Unexpected reunion (opera)
| Work data | |
|---|---|
| Title: | An unexpected reunion |
| Shape: | Opera in three parts with prologue and epilogue |
| Original language: | German |
| Music: | Alois Bröder |
| Libretto : | Alois Bröder |
| Literary source: | Johann Peter Hebel : Unexpected reunion |
| Premiere: | June 24, 2017 |
| Place of premiere: | Mainfranken Theater Würzburg |
| Playing time: | approx. 75 minutes (no break) |
| Place and time of the action: | Falun in Sweden
|
| people | |
Unexpected Reunion is an opera in three parts by Alois Bröder based on the calendar story of the same name by Johann Peter Hebel , which Bröder himself arranged as a libretto. The commissioned work premiered on June 24, 2017 in the Mainfranken Theater in Würzburg .
action
Prologue: The Earth
Part 1: The farewell
Falun in Sweden: The young couple Anna and Mathias want to get married at the winter solstice. But eight days before the wedding, the groom had an accident in the mine and did not come back home.
Part 2: The Dance of Death
Anna mourns Mathias, the loss becomes part of her life and 50 years will pass.
Part 3: The reunion
A corpse is discovered in the mine at the summer solstice. Only Anna, who has become an old woman, recognizes him: It is Mathias, and the look of him remains unchanged, because the salt of the mountain has preserved its youth. At his grave, Anna says goodbye with the words: "I have very little to do and I'll be back soon, and soon it will be day again."
Epilogue: The Comet
layout
Instrumentation
The orchestral line-up for the opera includes the following instruments:
- Woodwinds : flute , oboe , clarinet , bassoon
- Brass : horn , trumpet , trombone
- Percussion (two players)
- Piano or celesta
- harp
- Strings (two violins, viola, violoncello, double bass)
music
The composer said in an interview about his composition as follows:
“The music does not follow any abstract orders or concepts, but tries to make the calm, distant, quasi-reporting text tangible despite all the poetry, for which it takes a lot of time. A network of musical motifs or emblems corresponds to the tightly woven motif of the text. In addition to representing miners and villagers, the choir has the functions of a temporary sound shadow for the soloists as well as that of a “choral authority”. Melody and harmony are heard and not calculated and seek the closeness of the listener, but fear being ingratiated. I was looking for music that mediates itself and does not need any explanation; it includes familiar gestures to set out into the unknown. What is most striking is the contrast between the varied, moving and often vehement second part of the grinding time passing to the fragile, ultimately even hymn-like tone of parts 1 and 3. "
Work history
The opera was written in 2014 and 2015. It was a commission from the Mainfranken Theater in Würzburg. According to the composer's preliminary remarks, the Hebel opera also represents an attempt to stretch the calendar history in the - even then becoming the subject - time; moreover, "an excessive material would not be pressed into a tight, scaling-down corset, as is so often the case, but rather a manageable, but extraordinarily deeply appropriate temporal relationship transposed. The formal peculiarity of the two versions of my first opera The Wives of the Dead would correspond to that of Hebel Incomparably designed time leap of fifty years as an independent musical as well as visual section, from which a wonderful originates. Also the economical, uncomplicated plot and also the intertwined themes of "separation - pain - coming to terms - unity" and "end times - resurrection - suspension of time "Meant a counterpart to the Hawthorne piece."
Silke Evers (Anna), Roberto Ortiz (Mathias), Daniel Fiolka (Death) and Taiyu Uchiyama (Pastor) sang at the world premiere on June 24, 2017 in the Großer Haus (backstage) of the Mainfranken Theater Würzburg ; Georg Zeies took over the speaking role. The choir of the Mainfranken Theater Würzburg and the Philharmonic Orchestra Würzburg were directed by Enrico Calesso . The production was done by Markus Weckesser, the dramaturgy by Beate Kröhnert, the stage design by Catharina Bornemann and the costumes by Götz Lanzelot Fischer.
The Austrian premiere took place on February 25, 2018 in the BlackBox of the Landestheater Linz . Julia Grüter (Anna), Xiaoke Hu (Mathias voice), Rastislav Lalinsky (Death) and Justus Seeger (pastor / speaker) sang; Paweł Żołądek performed Mathias as a dance. The choir of the Landestheater Linz and the Bruckner Orchestra Linz were directed by Takeshi Moriuchi. The production was done by Gregor Horres , the dramaturgy by Magdalena Hoisbauer, stage design and costumes by Elisabeth Pedross and the videos by Petra Zöpnek.
Web links
- Work information on the website of the composer Alois Bröder
- Production pictures on the website of the director Markus Weckesser
- Trailer from the Landestheater Linz
Individual evidence
- ↑ Werner Häußner: WÜRZBURG: UNHOPED REVIEW by Alois Bröder. Premiere. In: Online marker. July 10, 2017, accessed January 9, 2020 .
- ↑ a b c Program booklet Unexpected Reunion, Landestheater Linz, season 2017/18.
- ↑ a b information on the work on the website of the composer Alois Bröder. Retrieved January 9, 2020 .
- ↑ Interview with Stefan Römmelt for the Catholic Sunday newspaper Würzburg. Retrieved January 9, 2020 .
- ^ Preliminary remarks by the composer Alois Bröder on his website. Retrieved January 9, 2020 .