In a unique constellation of musical time travel spanning 100 years of opera history and the scenic-performative work of the Belgian Needcompany, the audience witnesses the energetically charged new concert format of a meta-opera, with which Klangforum Wien pioneers a new approach to modern and contemporary operas.
By way of montage, adaptation and concentration, excerpts from various works were interlinked in order to re-activate their artistic potential on a new level. From the last scene from Lulu by Alban Berg to “Ach, ich fühl’s” by Bernhard Lang, the range extends all the way to “A respirar ritorno” from Luci mie traditrici by Salvatore Sciarrino – covering the most recent opera history.
AMOPERA is the result of an intensive encounter between Klangforum Wien and the Belgian Needcompany with its protagonists Grace Ellen Barkey, Maarten Seghers and Jan Lauwers. Together with baritone Holger Falk and soprano Sarah Maria Sun, the artists set out on a search between confrontation and symbiosis in an attempt to portray the impossibility and the tragedy of love between two human beings. The musicians of Klangforum Wien are deployed in a dramatic and performative capacity which takes them way beyond their usual interpretative role.
About Needcompany
Founded in Brussels in 1986 as an international collective by Jan Lauwers and Grace Ellen Barkey, Needcompany has since attracted worldwide attention with its groundbreaking stage productions. Maarten Seghers joined the group in 2001 as a member of the multidisciplinary team working in the fields of theater, dance, performance, art, film, and literature. In 2018, the Salzburg Festival presented Jan Lauwers' first opera production, L'incoronazione di Poppea (to be restaged at the Vienna State Opera in 2021), followed by the magnificent production of Luigi Nono's Intolleranza 1960 at the Felsenreitschule in 2021.
With works by
Luciano Berio | Sir Harrison Birtwistle | Alexander Zemlinsky | Alban Berg / E. Kloke | Benjamin Britten | Peter Maxwell Davies | Iannis Xenakis | Salvatore Sciarrino | Bernhard Lang | Beat Furrer | Rebecca Saunders | Michael Wertmüller | Sara Glojnarić
performances
Since its premiere in 2022, AMOPERA has been performed in Hong Kong, Daegu, Vienna, and Bolzano.
Press reviews
"In Erl, Klangforum Wien invents Klangforum Wien new form of collective musical theater." Süddeutsche Zeitung
"Contemporary music has never been so easy to listen to, because space, movement, and music all work together to convey its emotional content." Süddeutsche Zeitung
"AMOPERA hit the mark and would make a splash anywhere." Il Fatto Quotidiano
