Philip Venables

Tag: Robert Lehmeier

  • Denis & Katya announced at Theater Erfurt

    Denis & Katya announced at Theater Erfurt

    Theater Erfurt has announced its new production of Denis & Katya in the coming 23/24 season, The production of the german-language translation by Robert Lehmeier will be directed by Markus Weckesser, and will take place in the round in the Studio.Box venue. The premiere will be on 1st Feburary 2024. Tickets and further information is available here.

  • Danish premiere of Denis & Katya in Aalborg and Copenhagen.

    Danish premiere of Denis & Katya in Aalborg and Copenhagen.

    Denis & Katya will have its Danish premier on Thursday 17th August (schools performance) and Friday 18th August 2023 (public performance) as part of the Aalborg Opera Festival. This is a brand new production by Kind Of Opera, created by director Selma Mongelard and creative producer Trine Heide. The production then moves to Copenhagen for more shows at the Folketeatret on 25th and 26th August. More info and tickets are available here: https://kindofopera.dk/projekter/deniskatya.

    The team is:
    Soprano: Katinka Fogh Vindelev
    Baritone: David Kragh Danving
    Celli Marie Louise Lind, Kirstine Elise Pedersen, Marta Gudmundsdottir, Mihai Fagarasan
    Musical Direction: Ian Ryan
    Director: Selma Mongelard
    Lighting design: Malte Hauge
    Sound design: Tommy Kamp Vestergaard (…who also produced the wonderful recording of My Favourite Piece is the Goldberg Variations)
    Producer: Trine Heide

    Photo by Allan Toft for Kind Of Opera.

  • Denis & Katya announced at Wiener Kammeroper

    Denis & Katya announced at Wiener Kammeroper

    On the same day as our wonderful premiere of Denis & Katya in Pittsburgh, Musiktheater an der Wein announced their new production of Denis & Katya to open their 2023/24 season at the Wiener Kammeroper. The production of the german-language translation by Robert Lehmeier will be directed by Marcos Darbyshire, featuring Hasti Molavian and Timothy Connor. The premiere will be on 27th September 2023. Tickets and further information is available here.

    I will also be leading a public masterclass with the performers on 3rd September. Tickets for that are available here.

  • Excellent reviews for Denis & Katya in Hannover

    Excellent reviews for Denis & Katya in Hannover

    The German premiere of Denis & Katya happened earlier this year, in a new german-language version of the opera, commissioned by the Niedersächsische Staatsoper in Hannover. The production took place in Ballhof Eins, and featured two singers from the young artists opera studio in Hannover, Weronika Rabek and Darwin Prakash, with cellists Reynard Rott, Gottfried Roßner, Clara Berger, Marion Zander, Killian Fröhlich and Gonçalo Silva. Direction by Ted Huffman, Music Direction by Maxim Böckelmann, Sound by Oliver Sinn and Markus Schwieger, Video by Pierre Martin, Design by Andrew Lieberman, Light by Bernd Purkrabek, Costume by Raphaela Rose and Dramaturgie by Regine Palmei. The german-language translation was made by Robert Lehmeier.

    Reviews have been very positive. Here are some excerpts, with machine-translations:

    “Es geht um Bildbeschreibungen und Annäherungen an die Wirklichkeit. Die Mezzosopranistin Weronika Rabek und der Bariton Darwin Prakesh als Journalistin und als Freund, als leicht hysterische Nachbarin und Teenager, als Arzt und Lehrer machen das so intensiv, dass Spannung entsteht. Philip Venables hat ihnen weitergehend tonale Partien geschrieben, die oft ein kantabler Sprechgesang sind. Untermalt wird das von einem Cello-Quartett, das Klangflächen liefert, aber sich auch steigert bis zu einer Elegie für junge Liebende: Totenklage für Solocello.” — Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung (HAZ)

    (“It is about image descriptions and approaches to reality. Mezzo-soprano Weronika Rabek and baritone Darwin Prakesh as journalist and as friend, as slightly hysterical neighbour and teenager, as doctor and teacher do this so intensely that tension is created. Philip Venables has written them further tonal parts, which are often a cantabile chant. This is underpinned by a cello quartet, which provides sound surfaces but also rises to the level of an elegy for young lovers: Totenklage for solo cello.” )

    “Da in dieser Produktion alles konzeptionell ineinandergreift und die Komposition so entstanden zu sein scheint, dass in Musik und Libretto sozusagen schon die Inszenierung angelegt ist, kann hier eine neue Form eines Gesamtkunstwerks etnstehen, die die Gattung Oper oder Musiktheater in die Gegenwart überträgt. Diese ganze Produktion ist als funkelndes Kleinod ein highlight im Spielplan der Staatsoper Hannover.” — Cellesche Zeitung (CZ)

    (“Since everything in this production interlocks conceptually and the composition seems to have been created in such a way that the staging is already laid out, so to speak, in the music and libretto, a new form of a Gesamtkunstwerk can emerge here that transfers the genre of opera or music theatre into the present. This entire production is a sparkling gem and a highlight in the repertoire of the Hannover State Opera.”)

    “Ganz am Schluss, in den letzten Minuten der Aufführung, entsteht dann so etwas wie eine elegische, langsamere Stimmung, die überhaupt erstmals den Raum für Konzentration und Empathie ermöglicht. Im Hintergrund sieht man eine aus einem Zugfenster auf eine Leinwand projizierte russische Landschaft vorbeiziehen. Dazu hört man Reflektionen der Hinterbliebenen. Es ist zu hoffen, dass die Produktion an möglichst vielen Schulen für Jugendliche, nicht nur in Hannover gezeigt werden wird. […] Das Publikum im Ballhof,  der kleineren Spielstätte des Staatsschauspiels in Hannover applaudiert lange den Mitwirkenden dieser eindrücklichen und  beklemmenden Produktion.” — Opera Online

    (At the very end, in the last minutes of the performance, something like an elegiac, slower atmosphere emerges, which for the first time ever allows space for concentration and empathy. In the background you can see a Russian landscape projected onto a screen from a train window. You can also hear reflections from the bereaved.  It is to be hoped that the production will be shown at as many schools for young people as possible, not just in Hanover. […] The audience in the Ballhof, the smaller venue of the Staatsschauspiel in Hanover, applauds the actors of this impressive and oppressive production for a long time.)

  • Denis & Katya revival next season in Hannover

    Denis & Katya revival next season in Hannover

    Denis & Katya was given its german premiere in Hannover this season on 26th Feburary, and a revival has just been announced in the 22—23 Season of the Niedersächsische Staatsoper Hannover. The Staatsoper Hannover commissioned a german language version of the opera, which was translated by director and librettist Robert Lehmeier, and was performed by two singers from the opera studio, Weronika Rabek and Darwin Prakash. They will both return next season for the revival, alongside the cellists of the Staatsoper Orchestra, director Ted Huffman and Music Director Maxim Böckelmann. The first performance of the revival will be on 4th April 2023 in Ballhof Eins.

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