Music Theatre since 1990 - Schott Music

Synopsis
A rehearsal of the opera Aida is in progress: due to large-scale cost reductions in the orchestral
budget, only three musicians are available. The conductor has to direct from the keyboard (or
an electric piano). He lives off his income as a pianist in a coffee bar. There is only one counter
tenor remaining in the ensemble, a leftover from the Baroque opera craze of the late 20th
century. He is able to take both the part of Aida sung falsetto and Radames in his normal vocal
range – ideal casting! In contrast, the directors are over-represented: following the amalgamation
of the opera house and dramatic theatre, the directors of both houses are available. These
are joined by a film director, as the funds for the opera are being financed by a parallel film
production. The scene involving the death of Radames is currently in rehearsal and all three directors
are attempting to work with the singer at the same time. The singer breaks down under
the pressure and simultaneously the operation of the entire opera house collapses. In essence, a
death scene in which the actor dies and the actor of the actor dies while he is acting out death:
the death of death. Opera dies - is in fact already dead. The film dies - but the directors survive
and write their memoirs … (Source: Cultural Centre, Herne, 2005)
Radames
29.03.2008 Prinzregententheater München, Photo: Hilda Lobinger
Eötvös’ chamber opera, perhaps originally conceived as ironical music of the future, has in the
meantime become alarmingly up-to-date – a real (cultural-political) tragedy!
(Sabine Radermacher | Errico Fresis, Quelle: Kulturzentrum Herne 2005)
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