Opera

Aus einem Totenhaus

From the House of the Dead
Leoš Janáček (1854 – 1928)
Opera in three acts
Sung in Czech, with German surtitles.
Libretto by the composer, based on the 1862 novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky.
Premiere: 1930 in Brno

Trailer: Theater TV – Ullrich Bohn
Ensemble
Photo: Karl und Monika Forster
Stella An, Mikhail Biryukov, Ralf Rachbauer, Chor, Statisterie
Photo: Karl und Monika Forster
Christopher Bolduc, Jiří Sulženko
Photo: Karl und Monika Forster
Darcy Carroll, Ralf Rachbauer, Statisterie
Photo: Karl und Monika Forster
Mikhail Biryukov, Aaron Cawley
Photo: Karl und Monika Forster
Kristofer Lundin, Erik Biegel, Chor
Photo: Karl und Monika Forster
Julian Habermann, Christopher Bolduc, Ján Rusko
Photo: Karl und Monika Forster
Aaron Cawley, Chor
Photo: Karl und Monika Forster
Claudio Otelli, Statisterie
Photo: Karl und Monika Forster
Darcy Carroll, Mikhail Biryukov, Chor
Photo: Karl und Monika Forster
Stella An
Photo: Karl und Monika Forster
Ensemble, Chor, Statisterie
Photo: Karl und Monika Forster
Samuel Levine, Chor
Photo: Karl und Monika Forster
Jochen Elbert, Ján Rusko, Claudio Otelli
Photo: Karl und Monika Forster
Julian Habermann, Christopher Bolduc, Chor
Photo: Karl und Monika Forster
Kristofer Lundin, Tianji Lin, Chor
Photo: Karl und Monika Forster
Christopher Bolduc, Statisterie
Photo: Karl und Monika Forster
Julian Habermann, Christopher Bolduc, Statisterie
Photo: Karl und Monika Forster

In his last opera, Leoš Janáček set out to "penetrate the depths of humanity, with its most wretched people". On this occasion Janáček's interest in Russian literature led him to Dostoyevsky's novel "Notes from the House of the Dead", set in a Siberian prison. Janáček worked directly from the Russian original, which he himself translated and from which he selected individual passages, dialogues and monologues, writing them directly into the score. In the novel, Dostoyevsky recalls the harrowing experiences of his arrest and banishment to a katorga labour camp. In Janáček's work, the camp becomes a symbol of life: the music is existentially human, at once filled with both beauty and cruelty. The broad themes of his operatic output appear to culminate here: life and death, guilt and forgiveness.

With Janáček's last two operas, "The Makropulos Affair" and "From a House of the Dead", the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden brings an as yet unprecedented and intriguing double bill to the stage. "To experience these two operas interwoven with each other is an exciting journey beneath the skin of human existence." – Director Nicolas Brieger

PREMIERE: 30 April 2023

»Making-of« Trailer

Making-of #1
Video: De-Da Productions
Making-of #2
Video: De-Da Productions

Cast

Conductor Johannes Klumpp
Director Nicolas Brieger
Stage Design Raimund Bauer
Costume Design Andrea Schmidt-Futterer
Choreography Valentí Rocamora i Torà
Lighting Design Andreas Frank
Video Stefano Di Buduo
Chorus Master Albert Horne
Dramaturgy Constantin Mende
Šiškov Claudio Otelli
Alexandr Petrovič Gorjančikov Christopher Bolduc
Šapkin Kristofer Lundin
Luka Kusmič Aaron Cawley
Aljeja Julian Habermann
Skuratov Samuel Levine
Čerevin Ján Rusko
Prison Governor Jiří Sulženko
Tchekunov / Don Juan Mikhail Biryukov
Nikita Ralf Rachbauer
Vasily Darcy Carroll
Elderly Prisoner Erik Biegel
Voice from the Kyrgyz steppe / Kedril Tianji Lin
Eagle Stella An
Guard Benjamin Hee
Chor & Chorsolisten des Hessischen Staatstheaters Wiesbaden, Statisterie des Hessischen Staatstheaters Wiesbaden, Hessisches Staatsorchester Wiesbaden

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