The production will be one of twelve, to be shown at 30 performances, on the festival programme.
?The organisers see that contemporary work cannot be left out of the programme, thus The Tragedy of the Devil is showing,? Péter Eötvös said in Munich. The opera had its global premiere at the Bavarian State Opera in February, he added.
The opera was brought to the stage by Balázs Kovalik, until recently the artistic director of the Hungarian State Opera. The libretto, in German, inspired in part by Madách?s The Tragedy of Man, is the work of Albert Ostermeier.
?The opera was last performed in March, not so long ago, so we just need to brush up with the director?s assistant. There?s no chance for a full rehearsal because the festival is so busy,? said Eötvös.
As in The Three Sisters, Eötvös has written The Tragedy of the Devil for two orchestras, a smaller one in the pit, conducted by the composer, and a larger one behind the stage, in back of the singers.
Eötvös said the piece is a comical-utopian opera. Much of the evil in the world comes not from the devil, but from us, and the piece examines this with the distance of irony, he explained.
The young lyrical soprano Cora Burggraaf will sing the role of Eve in the production. Adam will be played by the Finnish tenor Top Lehtipuu. Georg Nigl, who recently said Wozzeck at a premiere at the Bolshoi in Moscow, will sing the role of Lucifer.
The Tragedy of the Devil will again be part of the repertoire in Munich in 2011.
Source: Hungarian News Agency (MTI) / Photo: Bayerische Staatsoper
