New B&H operas to be premiered in 2006-08(August 2006) The next two seasons bring a wide selection of new Boosey & Hawkes operas to the international stage.
Detlev Glanert Caligula (2005-06) Libretto by Hans-Ulrich Treichel after Albert Camus Frankfurt Opera Premiere: 7 October 2006 13/15/18/20/22/28 October Christian Pade Director Markus Stenz Conductor also 30 November 2006 Cologne Opera Glanert’s new opera examines a human who becomes a monster. After the death of his sister and lover Drusilla, the Roman emperor Caligula pursues unconditional freedom at any cost. Nobody’s life is safe anymore, but as Camus noted “While his truth lies in his denial of the gods, his mistake was the denial of men”. Glanert is one of the most successful contemporary opera composers: his Jest, Satire, Irony and Deeper Meaning has been staged by eight opera companies since its premiere in 2001, with 80 performances to date. John Adams A Flowering Tree (2006) Libretto by the composer after an Indian folktale Wiener Festwochen Premiere: 14 November 2006 16/17/19 November 2006 Peter Sellars Director John Adams Conductor also 21/22 December 2006 Berliner Philharmoniker/Simon Rattle 1/2/3 March 2007 San Francisco Symphony/Adams 10/12 August 2007 Barbican, London 2009 Lincoln Center, New York The latest stage collaboration between John Adams and Peter Sellars is a centrepiece of the New Crowned Hope festival, presented as part of Vienna’s Mozart year and co-commissioned by five international partners. The Venezuelan Youth Orchestra is in the pit for the premiere – aptly, as the work, like Mozart’s The Magic Flute, describes the transformation of young people as they move through life. Based on a folk tale from southern India, A Flowering Tree explores themes of love and envy, poverty and wealth, humility and ambition all woven together with a touch of magic. Unsuk Chin Alice in Wonderland (2005-06) Libretto by David Henry Hwang and the composer after Lewis Carroll Bayerische Staatsoper, Munich Premiere: 30 June 2007 4/7 July, 15/17/20/23 November 2007 Achim Freyer Director Kent Nagano Conductor also 2009 Los Angeles Opera Lewis Carroll’s classic tale seems custom made for Unsuk Chin, with her love of wordplay, musical games and distorting mirrors. The dreamlike world that Alice discovers has been turned into an opera libretto by the composer in collaboration with the award-winning playwright David Henry Hwang, author of M. Butterfly and librettist of Philip Glass’s The Voyage, and the fantasy of Wonderland will be visualised by Achim Freyer. A suite of songs from the opera, snagS & Snarls, has already been performed at the BBC Proms and the Ojai and Mecklenburgh Festivals conducted by Kent Nagano. James MacMillan The Sacrifice (2005-06) Libretto by Michael Symmons Roberts Welsh National Opera, Cardiff Premiere: 15 September 2007 Katie Mitchell Director James MacMillan Conductor James MacMillan’s latest collaboration with award-winning poet and novelist Michael Symmons Roberts is a new version of a tale from the Mabinogion, the core collection of Welsh mythology. The dramatic new opera tells of a union between two warring families which seems to offer the hope of peace but, when tragedy strikes and enmity is rekindled, only the ultimate sacrifice can break the cycle of violence. The composer plans an orchestral suite from the opera, for premiere by the BBC Philharmonic in February 2008. Harrison Birtwistle The Minotaur (2005-07) Libretto by David Harsent Royal Opera House, London Premiere: 15 April 2008 Stephen Langridge Director Antonio Pappano Conductor Harrison Birtwistle has been tracking the Minotaur as a theme for decades, exploring many musical labyrinths in preparation. An early inspiration for the composer came from Minotaurus, a ballad with drawings by Dürrenmatt. The final opera tells the mythical story not only from Ariadne and Theseus’s perspectives, but also from that of the Minotaur – the ‘man-beast, half-and-half’ doomed to be trapped ‘in a cage with no key’ – as much to be pitied as feared. The title role is to be created by John Tomlinson, who sang the Green Knight in Birtwistle’s earlier opera for Covent Garden, Gawain. Louis Andriessen Commedia (2006-08) Libretto based on Dante Netherlands Opera Premiere: 12 June 2008 Holland Festival Louis Andriessen’s Commedia is based on Dante’s great poetic journey through inferno, paradise and purgatory. The stagework follows on the success of De Materie, ROSA The Death of a Composer, Writing to Vermeer, all premiered by Netherlands Opera. > News Search |
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