Europera 5 by John Cage

Zeitgenössische Oper Berlin

Premiere: 6^th November 1999 Hebbel-Theater

Europera 5

by John Cage (1912 - 1992)
First performance: 1991, New York

Coproduction with the Hebbel-Theater Berlin and the Komische Oper Berlin - with support of the Culture Foundation of the Deutsche Bank, the Berliner Künstlerprogramm of the DAAD and the Brasilian Embassy

Szene Europera 5.jpg (34992 Byte)

	Photo: © Jan-Erik Ouwerkerk
Conception Singer 1 Singer 2 Piano Victrola	Christina Tappe, Andreas Rochholl Catherine Gayer, Soprano Günter Neumann, Tenor Amaral Vieira Klaus Geitel

"For 200 years the Europeans have sent us their operas. Now I am returning them all to them" – John Cage

The titel "Europera" (in the plural "Europeras") is a word play and means "your opera" as well as "Europe’s operas". Taking the compositional material of the 18^th and 19^th century operas as a base and using certain randoming techniques, John Cage deconstructed the structure and expression of the classical opera and, at the same time, created an homage to precisely this world of opera.

Two singers, a pianist and a grammophone player each interpret six works of the opera literature selected by them and take their longstanding opera experience onto the stage. They act, directed only by pure chance, and relate to the personal memories of opera of each listener in the hall.

Duration of the performance: 60 minutes

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