Johannes Maria Staud’s Die Antilope Premieres in Italy
Dec. 06, 2017
The Orchestra Haydn di Bolzano e Trento and the Wiener Kammerchor, led by conductor Walter Kobéra performed the Italian premiere of Johannes Maria Staud’s Die Antilope on December 1 at the Teatro Comunale in Bolzano. Staud is serving as the orchestra’s 2017-18 artist-in-residence. Die Antilope had its premiere in 2014 with the Luzerner Sinfonieorchester under Howard Arman. The opera follows the adventures of Victor, a rather curious and non-conformist character (inspired by Samuel Beckett’s Victor Krap and Herman Melville’s Scrivner), who jumps out of the window to avoid the tedium of a company dinner party and seems to defy the constraints of time. Staud describes his character as an enigma:
“Again and again, Victor protests against being subjected to clearly defined roles, something which seems a given in his world. He doesn’t want to conform to society, breaks free and therefore also speaks another language in a grand act of Dadaist liberation, which must remain incomprehensible to those around him. Nevertheless, he continues to try and make contact in the varied situations into which he stumbles – but in precisely his own way.”
Featured soloists for these performances included Wolfgang Resch, Elisabeth Breuer, Maida Karisik, Bibiana Nwobilo, Gernot Heinrich, Ardalan Jabbari, and Yevheniy Kapitula.
In addition to his operas and chamber works, Johannes Maria Staud is also a renowned composer of large-scale orchestral works, such as Maniai (2011), which was commissioned by the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks and conducted at its premiere by Mariss Jansons.
(Maniai, 2011/Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, directed by Mariss Jansons).
Die Antilope
an opera in six scenes (2013/14)
libretto (Ger) by Durs Grünbein
for 2 sopranos, mezzo-soprano, tenor, 2 baritones, and bass
SATB (minor supporting roles can be filled from the choir, including all speaking roles)
2.1.2.2-2.2.1.1-perc(2).acc.pno.alto sax(Eb)-str
75'