Pocket Opera Company
The Pocket Opera Company eV (POC) was founded in 1974 and is Germany's oldest independent music theater based in Nuremberg .
The culture of the 1970s in Nuremberg was largely determined by the idea of socioculture of the then Nuremberg cultural advisor Hermann Glaser . In this way he created the prerequisites for establishing a free, independent theater scene in Nuremberg. In the course of this, the Pocket Opera Company was founded in 1974 as Opernstudio eV by Peter Beat Wyrsch and David Seaman and is Germany's oldest, free music theater. Wyrsch took over the directing part, the Welshman David Seaman the musical part. Seaman kept the sheet music of the operas listed true to the original and reduced the instrumentation to a chamber ensemble (arrangements until 2001).
The staging of the first two productions Dido and Aeneas ( Purcell ) and Bastien and Bastienne ( Mozart ) was based on the usual opera production and was obvious due to the small cast. The musical quality, however, was outstanding thanks to the participation of the singers from the Nuremberg City Theater at the time : the role of Dido was sung by the Croatian Dunja Vejzovic , who started a world career under Herbert von Karajan after her station in Nuremberg. The third production, Offenbach's Grand Duchess von Gerolstein in the location KOMM, was a sensational success, as it also addressed a young audience apart from the bourgeois opera tradition.
The ironic break in the dramaturgy and direction of the opera of the 19th century became a trademark of the company in the following years, which celebrated success throughout Europe. The soprano Elizabeth Kingdon , who also comes from the Nuremberg City Theater , made a significant contribution to this , starting a second career. Other singers of supraregional importance who could be won for productions of the POC: Andrzej Dobber, Gudrun Ebel, David Moss , Jennifer Rhys-Davies, Wolfgang Schmidt and Camilla Ueberschaer.
At the same time, Wyrsch established contacts with contemporary composers ( Franz Hummel , Jaecker , Meynaud , Hartl ) and worked with them to develop operatic subjects and commissioned compositions that addressed current, socially critical issues. In 2003, Franz Killer could be won as musical director, who after the departure of Wyrsch, became the artistic director of the Theater Biel Solothurn, in 2007 took over the sole management of the Pocket Opera Company. So far he has focused on the performance of unknown baroque operas, which are combined with contemporary music such as Sylvano Bussotti or Moondog and current cultural trends such as poetry slam and breakdance .
The theater troupe is known nationwide for its unusual venues. In the absence of sufficient financial means for elaborate stage sets, the Pocket Opera Company succeeds time and again by including unusual locations in adequately filling a "found stage design" with musical life. It all started with the roosters screaming in the fast eagle in the DB repair shop in Nuremberg. Visual abnormalities were also an old aircraft hangar ( Palermo ) or a smoldering fire system for garbage disposal ( One charming night ). Since 2014 the official motto has also been “Opera is everywhere!” (“Opera is everywhere!”).
In the Wagner anniversary year 2013, the POC completed his early work, Men List, Larger Than Women List, or: The Happy Bear Family ( WWV 48), which was left only as a fragment, and premiered it in a circus tent as part of the “Nürnberg plays Wagner” festival in the city of Nuremberg Stage.
A short version of Richard Wagner's The Flying Dutchman , which premiered in a Nuremberg laundromat in 2012 under the title Wash House Adventure, has become a veritable long-running hit . The production has been resumed every year since then due to the consistently high audience success and was a guest at the German Association of Cities in 2017 . In December 2018 the play celebrated its 50th performance in the laundromat and in 2019 became the most played production in the history of the Pocket Opera Company under the title Wash House Infinity .
The Pocket Opera Company is supported by the City of Nuremberg, the Middle Franconia District, the Bavarian Ministry of Culture, the Kingdon Grünwald Foundation, sponsors from business and industry and private patrons.
The patrons of the Pocket Opera Company are Renate Schmidt , Günther Beckstein , Günter Gloser and Thomas Gruber .
Awards
- 1977 City of Nuremberg Prize Nuremberg grant for the production of the Musik-Kinetik-Szene
- 1978 BBC Festival Prize at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe for the production The Vampire
- 1994 Prize of the City of Nuremberg Nuremberg Scholarship
- 1994 Prize for composers and performers "Blue Bridge" for the commissioned work Patermord von Shih
- 2004 Star of the Year from the Nuremberg evening newspaper for One Charming Night
- 2006 Prize of the City of Nuremberg for Art and Science for Peter Beat Wyrsch, then director of the Pocket Opera Company
- 2008 Friedrich Baur Prize of the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts, laudation: Renate Schmidt
- 2008 Award of the International Theater Institute Music Theater Now for the production Il Canto della Pelle
- 2008 Star of the Year from the Nuremberg evening newspaper for Love me tender
- 2011 Star of the Year from the Nuremberg evening newspaper for Ho (w) ly Trip - The Journey of Alessio
Productions
Opera performances (selection)
| year | production | composer | Performance location | Guest performances |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | Dido & Aeneas | Purcell | Nuremberg , Heilig-Geist-Saal | Fürth, Schwabach |
| 1975 | Bastien and Bastienne | Mozart | Bamberg , Rosengarten / Thurnau , castle | |
| 1975 | The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein | Offenbach | Nuremberg , COMM | Munich, Intern. Theater festival |
| 1976 | Pierrot Lunaire | Schoenberg | Nuremberg , COMM | |
| 1977 | Serenade with dancing and singing | Bamberg / Thurnau , castle | ||
| 1978 | The vampire | Marschner | Nuremberg , cultural circus | Edinburgh, Berliner Festwochen, Nancy, Asti, Milano Festival Azurro |
| 1980 | The Geierwally | Catalani | Nuremberg , cultural circus | Bonn, Bamberg, Hofer Herbst, Vale of Glamorgan |
| 1981 | Eliza's Pocket Paradise | R. Strauss / R. Wagner | Dehnberg , Dehnberger Hoftheater | Ingolstadt, Frankfurt - TAT, Gelsenkirchen, Braunschweig |
| 1982 | MOZ ART | Mozart | Nuremberg , theater | |
| 1982 | Lucrezia Borgia | Donizetti | Nuremberg , cultural circus | Barcelona, Frankfurt, Mexico City Bellas Artes, Hamburg, Vienna |
| 1984 | The Grand Duchess | Offenbach | Nuremberg , cultural circus | |
| 1984 | The vampire | Marschner | Nuremberg , Katharinenruine | Asti, Ferrara, Milan, Warsaw, Krakow, Wieliczka, Barcelona, Bonn |
| 1985 | Cafe Opera | Franchetti , Massenet | Dehnberg , Dehnberger Hoftheater | Bonn, Erlangen, Berlin, Frankfurt, Constance, Parma, Cuneo |
| 1986 | La Gioconda | Ponchielli | Fürth , city theater | Florence, Bonn, Barcelona, Glasgow, Wellington (NZ), Umeå, Bergen |
| 1986 | Transatlantic | Share | Nuremberg , cultural circus | |
| 1986 | In the jungle of operatic lusts | Lingen | Dehnberg, Erlangen, Glasgow, Nuremberg, Schwerte, Menden, Mannheim, Kronach, Schwabach, Neuss, Langenhagen | |
| 1988 | Aida | Verdi | Nuremberg , Tafelhalle | London |
| 1988 | Transgleiseriana | Jaecker | Frankfurt , DB repair shop | |
| 1989 | Hansel and Gretel | Humperdinck | Nuremberg , Tafelhalle | Munich Tollwood Festival, Düsseldorf Schauspielhaus |
| 1989 | Sentimental Journey | Schröder | Nuremberg , Tafelhalle | |
| 1990 | The Ring of the Nibelung | R. Wagner | Bergisch Gladbach | Barcelona, Glamorgan, Bath, Dublin, London, Enschede, Munich |
| 1991 | Semiramide | Rossini | Bad Wildbad , Rossini Festival | Nuremberg |
| 1992 | Right in the heart | Gershwin / | Fürth , city theater | |
| 1994 | Eliza in Wonderland | Sullivan | Nuremberg , Tafelhalle | |
| 1995 | Hoffmanns | Offenbach / | Fürth , city theater | |
| 1995 | Magic Macbeth | Verdi | Nuremberg , Congress Hall (Colosseum) | |
| 1999 | Orlofsky's Dinner Party | J. Strauss | Nuremberg , circus tent in the park of the BR Studio Franken | |
| 2000 | Surrogate Cities | Heiner Goebbels | Nuremberg , Congress Hall, Golden Hall | |
| 2001 | Queen of Spades | Tchaikovsky | Kemerovo , Siberia | Nuremberg |
| 2002 | In the Penal Colony | Glass | Nuremberg , Hubertussaal | |
| 2002 | Those who speak in a faint voice | Molino | Nuremberg , Milchhof | |
| 2003 | POC baroque | Handel / Cesti / Feldman / Cage | Schwarzenbruck , Schwarzachklamm | |
| 2003 | Orlando Furioso | Handel | Nuremberg , Gebersdorf thermal power station | |
| 2004 | One charming night | Purcell / Bussotti | Unterfürberg , garbage smelter | Cadolzburg |
| 2005 | Isis | Lully / Moondog | Schwarzenbruck , Schwarzachklamm | Reichelsdorf |
| 2007 | Between longing and midnight | Moondog | Nuremberg , Apollo cinema | Burgfarrnbach, Hanau, Nuremberg, Rabenstein Castle, Rückersdorf, Cadolzburg |
| 2008 | Love me tender | Mouret | Nuremberg , Z building | |
| 2008 | POC KISS | Purcell | Burgfarrnbach , castle | Landsberg, Ottobrunn |
| 2009 | Petrolio | Cavalieri | Nuremberg , Discothek Planet | |
| 2010 | The song of the rail | Berberian / Beatles | Nuremberg , marshalling yard | |
| 2010 | pocs space enterprise | Monteverdi , Klaus Nomi | Nuremberg , IGMIV hall | |
| 2011 | Stop & Go | R. Wagner | Nuremberg , quarries | |
| 2011 | Ho (w) ly Trip - The journey of Alessio | Landi | Nuremberg , combined heat and power plant in the Nordost-Park | |
| 2011 | Air Bus Adventure | R. Wagner | Nuremberg , bus at the New Year's festival | |
| 2012 | MOM - Mystery of the Monastery | Arne | Burgfarrnbach , castle | |
| 2012 | Wash House Adventure | R. Wagner | Nuremberg , self-service laundromat | gain |
| 2013 | Men's ruse bigger than women's ruse or: The happy bear family | R. Wagner | Nuremberg , circus tent Stadtpark | |
| 2014 | My Fair Verdi - (not) a mirage | Verdi | Nuremberg , Wöhrder See | |
| 2014 | Shooting Stars | Weber | Nuremberg , folk festival | |
| 2014 | La púrpura de la rosa | Torrejon y Velasco | Nuremberg , IGMIV hall | |
| 2015 | La Grotta di Calypso | of winter | Nuremberg , old long water bath | |
| 2016 | Il Parnaso confuso | Luck | Berching , Hans-Kuffer-Park | |
| 2016 | The tribune | Kagel | Nuremberg , rehearsal room of the Pocket Opera | |
| 2016 | Dolls Toy - The Nuremberg doll | Adam | Nuremberg , Der Cult | |
| 2017 | The converted drunkard | Luck | Berching , different venues | Rückersdorf |
| 2017 | Tannhäuser project featuring Dakh Daughters | R. Wagner / Dakh Daughters | Nuremberg , Peterskirche | |
| 2018 | Le Voyage Magique - The magical journey | Luck | Berching , Hans-Kuffer-Park | |
| 2019 | Le Feste de Gluck | Luck | Berching , Hans-Kuffer-Park | |
| 2019 | L'ombra dell'amore - Orfeo ed Euridice | Luck | Berching , different venues | |
| 2019 | Coup de Coeur | Humperdinck , Marschner , Moondog , Offenbach , Puccini , Strauss , Wagner , Weber | Nuremberg , Café Opera |
Composition commissions and world premieres (selection)
| year | production | composer | Librettist | Premiere location | Guest performances |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | Music – kinetics – scene | Kundold / Rempe / Kagel | Nuremberg , art gallery | ||
| 1979 | Saroya | Michel Meynaud | Heiner Eckhardt-Meneghelli | Unna | Nuremberg, Noricama |
| 1980 | Homage to O. | Peter Kiesewetter / Manfred Niehaus | Nuremberg , Gostner Court Theater | Wiener Festwochen, Intern. Mürzzuschlag music festival | |
| 1983 | You, always only you | Bieler / Hummel | Zagreb , Biennale | Nuremberg, Ars Nova days | |
| 1985 | Rooster shouts in the swift eagle | Friedrich Jaecker | Godehard Schramm | Nuremberg , DB repair shop | Frankfurt |
| 1987 | Egon | Max E. Keller | Hans Suter | Nuremberg , Bayerische Vereinsbank | Winterthur |
| 1993 | Carmencita | Anton Prestele | Anton Prestele | Nuremberg , Tafelhalle | |
| 1994 | Parricide | Shih | Arnolt Bronnen | Dresden , Festspielhaus Hellerau | Leipzig Opera |
| 1996 | Give me the bullet back | Andreas Schäfer | Birger Sellin | Nuremberg , Tafelhalle | |
| 1997 | Unreported inbound Palermo | Alessandro Melchiorre | Daniele del Giudice | Atzenhof , aircraft hangar | Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Düsseldorf Trade Fair |
| 1999 | The smiling carcass | Andrea Molino | Berthold Schneider | Fürth , city center | Treviso |
| 2002 | Live from deathrow | Andrea Molino | u. a. Auden, Fromm | Nuremberg , Milchhof | Milan, New York, Frz. Cultural institute |
| 2004 | The year of the volunteers | Vicki Schmatolla / Alex Holtsch | Felicia Zeller | Nuremberg , Tafelhalle | |
| 2005 | The world is a disc | Heinrich Hartl | Elmar Tannert | Nuremberg , cooperative building | Lohndorf, Rehbräu brewery |
| 2006 | Il canto della pelle | Claudio Ambrosini | Claudio Ambrosini | Lyon , Opéra Nationale | Fürth, cultural forum |
CDs
- the smiling carcass (live recording in collaboration with Bayerischer Rundfunk), conductor: Andrea Molino; CD Stradivarius STR 33558 (1999)
- One charming night - self-published by Pocket Opera Company, 2004
- La púrpura de la rosa - Audiotransit, 2017
literature
- Thomas Hermanns : The Pocket Opera Company, Nuremberg - as a free, experimental music theater. Master's thesis at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich in 1988
- Piper's Encyclopedia of Musical Theater. Piper, Munich 1989, Vol. 3, p. 677
- Matthias Rebstock: "Types of Free Music Theater in Europe" in The Free Theater in Contemporary Europe , Manfred Brauneck and the ITI Center Germany (ed.), Transcript, Bielefeld 2016, pp. 588/589
