Music Theatre since 1990 - Schott Music

Synopsis
Strange things are happening in an old, abandoned theatre: a small opera company has rented
the theatre and is attempting to rehearse the fairy tale The Fisherman and his Wife when suddenly
a ghost which happens to be lurking in the ancient walls creates a general disturbance,
ultimately resulting in total confusion. On top of all this, a small love story is in progress … a
great deal of turbulence ensues before the happy end.
Harald Weiss effectively interlinks three levels in his opera: the unreal level of the theatre ghost,
the prosaic level of the caricatured and exaggerated representatives of the town and the playful
level of the theatre group which sees itself permanently confronted by the other two levels.
The audience should however also be ‘seduced’ from its observer role to participation in the
scenario.
Das Gespenst
18.04.1997 Ballhof Hannover · Niedersächsisches Staatstheater
Harald Weiss plays with the various levels which constantly interrupt and overlap each other,
inevitably producing both comical and satirical moments. The bureaucracy of public authorities
and everyday life in the theatre is lampooned in a play of words. […] The different levels are also
defined musically. […] The spectrum ranges from the traditional operatic aria to the jazzed up musical
song. For the world of the ghost, the composer employs synthesised sounds, voices and noises.
The whole auditorium is awash with sound. (Neue Musikzeitung 06/1997)
69