The Odyssey
After the end of the Trojan War, Odysseus makes his way home to Ithaca. The goddess Athena wishes the victorious hero a quick return. But the sea god Poseidon does not let Odysseus and his companions get to their destination so quickly and sends them on a journey full of adventure. It takes a full ten years before the Greek hero finally returns to his wife Penelope and his son Telemachus. On his wandering back and forth across the Mediterranean, Odysseus' ship is shaken by wind and waves and thrown onto numerous unknown shores. Captivatingly beautiful places like the land of the lotus eaters, but also countless dangers await those returning home. So it is necessary to outsmart the one-eyed giant Polyphemus and the magical church that turns Odysseus' companions into pigs, but shows him the way to the underworld, where Odysseus meets his deceased mother. Temptations and storms are also waiting at sea: the sirens try to lure Odysseus with their wonderful singing and to crash his ship; once again the crew gets into distress between the two monsters Skylla and Charybdis. When the hungry travel companions eat the cattle of the sun god Helios, the angry gods extend the journey home again: On the paradise island of the beautiful Calypso, Odysseus almost forgets that he is actually on his way home. With their beautiful singing the sirens try to lure Odysseus and let his ship crash into pieces; once again the crew gets into distress between the two monsters Skylla and Charybdis. When the hungry travel companions eat the cattle of the sun god Helios, the angry gods extend the journey home again: On the paradise island of the beautiful Calypso, Odysseus almost forgets that he is actually on his way home. With their beautiful singing the sirens try to lure Odysseus and let his ship crash into pieces; once again the crew gets into distress between the two monsters Skylla and Charybdis. When the hungry travel companions eat the cattle of the sun god Helios, the angry gods extend the journey home again: On the paradise island of the beautiful Calypso, Odysseus almost forgets that he is actually on his way home.
The Odyssey of Homer is among the oldest tales überhaupt and capable people to fascinate all ages. We have therefore commissioned an opera that will be premiered in a new text version as a musical theater for the whole family. The music is written by the young Dutch composer Leonard Evers, who, among other things, has performed with the chamber opera Gold! has already written very successfully musical theater works for a young audience. The German director Rainer Holzapfel is visiting Zurich Opera House for the first time and is facing the challenge of transforming the opera house stage into a place of stormy wanderings.
