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Alban Berg’s Lulu Bows in New Chamber Orchestra Version

Apr. 27, 2012

Alban Berg’s <em>Lulu</em> Bows in New Chamber Orchestra Version

Alban Berg’s monumental opera, Lulu, receives a special performance this month with the world premiere of a new chamber orchestra version by Eberhard Kloke. Conductor Herbert Gietzen and director Thomas Oliver Niehaus bring this much anticipated premiere performance to The Gießen Theater in Germany on May 5. The production features Alexandra Samouilidou as Lulu, Almerija Delic as the Countess, Dan Chamandy as Alwa, and Adrian Gans as Dr. Schön and Jack the Ripper.

In 2008, Kloke completed a reconstructed version of the opera’s third act, which was left unfinished at the time of Berg’s death in 1935. For decades, Lulu was performed in two acts until Friedrich Cerha’s now widely performed reconstruction in 1978 restored the third act. For Kloke, his reconstruction of the third act was the first step towards creating a chamber version which would allow the work to be performed on a smaller stage and with greater frequency. This new Lulu, for eleven soloists and chamber orchestra, also features an adaptation of Kloke’s final act.

Kloke comments on the advantage of this chamber orchestration:

There are casting advantages in the foreground, thanks to various alternatives in terms of acting, clarity of enunciation and transparency. I also endeavoured to increase sonic range and density by varying the use of the instruments (especially the woodwinds) for each performer. More theatrical compactness can be gained by suspending the classic separation of stage/audience if the small orchestra is positioned on, beside or behind the stage – at least one has the option of positioning the orchestra more freely, if one wishes to dispense with an orchestra pit.

For more information on the premiere at Gießen Theater, visit www.stadttheater-giessen.de

For more information on Alban Berg’s Lulu, please go to www.universaledition.com

Alban Berg
Lulu (1927-1935, arr. 2009, 2011)
opera in three acts
version for solo voices and orchestra
arranged by Eberhard Kloke
libretto by Alban Berg
1.1.2.1-1.1.1.0-perc.acc.pno-str(2.2.2.2.1)
full evening


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