Dutch National Opera presents
This show was to been seen in June 2016
THE LAST MAN WHO KNEW EVERYTHING
THEATRE OF THE WORLD
Louis Andriessen
Grotesque in 7 scenes
Libretto by Helmut Krausser
World première 11 June 2016, Koninklijk Theater Carré, Amsterdam
Co-production with Los Angeles Philharmonic and Holland Festival 2016
‘Leigh Melrose solid as Kircher. (..) Lindsay Kesselman plays ‘a boy, an ambiguous character of Mephostophelian tendencies, with clean precision’ - Financial Times ***
‘A humorous, mysterious and diabolical creation.’ - Bachtrack ***
Louis Andriessen, together with librettist Helmut Krausser, sketches the story of a colourful character in his new opera Theatre of the World. As Andriessen also Reinbert de Leeuw returns to Dutch National Opera with his ensemble Asko|Schönberg. The production is designed by the brothers Quay and directed by Pierre Audi. Theatre of the World has all the ingredients of a very special opera.
In short
Theatre of the World is inspired by the Jesuit Athanasius Kircher (1601-1680), who was seen as the last Renaissance man; a scholar who was learned on all fronts. Kircher was an Egyptologist, a Sinologist, a mathematician, a physicist, a volcanologist, a music theoretician and a composer, among other things. One of the tasks of the Jesuits was to seek God’s presence in everything. The results were then shown visually in a ‘theatre of the world’.
Story
In Theatre of the World, Kircher travels through time and space, accompanied by a twelve-year-old boy. Is the boy his pupil, himself at a young age or the devil? He crosses the river of death, sees the tower of Babel and ends up in China. The journey is supposed to help him remember everything he has ever experienced. If Kircher can remain who he is, will that be in heaven or in hell? The old, weak man wants to make his peace with God. At his graveside, his loved one Juana praises the splendour of the world.
An opera about the last man who knew everything. Pierre Audi, Louis Andriessen and the Quay Brothers explain more about the creative process of this extraordinary opera.
What makes a scientist, archaeologist and poet Athanasius Kircher such a fascinating subject for an opera? Director Pierre Audi and composer Louis Andriessen explain.
See how the decor of Theatre of the World is built in Royal Theatre Carré.
Watch the trailer of Theatre of the World.
Pierre Audi
Resident directorPIERRE AUDI (stage director) became director of De Nederlandse Opera in 1988. As of 1 January 2013 he has become Director of Dutch National Opera. In the years of his leadership till september 2018 he is credited with giving the Netherlands its own opera tradition. His combined vision and audacity have earned him respect, both in the Netherlands and far beyond its borders, as both the Director of Dutch National Opera and as a stage director.
Reinbert de Leeuw
Muzikale leidingREINBERT DE LEEUW (musical director) studied piano and music theory at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, and then went on to study composition with Kees van Baaren at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague. He has been the conductor of ASKO|Schönberg since its foundation in 1974.
TEAM AND CAST
- Musical Director
- Reinbert de Leeuw
- Stage Director
- Pierre Audi
- Set & Video Designers
- Quay Brothers
- Costume Designer
- Florence von Gerkan
- Lighting Designer
- Jean Kalman
- Dramaturg
- Klaus Bertisch
- Ensemble
- Asko|Schönberg
- Athanasius Kircher
- Leigh Melrose
- A boy
- Lindsay Kesselman
- Pope Innozenzo XI
- Marcel Beekman
- Sor Juana Ínes de la Cruz
- Cristina Zavalloni
- The carnifex
- Mattijs van de Woerd
- A couple of secret lovers (He and She)
- Nora Fischer, Martijn Cornet
- Janssonius
- Steven Van Watermeulen
- Die Nachwelt (in person van Voltaire, Descartes, Goethe en Leibnitz)
- Jeroen de Vaal, Pascal Pittie, Michael Wilmering, Tomeu Bibiloni
- Raffaele Fabretti
- Steven Van Watermeulen
- Three witches
- Charlotte Houberg, Sophie Fetokaki, Ingeborg Bröcheler – talent
Creation
The composer Louis Andriessen has built up a very impressive career, both in the Netherlands and abroad. His productions for Dutch National Opera have included Reconstructie (1969), De Materie (1989), ROSA, a Horse Drama (1994), Writing to Vermeer (1999) and La Commedia (2008).
Libretto
The libretto for Theatre of the World is by Helmut Krausser: writer, poet and playwright. He is internationally renowned as one of the best authors of the young German generation. His breakthrough came with his novel Melodien oder Nachträge zum quecksilbernen Zeitalter.
The brothers Quay
The identical twins are building up a mysterious and dark oeuvre of distinctive animation films, for which they invent and create everything themselves. A big exhibition of their work was held in EYE in 2014.
Main role
One of the main roles in Theatre of the World is sung by Cristina Zavalloni, the current ‘muse’ of Louis Andriessen, who said about her: “I heard her for the first time in The Hague [...] and nearly fell off my chair”.
Music
Asko|Schönberg
Asko|Schönberg specialises in contemporary classical music. The famous ensemble is conducted by Reinbert de Leeuw, who is making his return to Dutch National Opera, where he has conducted several Andriessen operas in the past.
Commisioned by: Dutch National Opera and Los Angeles Philharmonic
Coproduction with: Los Angeles Philharmonic, Holland Festival 2016
This opera is supported by:
Fri 27 May
Theatre of the World in LA Times (mei 2016)
‘Louis Andriessen is the great argumentative opera composer of our day .. He is, moreover, a master of operatic argument.’- Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times
Fri 27 May
Theatre of the World in New York Times (mei 2016)
‘Theater of the World” is a lavish, bawdy, enthusiastically semi-coherent fantasia on early modern culture, but Mr. Andriessen has grown ever more expert as a technician.’ - Zachary Woolfe, New York Times
Fri 18 Sep
The Sunday Times - Andriessens' La Commedia (2008)
Andriessens' score is a holiday of inventiveness and the distillation of a lifetime's creativity.
