Opera: World Premiere at the Stuttgart Opera: "Erdbeben.Träume" by Toshio Hosokawa

A happy material would have been possible. Jossi Wieler, director and outgoing director of the Stuttgart Opera, is releasing his latest production – and what material does he choose? The only disaster. An earthquake, musically treated by the Japanese composer Toshio Hosokawa, who almost inevitably thinks of the catastrophe of recent years – in Fukushima. A first theme full of gloom, then. Jubilee tunes on the successful seven-year period Wielers does not contain them

But it is probably for this reason that Wieler chose this material, which is based on Heinrich von Kleist's oppressive novel "The Chilli Earthquake". The artistic director and its director and playwright Sergio Morabito have once again put up a sign and shown what they represent and the Stuttgart House: for the artistic experiments, for the opening of the new music to, for the intellectual claim. And for the fact that in Stuttgart, the prerequisites for all this are given.

These include an excellent opera choir, able to prove its quality, a children's choir claimed and promoted early, and an orchestra of State led by Sylvain Cambreling, a proven newcomer. Stands of music experts. It was also the production of farewell for him. He is now moving to Hamburg

The team was duly celebrated at the premiere for all of this. Until here, everything is fine. And the room itself? Well, the far-reaching has not come. For the "first of the year" of "earthquakes.Traum" of Toshio Hosokawa rather not. Despite strong images, the scene of Anna Viebrocks offers above all a landscape of rubble, lacking the emotional force. But mentally too, the piece starts too little. Toshio Hosokawa's music is quite appealing. Corresponding to his reputation as a moderate avant-garde composer, he writes a music composed of soundscapes that, despite their fan-out, remain generally tied to the fundamental tone and thus always offer support to the ear inexperienced. The slowed tempo creates a dreamlike atmosphere, which matches the retrospective character of the play

This does not fail its effect. The composer knows how to capture the audience. The solo voices blend well into the sound (Esther Dierkes as Josephe, Dominic Große as Jeronimo, Sophie Marilley and André Morsch as future adoptive parents Elvire and Fernando, Josefin Feiler as the sister of Elvire Constanze). However, this approach does not last more than forty-five hours. The music was told at one point.

On the other hand, the scene describing the earthquake is really strong. Hosokawa leaves it to the striking mechanism that rolls gently and scolds. The director responds appropriately by slowly moving the elements of the installation up and down. The earth trembles in slow motion. The fallout, the fallout (one of the few scenic indications of the Fukushima nuclear disaster), are a rain of colorful clothes (costumes: Anna Viebrock). An image that stays in the memory.

In the end, however, we do not know what the opera is supposed to be: Fukushima? To the individual trauma of a boy who lost his parents? Or perhaps the destructive power of a seduced mass that mentally leads us into present-day Germany?

The director traces the traumatized boy (Sachiko Hara). He is present on the stage in a silent role throughout, watching the action that maybe his adoptive parents tell him. His expression changes between horror, challenge, curiosity and – when it comes to his birth parents – joy.

"Erdbeben.Träume"

The booklet of Marcel Beyer for the opera "Erdbeben.Träume" by Toshio Hosokawa is based on the novel by Heinrich von Kleist "The Chile Earthquake" (1806), It links the historic earthquake in Chile in 1647 with the story of a forbidden love between Josefe and his preceptor Jeronimo, from which emerges baby Philipp . He must go to jail for that, she is sentenced to death. The performance should become a folk festival. The earthquake changes everything first. People help each other in their needs. But when a priest in his sermon blames the allegedly immoral couple for the earthquake, he is lynched by the mass riot. Baby Philipp survives miraculously and is adopted by another couple. Marcel Beyer creates a new framework for his adaptation, in which Philipp, now nine years old, seeks his origin. The story of his trauma is told in retrospect and remains fragmentary.

Other performances of Toshio Hosokawa's opera will take place on July 6, 11, 13, 18, and 23, 2018. Maps and information: www.oper-stuttgart.de