EIN FELDLAGER IN SCHLESIEN
an opera by Giacomo Meyerbeer
Oper Bonn
PREMIERE April 2022
Oper Bonn
PREMIERE April 2022
Conductor Dirk Kaftan
Director Jakob Peters-Messer
Stage Sebastian Hannak
Stage Sebastian Hannak
Costume Sven Bindseil Light Max Karbe
Ein Feldlager in Schlesien was composed as a celebration of the artform opera itself- it was a grand opera for the reopening of the Royal Opera House in Berlin after it had burned down in 1843. The opera tells a relatively simple story of King Friedrich the Great and his popular behaviour with his people and his army. In my scenography I tried to reflect the context in which it was originally conceived. I linked the first and last act scenically: they take place on an acre that has been fully harvested or even burned down in war. Also, we see the scenical elements being built up or removed by technicians. For the second act, an operatic celebration of prussias army, I set the field camp within the auditorium, also being built up in front of the audience, this time by the cast in historic costumes, with flags etc. The displaced audience of 120 people finds place on a tribune on the main stage and experiences everything from another perspective- breaking the fourth wall does the same for the rest of the audience, who suddenly are physically and acoustically within the opera itself. At the very end of this richly orchestrated opera with huge chorus and a lot of military inspired music, we see an image of the toll of war: back on the acre, we see King Friedrich, who suddenly finds himself on a battlefield. We thus question the celebration of warfare in this piece of the middle of the 19th century.
