Name: Die ersten Menschen
Start: 2021-06-03T00:00:00.000Z
End: 2021-06-23T00:00:00.000Z
Location: Dutch National Opera & Ballet

Organization

Holland Festival

Conductor

François-Xavier Roth

Stage director

Calixto Bieito

Set designer

Rebecca Ringst

Costume designer

Ingo Krügler

Lighting designer

Michael Bauer

Video designer

Sarah Derendinger

Singer

Bass

Kyle Ketelsen

Adahm

Baritone

Leigh Melrose

Kajin

Soprano

Annette Dasch

Chawa

Tenor

John Osborn

Chabel

De Nationale Opera

Orchestra

Concertgebouworkest

German

Die ersten Menschen -  (The first humans, opera in two acts)

Amsterdam

Netherlands

Dutch National Opera & Ballet

Theaterzaal

"An erotic mystery": That's the subtitle of the sole opera composed by Rudi Stephan, The First Humans (1920). The conflict at the heart of the story arises from the idea that the first people on Earth were thrown into a place without morality: emotions and drives dictate their behavior. Only after transgressions do ethics and morality begin to emerge to keep primal drives in check. There are echoes of Otto Weininger's misogynist theory of the sexes, as well as Sigmund Freud's psychoanalysis. Stephan tells the story in an old-testament setting, shortly after the banishment of Adam (hier: Adham) and Eve (here: Chawa) from paradise. It is a work of late romantic excess and expressionist extremes. François-Xavier Roth conducted this revival in June 2021 in Amsterdam, staged by Calixto Bieito, and featuring a first-rate cast.

Photos