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Munich Biennale

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Opera and music theatre festival in Germany

The Munich Biennale (German: Münchener Biennale) is a contemporary opera and music theatre festival in the city of Munich. The full German name is Internationales Festival für neues Musiktheater, literally: International Festival for New Music Theater. The biennial festival was created in 1988 by Hans Werner Henze and is held in even-numbered years over 2–3 weeks in the late spring. The festival concentrates on world premieres of theater-related contemporary music, with a particular focus on commissioning first operas from young composers.

History

Hans Werner Henze's artistic directorship (1988–1996)

Henze, himself a prolific composer of operas, described the genesis of the festival like this:

The whole story started with a query from the departmental head of the (Munich) cultural office ... whether I ... would be interested in considering creating some sort of civic music festival in Munich. After a period of time I suggested organizing something that had been lacking up until that point, something that also did not exist anywhere else in the world and yet was an urgent necessity – namely, a place where the young generation of composers interested in theatre ... could realize their ideas.

Henze curated the first four festivals, from 1988 to 1994, and established the general format of most of the festivals that followed. Short runs of the premiered operas are preceded by talks and additional concerts from the featured composers, to introduce the audiences to their ideas and music. See also Klangspuren.

Peter Ruzicka's artistic directorship (1996–2014)

Peter Ruzicka took over as artistic director ("one of the most influential administrative/ artistic positions in the European music-theatre scene") in 1996, with that year's biennale being jointly curated by Henze. Ruzicka broadened the scope of the works presented, with more emphasis on works using multimedia, and moving away from the text-based sources that characterised the period curated by Henze.

Manos Tsangaris and Daniel Ott's artistic directorship (2016–2024)

The composers Manos Tsangaris and Daniel Ott took over as joint artistic directors of the Biennale, starting in 2016. Their approach to curation further expanded the festival's remit beyond opera, to reflect an 'expanded composition term' and the 'open field' of new music theatre which spans 'rom new opera to scenic installation, from minimalized artistic interventions in municipal spaces to composed performance'.

Katrin Beck and Manuela Kerer's artistic directorship (2026–)

Katrin Beck and Manuela Kerer took over as joint artistic directors of the Biennale, starting in 2026.

Operas given at the Munich Biennale

World premieres are marked as WP

Premiere Composer Title Libretto and source
29 May 1988 WP Detlev Glanert Leyla und Medjnun Aras Ören and Peter Schneider, after the epic poem by Nizami
3 Jun 1988 WP Gerd Kühr Stallerhof Franz Xaver Kroetz, after his own play
4 Jun 1988 WP Adriana Hölszky Bremer Freiheit Thomas Körner (librettist) [de], after the play by Rainer Werner Fassbinder
17 Jun 1988 WP Mark-Anthony Turnage Greek the composer and Jonathan Moore, after the play by Steven Berkoff
26 Apr 1990 WP András Hamary Seid still José Vera Morales, after the play Tóték by István Örkény
28 Apr 1990 WP Wolfgang von Schweinitz Patmos D. E. Sattler [de], after the Apocalypse of St John in Martin Luther's translation
6 May 1990 WP Hans-Jürgen von Bose 63: Dream Palace the composer, after the novella by James Purdy
14 May 1990 WP Michèle Reverdy Le Précepteur Hans-Ulrich Treichel, after the play Der Hofmeister by Jakob Michael Reinhold Lenz
7 May 1992 Violeta Dinescu Eréndira Monika Rothmaier, after the story The Incredible and Sad Tale of Innocent Eréndira and Her Heartless Grandmother by Gabriel García Márquez
29 Apr 1992 WP Jorge Liderman Antigona Furiosa the composer, after the drama by Griselda Gambaro
27 May 1992 Giorgio Battistelli Teorema the composer, loosely after the film by Pier Paolo Pasolini
16 May 1992 WP Gerhard Stäbler Sünde.Fall.Beil Andreas Lechner [de], after the drama Catherine Howard by Alexandre Dumas père
22 May 1992 Param Vir Broken Strings David Rudkin, after the Buddhist story Guttil Jatak
22 May 1992 Param Vir Snatched by the Gods William Radice, after the poem Debatar Gras by Rabindranath Tagore
1 May 1994 WP Tania León Scourge of Hyacinths the composer, after the radio play by Wole Soyinka
19 May 1994 WP Benedict Mason Playing Away Howard Brenton
4 Dec 1996 WP Michael Obst Solaris the composer, after the novel by Stanislaw Lem
9 Dec 1996 WP Hanna Kulenty The Mother of Black-Winged Dreams Paul Goodwin
14 Apr 1997 WP Roderick Watkins The Juniper Tree Patricia Debney, after the folk tale by the Brothers Grimm
19 Apr 1998 WP Toshio Hosokawa Vision of Lear Tadashi Suzuki, after his stage play The Tale of Lear
21 Apr 1998 WP Sandeep Bhagwati Ramanujan the composer, after the life of Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan (1887–1920)
25 Apr 1998 WP Jan Müller-Wieland Komödie ohne Titel the composer, after the drama Comedia sin título by Federico García Lorca
19 Apr 1999 WP Mauricio Sotelo De Amore Peter Mussbach [de]
10 May 2000 WP Chaya Czernowin Pnima ... ins Innere
27 Apr 2002 WP André Werner Marlowe: Der Jude von Malta the composer, after the play The Jew of Malta by Christopher Marlowe
3 May 2002 WP Manfred Stahnke Orpheus Kristall Simone Homem de Mello
12 May 2004 WP Johannes Maria Staud Berenice Durs Grünbein, after Edgar Allan Poe
25 May 2004 WP Brian Ferneyhough Shadowtime Charles Bernstein
9 May 2006 WP Aureliano Cattaneo La Philosophie dans le labyrinthe Edoardo Sanguineti, after the Greek myth of the Minotaur
18 May 2006 WP José María Sánchez-Verdú GRAMMA the composer
17 Apr 2008 WP Enno Poppe Arbeit Nahrung Wohnung Marcel Beyer, loosely after the novel Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
18 Apr 2008 WP Klaus Lang Die Architektur des Regens after the Noh play Shiga by Zeami (c1363–c1443)
23 Apr 2008 WP Carola Bauckholt hellhörig (none)
30 Apr 2008 WP Jens Joneleit Piero – Ende der Nacht Michael Herrschel, loosely after the novel Die Rote by Alfred Andersch
27 Apr 2010 WP Philipp Maintz Maldoror Thomas Fiedler, after Les Chants de Maldoror by Comte de Lautréamont
28 Apr 2010 WP Márton Illés Die weiße Fürstin after the first draft of the dramatic poem by Rainer Maria Rilke
5 May 2010 WP Klaus Schedl Tilt Roland Quitt, after the diary of Sir Walter Raleigh
5 May 2010 WP Tato Taborda Der Einsturz des Himmels Roland Quitt, after the book La Chute du Ciel by Davi Kopenawa and Bruce Albert
5 May 2010 WP Ludger Brummer (web) In Erwartung Peter Weibel
9 May 2010 WP Lin Wang Die Quelle the composer and Can Xue, after a story "the Double Life" by Can Xue
3 May 2012 WP Sarah Nemtsov L'Absence the composer, after Livre des Questions by Edmond Jabès
5 May 2012 WP Eunyoung Esther Kim (web) Mama Dolorosa Yona Kim
16 May 2012 WP Arnulf Herrmann Wasser Nico Bleutge (lyrics)
7 May 2014 WP Marko Nikodijević Vivier Gunther Geltinger [de], after the life and death of Claude Vivier
8 May 2014 WP Samy Moussa (web) Vastation Toby Litt
11 May 2014 Claude Vivier Kopernikus opéra-rituel de mort, libretto by the composer
17 May 2014 WP Dieter Schnebel Utopien
22 May 2014 WP Héctor Parra Das geopferte Leben Marie NDiaye

Significance

The Munich Biennale has provided first or early commissions for stage works from many composers now established as opera composers, such as Mark-Anthony Turnage, Detlev Glanert, Gerd Kühr, Hans-Jürgen von Bose, Param Vir, Toshio Hosokawa and Violeta Dinescu.

The strongly international scope of the festival has meant that it has been able to offer opportunities missing at a national level.

References

Notes

  1. Munich Biennale Concert Series: Biennale plus Archived 30 July 2012 at archive.today Ernst von Siemens music foundation 2010
  2. Kerstan, Michael; Wolken, Clemens (2006). Hans Werner Henze: Komponist der Gegenwart. p. 117. ISBN 9783894875367.
  3. "Munich Biennale Official website". Munich Biennale. Archived from the original on 12 February 2013. Retrieved 27 March 2011.
  4. Official website, archive notes to first biennale, 1988 Archived 5 September 2012 at archive.today
  5. Official website, Klangspuren (discussion concerts) archive Archived 1 April 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  6. Salzman, Desi, p. 164
  7. Official website, archive notes to fifth biennale, 1996
  8. "The Munich Biennale for Music Theatre as a Form of Artistic Research – DARE conferences".
  9. "Press – Münchener Biennale".
  10. "Press – BR Klassik". Retrieved 8 August 2024.
  11. Dinescu's Eréndira was a co-commission with the Staatsoper Stuttgart, where it had its world premiere on 18 March 1992
  12. Battistelli's Teorema was a co-commission with the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, where it had its world premiere in the Teatro Comunale, on 10 May 1992
  13. ^ Vir's operas Broken Strings and Snatched by the Gods were a co-commission with De Nederlandse Opera in Amsterdam, where they had their world premieres on 11 May 1992
  14. ^ Tilt, Der Einsturz des Himmels and In Erwartung were presented in a triple bill entitled Amazonas
  15. ^ Advance information for the 2014 edition from the Munich Biennale website. Retrieved 25 December 2013
  16. Salzman, Desi; p. 222: ".. with one or two notable exceptions, the lively London theatre and music scene has not developed a strong creative music-theatre component. The result is that the Munich Biennale and the film industry have sometimes been better patrons for new British opera and music theatre than local musical institutions".

Sources

External links

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