Elegy for young lovers

31.01.2024

Opera production

© Judith Buss

"What qualities must a person possess in order to dominate both dramaturgically and vocally in an opera?" and "What must a man of mature age look like who is in close relationships with a crazy old lady, a young girl and a doctor at the same time?"

Musical direction
Gernot Sahler

Scenic direction & stage
Alexander von Pfeil

Dramaturgy 
Malte Krasting

Costume Design
Eva-Mareike Uhlig

Programme booklet

• "Elegy for young lovers"

About

• Opera in three acts 
• Libretto by Wystan Hugh Auden and Chester Kallman
• Music by Hans Werner Henze (in German)

In the secluded atmosphere of a mountain resort, with the menacing sight of glacier-covered ice, everything revolves around a prince of poets who is desperately worried about his inspiration and writes an "Elegy for Lovers". Hans Werner Henze's intention in his opera "Elegy for Young Lovers", which he first presented at the Schwetzingen Festival in 1961, was to create a field of tension between farce, tragedy, buffa and psychodrama. 

The Opera & Music Theatre Department staged Hans Werner Henze's "Künstlerdrama & Psychothriller" (Drehpunkt Kultur) in an abridged version as a rousing opera intermezzo.

Press

Drehpunkt Kultur (24.1.2024):
"Künstlerdrama und Psychothriller" von Gottfried Franz Kasparek

Salzburger Nachrichten (25.1.2024):
"Dem Dichterfürsten fehlt Sinn für Empathie" von Florian Oberhummer

Read more

• "That's really great music!"

  

  15.1.2024

  "That's really great music!" 

  Hans Werner Henze's "Elegy for Young Lovers" will be the second production in the 2023/24 winter semester of the Department of Opera & Music Theatre to take to the stage of the Max Schlereth Saal from 26 January. A conversation with maestro Gernot Sahler about so-called "new music", the major challenges for budding artists and insights into pedagogical practice during rehearsals.

  Interview
• "I ask into the darkness of uncertainty"

  

  23.1.2024

  "I ask into the darkness of uncertainty" 

  Alexander von Pfeil, director of the upcoming opera production "Elegy for Young Lovers" by Hans Werner Henze and professor of music drama, has thought about the piece and his production in advance and reflects on the opera's major themes in a interview.

  Interview

Production & Cast

Produktion

• Musical direction: Gernot Sahler
• Scenic direction & stage: Alexander von Pfeil
• Costume design: Eva-Mareike Uhlig
• Dramaturgy: Malte Krasting
• Mozarteum University Chamber Orchestra

Cast

• Gregor Mittenhofer: Jannik Junzhe Zeng / Jeffrey Herminghaus
• Dr. Wilhelm Reischmann: Volodymyr Morozov / Vsevolod Chernyshev
• Toni Reischmann: Ilyà Dovnar / Vladimír Šlepec
• Elisabeth Zimmer: Nikolett Mráz 
• Caroline Gräfin von Kirchstetten: Génesis Beatriz López Da Silva / Agnes Hyunjin Kim
• Hilda Mack: Claire Jungeon Oh / Coco Lau
• Josef Mauer: Jakob Schett

Dates

26.1.2024 um 19:00 Uhr
27.1.2024 um 17:00 Uhr
29.1.2024 um 19:00 Uhr (+ Livestream)
30.1.2024 um 19:00 Uhr

Max Schlereth Saal

1. cast

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2. cast

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