacres of Native Americans to contemporary school shootings, Inheritance hopes to raise questions about complicity, atonement and gun violence in America. - Lei Liang

Two further performances of Inheritance will take place on 26 & 27 October, also at the Conrad Prebys Music Center.

• Lei Liang - profile


• Inheritance - work details


• More Informations about Inheritance

On 21 October, the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) will stage their first complete operetta at the Lee Foundation Theatre in celebration of their 80th anniversary. The operetta is Johann Strauss’ Die Fledermaus, which will be directed by David Edwards and conducted by Lim Yau, with a cast and orchestra made up of students, teachers and alumni of NAFA. The operetta will be sung in German, with spoken dialogue in English and Mandarin.

NAFA are using the New Johann Strauss Complete Edition of Die Fledermaus which has been edited by Michael Rot to provide a more complete and reliable copy of the score. Unlike other editions, it includes the finales for the first and third act and the opening of the second act, as intended by Strauss. The new edition also builds on previous editions with corrections in phrasing, tempo and dynamics, as well as in the sung melodies and instrumentation, and misunderstood text passages are amended. The new edition thus enhances the original by clarifying uncertainties and bringing the operetta’s musical contours into superior focus.

Johann Strauss – Die Fledermaus: from Vienna to Singapore

NAFA’s production of Die Fledermaus transports the operetta in present-day Singapore, where the wealthy art dealer Gabriel von Eisenstein comes into conflict with the law and is sentenced to prison. Eisenstein bids farewell to his wife Rosalinde and the housemaid Adele as he leaves for prison, but then decides to evade jail for one night so that he can attend Prince Orlofsky’s lavish party with his friend Dr Falke.  Adele and Rosalinde also head to Prince Orlofsky’s party on Dr Falke’s invitation, but in disguise as an actress and a Countess. At the party, Eisenstein flirts with the disguised Rosalinde, trying to convince her to share her real identity. After much frivolity, the following morning comes with the revelation that it was all a joke orchestrated by Dr. Falke.

Perhaps Die Fledermaus is a masterpiece precisely because the music functions as a dramaturgical hub and thus forms an inseparable unity with the text, where each one first learns its identity in the mirror of the other. – Michael Rot

NAFA will stage two repeat performances on 22 and 23 October, and two further productions of the New Johann Strauss Complete Edition of Die Fledermaus will be presented this year on 10 November by Theater Freiburg and 21 December by Opéra de Lausanne.

• Johann Strauss - profile


• Die Fledermaus - work details


• Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts

 

©  Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts

This year, Opera Factory Freiburg have built their programme around their production of Viktor Ullmann's chamber opera Der Kaiser von Atlantis (The Emperor of Atlantis) directed by Joachim Rathke. Complementary to this programming, Atlantis, Anno Schreier’s new prologue and epilogue to Der Kaiser von Atlantis, will be premiered on 13 October at the E-Werk in Freiburg im Breisgau.

Opera Factory Freiburg commissioned Atlantis expressly for their Ullmann programme, however in order to preserve the autonomy of his composition, Schreier avoided motivic references to Ullmann’s music almost entirely. While the prologue can be played as an independent concert work, the epilogue is inseparable from Ullmann’s opera. Klaus Simon, the artistic director of the Opera Factory, will also contribute to the programme with four new arrangements of Ullmann songs for the company’s resident orchestra the Holst Sinfonietta.

Anno Schreier - Atlantis: mystery and menace

Der Kaiser von Atlantis tells the story of a cruel emperor who declares a war on everyone. The character of Death feels usurped and refuses his duties, meaning everyone lives for eternity and the emperor’s war is in vain. A soldier and a girl confront each other in battle, but being unable to kill each other, they fall in love. In an attempt to ease the suffering of the people, Harlequin appeals to the emperor’s compassion by awakening his childhood memories, causing him to finally regret the pain he is causing. Death promises to resume his role and restore order, on the condition that the emperor voluntarily dies.

For me, the word 'Atlantis' musically evokes slow sounds rising from the depths, creating a mysterious, yet menacing atmosphere. It is only in two places that a characteristic fanfare from Ullmann’s opera emerges, like a sudden memory or announcement. – Anno Schreier

Following the premiere Atlantis will be staged in four further performances as part of Opera Factory Freiburg’s Ullmann programme.

• Anno Schreier - profile


• Atlantis - work details


• Opera Factory Freiburg

 

© Holst-Sinfonietta / Foto: Anke Nevermann

On 5 October, the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra open their season with the world premiere of Pēteris Vasks´ Oboe Concerto in Riga's Great Guild, Latvia, with Andris Poga conducting and the internationally acclaimed Albrecht Mayer as soloist.



Vasks’ Oboe Concerto was commissioned by the LNSO in celebration of 100 years of Latvian independence, with support from Latvia’s Centenary Celebration programme. To mark the occasion, Vasks has written the Oboe Concerto as an ode to his home country, its nature and people. It is also a long-awaited solo piece for oboist Albrecht Mayer, who has been asking Vasks to compose a work for him for many years.

Pēteris Vasks – Oboe Concerto: between peaceful nature and fiery folk dance

The Oboe Concerto is book-ended by two pastoral movements. The first movement consists of extended oboe melodies accompanied by tremolos in the strings, while the woodwind imitate bird song, designed to aurally evoke a morning scene in Latvian nature. The middle movement strongly contrasts to the other movements, with arioso passages in the style of fiery folk dances. The concluding pastoral movement begins dramatically, then gradually dissipates into the peaceful sounds of nature reminiscent of the first movement.

The Oboe Concerto consists of three movements: the first is a morning pastorale, the second a festive scene, the third – an evening pastorale ... I strived to imbue the work with my idea and sense of nature’s inexhaustible vitality and my people’s unceasing spirit. – Pēteris Vasks

Following the world premiere, the LNSO will stage a repeat performance on 6 October in Liepâja. In both concerts the Oboe Concerto will be accompanied by Vasks’ Musica appassionata for string orchestra.

• Pēteris Vasks - profile


• Oboe Concerto - work details


• Latvian National Symphony Orchestra 

On 29 September 2018, a new production of Arnold Schoenberg’s celebrated opera Moses and Aron directed by Calixto Bieito opens at the Semperoper Dresden, with John Tomlinson and Lance Ryan in the title roles of Moses and Aron. Alan Gilbert will conduct, before beginning his new post as principal conductor of the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra in 2019.



Although Schoenberg wrote the libretto for Moses und Aron in three acts, by 1937 he had completed the score for the first two acts only, leaving the final act without music. Much later, the opera was premiered at the Zurich Opera House by conductor Hans Rosbaud on 6 June 1957 without a third act, which was still in need of music. In the last year of his life Schoenberg abandoned his long-held plan to complete the third act, and suggested it should be performed as spoken libretto instead.

Moses and Aron: Two brothers lead their people

While Moses tends his flock, God appears to him and commands him to tell the people of Israel of God’s will and presence, to free Israel from foreign gods and lead them out of slavery. Moses at first feels incapable of carrying out the order, so his brother Aron is placed in command beside him as better able to convey the message of God to the people of Israel.

Schoenberg depicts the contrasting personalities of the two brothers musically through their style of singing: Moses sings almost exclusively in Sprechgesang, whilst Aron is portrayed through lyrical and expressive bel canto. Despite the prominence of the brothers in the story however, the main role of the opera is arguably assigned to the chorus, who are tasked with conveying the deeper meaning of Moses und Aron to the audience.

Moses und Aron is about the impossibility of finding words or images to make sense of life. This impossibility is at the heart of the opera’s tension, but as you listen to the music your ear becomes accustomed to it. This opera is without fault - like “Wozzeck” or “Salome”, it´s a perfect opera, perfect! - Calixto Bieito

Following the premiere on 29 September, four further performances of Moses und Aron will take place from 3-15 October.

• Arnold Schoenberg - profile


• Moses and und Aron - work details


• Semperoper Dresden

 

 

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© Semperoper Dresden/ Foto: Ludwig Olah