New Kalitzke opera: successful premiere in Bremen(August 2005) Johannes Kalitzke’s new opera Inferno, premiered at the Bremen Theater in June, attracted excellent reviews and an enthusiastic public response. Further performances are planned this autumn.
The libretto is based on Peter Weiss’s polemical updating of Dante’s Inferno, which casts a critical eye over post-War Germany. Dante returns with the poet Virgil to his homeland, where the perpetrators of totalitarianism are now the captains of industry, leading a new generation of extortion. The time-travelling aspects of the drama provided Kalitzke with ample opportunities for his virtuoso blending of different styles and musical periods. "Kalitzke’s Inferno is his most important work to date … allusions to waltz, ragtime, hoquetus, toccata and boogie are more hinted at than quoted. Similar things happen with the references to Palestrina or Brahms. The inherent plethora of perspectives impresses greatly including the conciliatory use of electronics at the end… This is possibly the most convincing music theatre piece in recent years." Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung "…The music is more a surreal soundscape resembling Chinese lanterns decorating a nocturnal scene with colourful blinding lights. Kalitzke speaks of a sound between major and minor, of a background of quotes from Palestrina, Satie and Brahms, of the confrontation between a theorbo and an electronic guitar. All this is part of the building material… A true enrichment of contemporary music theatre..." Suddeutscher Zeitung "…Kalitzke’s music was frequently of beguiling variety and sensuousness… A work people will remember, an opera that will find a place in the standard repertoire of newly created works." Opernnetz Kalitzke’s other recent works include Wanderer’s Fall for baritone and ensemble, to be premiered on 7 October at the Styrian Autumn Festival in Graz. Kafka Cycle for four voices, viola, piano and live electronics, commissioned by the Konzerthaus in Berlin, is scheduled for premiere in autumn 2006 by Ensemble Recherche and the SWR Vocal Ensemble. > Further information on Work: Inferno Photo: the Bremen Theater's premiere production of Kalitzke's Inferno > News Search |
|