Name: Das Krokodil
Start: 2004-02-26T00:00:00.000Z
End: 2004-03-06T00:00:00.000Z
Location: Jugendstiltheater am Steinhof

Organization

Singer

Lisa Fornhammar

Jelena

Bernd Fröhlich

Iwan Matwejewitsch

Baritone

Marco Di Sapia

Semjon Semjonowitsch

Alfred Werner

Timofej Semjonowitsch

Bass-baritone

Rupert Bergmann

Krokodilbesitzer

Barbara Dorfmann

3 Näherinnen

Conductor

Marino Formenti

Stage director

Kristine Tornquist

Costume designer

Vesna Tusek

Set designer

Jakob Scheid

Pia Ernstbrunner

3 Näherinnen (1. Näherin)

Heidemaria Gruber

3 Näherinnern (2. Näherin)

Lighting designer

Edgar Aichinger

Repetiteur

Nelly LiPuma

Dramaturge

Alois Hofinger

sirene Operntheater

Orchestra

Jugendstiltheater

German

Das Krokodil

Vienna

Austria

Jugendstiltheater am Steinhof

siren opera theater | Art Nouveau Theater Vienna 2004
https://www.sirene.at/archiv/2004-das... | https://www.sirene.at/site/assets/fil...

DAS KROKODIL - an opera for 12 pianos and 1 crocodile libretto. Kristine Tornquist based on a narrative fragment by Fyodor M. Dostoevsky
https://www.sirene.at/site/assets/fil...
Music. Jury Everhartz 
https://issuu.com/sirene47/docs/das_k...

0:00:00Prolog. Enter the player. Semyon Semyonovich writes something interesting on a school blackboard
0:01:291st scene. Ivan Matveevich, Jelena Ivanovna and Semjon Semjonowitsch visit the crocodile show
0:24:292nd scene. Semjon Semjonowitsch as a petitioner to Timofej Semjonowitsch, Ivan Matvejewitsch's boss
0:38:033rd scene. Semyon Semyonovich returns to the crocodile to report to Ivan Matveyevich
0:57:144th scene. Semyon Semyonovich visits the beautiful Jelena Ivanovna and drinks tea with her
1:06:005th scene. Semyon Semyonovich visits Ivan Matveevich and reads him the newspaper reports
1:16:536th scene. The seamstresses
1:20:20 applause https://youtu.be/VLTIirXVaV8?t=1398

Ivan Matveevich ends up carelessly in the stomach of a crocodile - and as a result it turns out that it is impossible for economic reasons to free him from it again. Dostoyevsky's early criticism of capitalism is an absurd odyssey into perfectly normal madness. The rational logic of money is targeted in this bizarre story as well as the crippling fussiness of politics and bureaucracy. The Berlin composer Jury Everhartz turned it into an opera for 12 pianists, which is now being premiered by the siren opera theater in Vienna's Art Nouveau Theater under the direction of the Milanese pianist and conductor Marino Formenti. In the narrative fragment "The Crocodile" from 1865, Fyodor M. Dostojewskij processed the " Susanna Spaemann. Sigrid Trummer. Kyôko Yoshizawa piano builder. Bernhard Balas PR and production management. Mine Scheid reception manager. Alexander Rathner Director of Art Nouveau Theater. Alois Hofinger video recording siren |https://www.sirene.at

*********************

Financial Times, 8. März 2004, Larry L. Lash
Das Krokodil, sirene Operntheater, Vienna

If there was an award for operatic innovation, Jury Everhartz would be a shoo-in: Das Krokodil, his adaptation of Dostoevsky´s satire of economic principles, sets the audience on the stage and the action amid an orchestra of 12 grand pianos. A bilious green 13th piano represents the eponymous beast, wich swallows poor Ivan Matveitch in one gulp. Matveitch survives inside the animal, and the plot consists of arguments whether to slice open the animal or let the man remain inside, a notion which Matveitch finds increasingly comfortable, just as the reptile´s buffoonish owner finds it increasingly lucrative.
Everhartz unique sonic landscape contains the subversive humour of Satie, the driving rhythms of John Adams, the dissonant power of Prokofiev, the grace of Stravinsky, the soaring vocal lines of Berg and an odd hint of medieval/renaissance music. Kristine Tornquist´s production is filled with wry gimmickry: parts of Matveitch pop through trapdoors from the crocodile´s red plaid interior; the owner shares a tower of sausages with Matveitch and his beloved "Karlchen", whose keyboard /mouth opens to emit a belch.
As Matveitch sluttish Barbie-doll wife, Lisa Fornhammar flawlessly attacked Everhartz´s wild coloratura like a combination of Lulu and Queen of the Night. Natural born scene-stealer Rupert Bergmann cavorted shamelessly as the avaricious owner. Alfred Werner oozed corruption as Matveitch´s sinister boss. Baby-faced Bernd Fröhlich coped valiantly as Matveitch. Marco Di Sapia made Semyonitch a sympathic nerd, anchoring the evening with his sweet, reedy lyric baritone.

Das Krokodil: Das Krokodil Everhartz

Private

Public

Approved

Production booklet

Further reading