Aribert Reimann: Medea (Arthaus Blu-Ray Disc)

Aribert Reimann is one of the world’s most important living composers. His works are performed regularly all over the world. Now comes his latest opera - Medea. Roughly 30 authors have written works based on this ancient myth but it was the play by Franz Grillparzer which inspired Reimann most: »In no other version is it made so brutally clear that Medea is an outsider. (…) Right from the start of act one my mind was flooded by musical ideas and by the end of the second act I really thought my head would burst.«

Vienna State Opera succeeded in recruiting Marco Arturo Marelli – a man with a world-wide reputation, especially for global premieres – as director and scenographer for this performance. Unusually for a world premiere, the first series of performances of the opera were a huge success amongst audiences and press alike. The public stormed the box office and ticket sales by far exceeded availability. A “Sold Out” notice had to be put up for virtually every performance!

„Marlis Petersen is superb.“ Die Zeit

„The rapturous applause seems to go on for ever - in fact it lasts for almost twenty-fi ve minutes: a real triumph for contemporary music.“ Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

„The images are of beguiling beauty ... what the ensemble conjures up on the stage is nothing short of a miracle.“ Neue Zürcher Zeitung.

„... the unpretentious ingenuity of conductor Michael Boder and the Vienna State Opera Orchestra, who have managed with admirable ease to bridge the gap between the Viennese tradition and Reimann, the Berlin traditionalist – an extraordinary piece of good fortune!“ Süddeutsche Zeitung.