Extraordinary new production of the opera »Saint François d’Assise«
Press Information
Hamburg, 13 May 2024: It is one of the most elaborate opera productions ever seen at the Elbphilharmonie, and a highlight of the Hamburg International Music Festival: some 300 artists perform Olivier Messiaen’s »Saint François d’Assise« in the Grand Hall on 2 June 2024. Kent Nagano, the General Music Director of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra, who was also involved in the world premiere in 1983, conducts the work. The Artistic Director of the Hamburg State Opera, Georges Delnon, has developed a completely new scenographic concept specially for the architecture of the Elbphilharmonie, featuring bridge constructions, a large LED ring above the stage and a singer who appears to be floating. The video recordings were filmed on the Sea Watch 5 rescue ship, with climate researcher Mojib Latif, in a hospice and in a shower bus in Hamburg-Altona. Further performances on 6 and 9 June. Tickets are available at www.elbphilharmonie.de.
Performing the opera in the spectacular architecture of the Elbphilharmonie was the starting point for Kent Nagano and Georges Delnon. »The entire interior of the Elbphilharmonie is turned into a stage, the audience forms part of a large whole in the sense of the strongest possible communal experience of this great work. We are not only looking for the best sound we can achieve in the space, but also trying to understand the unique spatial sound of the hall as a theatrical element in its own right. At best, the audience will have the feeling of being right in the middle of it and being sucked into the music,« says Georges Delnon, describing the joint project. For the first time, the stage area will be built over with an elaborate footbridge construction, on which Jacques Imbrailo will appear as St François. Anna Prohaska as L’Ange (The Angel) will float in the hall at lofty heights, exploring the acoustic potential of the space in a completely new way.
In his opera about St Francis of Assisi, Olivier Messiaen explored intensively the relationship between man and God and the Creation. However, he was far more interested in »emphasising the relationship between society and nature and the tension between the two«, says Kent Nagano. A pupil of Messiaen’s, Nagano was involved in the premiere in 1983. He knows the French composer’s pioneering work better than almost anyone else, and is one of the most important interpreters of his oeuvre worldwide. »For Messiaen, ›Saint Francois d’Assise‹ is not an opera, nor an oratorio, it is something he called a ›spectacle‹ in the Berlioz sense of the word, a musical event that you can watch and follow with your eyes. The drama is created through language and music. And it arises when we abandon ourselves to the pulse of nature, when we harmonise with its rhythm,« says the conductor.
Kent Nagano and Georges Delnon are primarily concerned in their joint project to show St Francis as reflected in the present and in today’s society. »Who is St Francis, and where do we find his teachings in today’s society?« was one of the questions producer Delnon asked himself. »For us, Francis is a clergyman, an environmentalist, a carer for the dying, a young person, a scientist, a musician, a homeless person, someone approaching death, a helper. Francis was someone who brought together people from the most diverse backgrounds and social affiliations.« The people who, in various roles, represent Francis in our present day are visible from all sides in films shown on a large LED ring above the stage. The film was shot on board the Sea Watch 5 rescue ship in Sicily, with climate researcher Mojib Latif, in the Assisi Monastery, but also on location in a Hamburg hospice, in the GoBanyo shower bus and at the Elbphilharmonie itself. At the same time, the entire space is gradually transformed theatrically by light and video projections, so that it stands in ever clearer contrast to the concert setting with the Philharmonic State Orchestra, the Audi Youth Choir Academy and the vocal ensemble LauschWerk as well as the soloists.
Messiaen’s Saint François d’Assise is being shown as part of the Hamburg International Music Festival in three performances as a co-production of the Hamburg State Opera, the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra and the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg.
Olivier Messiaen
Saint François d’Assise
Conductor: Kent Nagano
Scenery: Georges Delnon
Scenography: Thomas Jürgens
Costumes: Julia Mottl
Video: Marcus Richardt
Lighting: Stefan Bolliger
Dramaturgy: Janina Zell/Ralf Waldschmidt
Choir: Martin Steidler
With: St. François Jacques Imbrailo, L’Ange Anna Prohaska, Le Lépreux Anthony Gregory, Frère Léon Kartal Karagedik, Frère Massée Dovlet Nurgeldiyev, Frère Elie Andrew Dickinson, Frère Bernard David Minseok Kang, Frère Sylvestre Florian Eggers, Frère Ruffin Niklas Mallmann, the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra, the Audi Youth Choir Academy, and the vocal ensemble LauschWerk
Sung in French with German surtitles
A project by Kent Nagano and Georges Delnon
Co-production of the Hamburg State Opera, the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra and the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg. Sponsored by the Society of Friends of the Hamburg State Opera and Commerzbank Hamburg.
Premiere on 2 June 2024 at 17.00 with additional performances on 6 and 9 June, likewise at 17.00, in the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg Grand Hall. Length of performance including two intervals: 5 hours 15 minutes.
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