1958 schrieb Jean Barraqué Musik für ein absurdes Theaterprojekt, das nicht auf die Bühne gelangte. 60 Jahre später wird die Uraufführung nun in Wien nachgeholt. 

Da das Repertoire von Janáčeks symphonischen Kompositionen nicht umfangreich ist, stellen zwei neue Bearbeitungen von Janáčeks Werken eine begrüßenswerte Bereicherung dieses Repertoires dar.

Lucia Ronchetti is a specialist in the highly sensitive and subtle new interpretation of baroque subjects. For the Staatsoper Unter den Linden she has composed Rivale, a chamber opera for female voices, solo viola and ensemble based on Antoine Danchet’s Tancrède, the famous episode from Torquato Tasso’s renaissance epic poem La Gerusalemme liberata about love and rivalry between Tancredi and Clorinda. For her new music theatre work, Lucia Ronchetti has newly defined the text of the baroque libretto, and condensed it to form an intense monologue. Clorinda becomes the narrator and witness of her own tragedy, which takes place at the level of an irreconcilable conflict between rivalry and desire. The first performance takes place in the Werkstatt of the Staatsoper Berlin on 8.10.2017, in a production by Isabel Ostermann conducted by Max Renne. Seven performances follow in the period running up to 22.10.2017.

In quick succession, two German opera houses are staging Hector Berlioz’s monumental opera Les Troyens. The first is the Semperoper Dresden (photo: Matthias Creutziger) on 3 October 2017, with a new production directed by Lydia Steier and conducted by Lothar Koenigs. In Nuremberg the Spanish director Calixto Bieito explores the myth of the founding of Rome and its epic prehistory, with Music Director Marcus Bosch at the helm of the Staatsphilharmonie Nuremberg. The first performance takes place on 15 October 2017. Oper Bonn has landed a similar coup by engaging Peter Konwitschny, who directs Othmar Schoeck’s most musically advanced opera Penthesilea (after Heinrich von Kleist), in collaboration with Dirk Kaftan, the new Music Director of the Beethoven Orchestra. The first performance on 15 October 2017 is eagerly awaited.

Im kurzen Abstand wagen sich zwei deutsche Opernhäuser an Hector Berlioz‘ monumentale Oper Les Troyens. Den Anfang macht am 3. Oktober 2017 die Semperoper Dresden (Foto: Matthias Creutziger), mit einer von Lydia Steier inszenierten und von Lothar Koenigs dirigierten Neuproduktion. In Nürnberg setzt sich der spanische Regisseur Calixto Bieito mit dem Gründungsmythos Roms und dessen epischer Vorgeschichte auseinander, am Pult der Staatsphilharmonie Nürnberg steht GMD Marcus Bosch. Premiere ist am 15. Oktober 2017. Einen vergleichbaren Coup landete die Oper Bonn mit ihrem Engagement von Peter Konwitschny, der zum ersten Mal Othmar Schoecks musikalisch avancierteste Oper Penthesilea (nach Heinrich von Kleist) in Szene setzen wird, im Dialog mit Dirk Kaftan, dem neuen GMD des Beethoven Orchesters. Die Premiere am 15. Oktober 2017 wird mit Spannung erwartet.

Following on from Castor et Pollux, 18 June is the first night of Zoroastre, another Tragédie lyrique by Jean-Philippe Rameau staged by Berlin’s adventurous Komische Oper. The late version of 1756, which Graham Sadler has edited meticulously for the new production as part of the Opera Omnia Rameau, also deals with the eternal struggle between good and evil, embodied in the character of the priest Zoroastre (Zarathustra). The demanding title role is sung by the British tenor Thomas Walker. His compatriot Christian Curnyn, one of the leading early music specialists of the younger generation, conducts, and the director is FAUST prizewinner Tobias Kratzer.