Circuswereld Forum

U las het wellicht al elders, maar het is te mooi om er hier niet eveneens aandacht aan te besteden.
In eendrachtige samenwerking met de Opera van Malmö brengt Cirkus Cirkör een ongetwijfeld fraaie uitvoering van Circus Days and Nights.
Gebaseerd op het werk van de Amerikaanse poëet Robert Lax en van muziek voorzien door niemand minder dan Philip Glass.
Te zien van 29 mei t/m 13 juni als live-stream, waarvoor hier de tickets te koop zijn: https://biljetter.malmoopera.se/events/17628
Kaarten kosten 100 Zweedse Kronen en dat is iets minder dan € 10,-.

Nu ken ik Malmö aardig goed, ik kwam er regelmatig. Maar tot in de opera bracht ik het daar niet.
Cirkus Cirkör zag ik diverse keren, ze kwamen wel naar Nederland.
Het adembenemende Knitting Peace zag ik indertijd in Den Haag op dezelfde zondag dat Circus Herman Renz open huis hield op het Malieveld.
Philip Glass kwam diverse keren naar ons land en ik miste hem nooit in Groningen. Het is zeer persoonlijk, maar ik bewonder hem zeer.
Inderdaad zeer persoonlijk, ik ken ook mensen die helemaal dol van zijn muziek worden.

Genoemde combinatie lijkt me fantastisch.

Malmö Opera meldt op haar site:



CIRCUS DAYS AND NIGHTS – STREAMING

Circus Days and Nights, a new opera by legendary composer Philip Glass, librettists David Henry Hwang and circus director Tilde Björfors,
is based on a collecion af poems by American poet Robert Lax.
Co-produced by Cirkus Cirkör and Malmö Opera, the collaboration will feature a unique, never before seen fusion of circus and opera.

The American composer Philip Glass, is one of the most influential in contemporary music.
He has written operas, symphonies and chamber music as well as music for film, theatre and television.
Arguably, he is most famous for his Portrait trilogy - the three operas Einstein on the beach, Satyagraha and Akhnaten.

His influence on contemporary classical music is difficult to overestimate.
He is often described as a minimalist, but prefers to call his work "music with repetitive structures".

”I have had the rights to the poem for about ten years, but I couldn’t write the piece because I hadn’t found my circus.
When I saw Tilde’s staging of Satyagraha it struck me: Here’s my circus”, - Philip Glass.

The cast will include soprano Elin Rombo, well known for her depiction of Eritea in Cavallis Eliogabalo at the Opéra National de Paris and as Queen of the Night in Mozarts The Magic Flute at Staatsoper Berlin.
Last fall she sang the title role in Rufus Wainwrights Callas-inspired Prima Donna at The Royal Opera in Stockholm.















de trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqSd-GNR7f4&t=1s

en meer muziek: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ck98Glz2XQM

Achtergrondinfo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTs1PXD-zZ4

The Financial Times besteedde er zelfs aandacht aan: https://www.ft.com/content/0b99af56-91e ... 073d7296e2

Opera branches out with a mystery mini-series and a circus extravaganza

In het tweede deel:



While Boston is promoting young composers, one of the US’s senior figures has just had his latest opera premiered in Sweden.
Philip Glass has broken the operatic mould decisively in the past and continues to explore new ideas.

His Circus Days and Nights was given its premiere by Malmö Opera and Cirkus Cirkör at the end of last month, and has further livestreams to come until June 13.
It involves a full-scale circus with acrobats, jugglers, a lion-tamer (but no lion) and even a bearded lady.
The writings of Robert Lax, on which the opera is based, present the circus as a microcosm of the world (“We have seen all the days of creation in one day”), but the idea is not followed through in any meaningful way.

What we get is two hours of circus fun with a bit of opera thrown in.
Do not ask much of the music, which presents a less rigid style of minimalism in Glass’s recent manner, the small instrumental ensemble coloured by the whine of the accordion.
Anything can count as an opera now, but that is surely a step forwards, not a step back.

★★★☆☆