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Beat Furrer and Thomas Stangl's Opera Das grosse Feuer Premiered in Zürich

Mar. 31, 2025

Beat Furrer’s latest opera, Das grosse Feuer, was premiered on March 23 at the Opernhaus Zürich in a production directed by Tatjana Gürbaca and Vivien Hohnholz and conducted by the composer. The opera draws on the novel Eisejuaz by the Argentinian writer Sara Gallardo (1931–88). In 1960, Gallardo researched the living conditions of an indigenous tribe in northern Argentina and turned her conversations with the Indian Lisandro Vega – known as Eisejuaz – into the basis of a magnificent linguistic work of art. The Austrian writer Thomas Stangl based his libretto on the novel, which was published in 1971.

In the opera, Eisejuaz’s story is told in an inner monologue, in time jumps, overlapping levels of reality and dreams. After his family flees from the forests into the city of white men to escape famine, he is brought up in a Christian mission. He works there as an overseer, and later – of all things – in a sawmill, thus destroying his natural habitat. After the premature death of his wife, Eisejuaz leaves the mission and the sawmill. In the realization that “el monte” is destroyed, that the inhabitants are dying of hunger or from the diseases of the white man, or are defencelessly at the mercy of white interests, Eisejuaz is the story of an alienation, and colonial violence.

Eisejuaz is a novel of inner voices and linguistic sounds. Beat Furrer develops his musical structure out of the narrative style of multiple voices. In his opera, instrumental and vocal sounds combine almost completely. He explains: “The orchestra is the resonating space of the parts or blends with a web of voices in the tutti scenes: it sings, screams or whispers, as in the chorus of workers in the sawmill.” The entire opera is developed from a choral principle: the twelve-voice vocal ensemble is the starting point of the composition. “There are choral moments which are overlaid by the solo protagonists, but there are also very widely spaced polyphonic structures: whispering, calling, shouting, which are added by the orchestra."

Das grosse Feuer is in repertory at the Opernhaus Zürich through April 11. Read more about the work in [t]aktehere.


Trailer – Das grosse Feuer

In addition, We are delighted to announce that Furrer 70, featuring 18 key works by Bärenreiter composer Beat Furrer, was honored with the German Record Critics' Award!

The world-renowned contemporary ensemble Klangforum Wien gave the composer, conductor, and founder of the ensemble, an extraordinary gift for his 70th birthday last year: a multimedia box. The anniversary box set, comprising 6 CDs, 3 films, and 2 books, impressed the jury in the contemporary music category. We congratulate Beat Furrer and Klangforum Wien for the exceptional new recordings and the exclusive compilation.

Nina Polaschegg, a member of the jury noted: "Furrer 70 boasts a wealth of content – packed in an elegant box in many shades of grey, designed by Klangforum Wien. The internationally-renowned composer Beat Furrer co-founded the ensemble and was its conductor for many years. He and Klangforum Wien have selected and recorded 18 of his key works. Together with videos (interviews and footage of his life), texts, and a book list from Furrer’s library, this media box offers a comprehensive, in-depth insight into Furrer’s musical oeuvre and his world of thought and work. 

Click here to learn more and order Furrer 70.


To learn more about Beat Furrer, visit baerenreiter.com.

Beat Furrer
Das grosse Feuer
Opera based on the novel Eisejuaz by Sara Gallardo
Libretto by Thomas Stangl
Commissioned by the Zurich Opera House

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