Organization

Singer

Soprano

Marie-Eve Munger

Nachtigall

Tenor

Tuomas Katajala

Hoffegut

Baritone

Cody Quattlebaum

Ratefreund

Stage director

Ted Huffman

Conductor

Sora Elisabeth Lee

Aziz Shokhakimov

Lighting designer

Bernd Purkrabek

Costume designer

Doey Lüthi

Set designer

Andrew Lieberman

Choreographer

Pim Veulings

Chorus master

Alessandro Zuppardo

Antoin Herrera-López Kessel

Adler

Christoph Pohl

Wiedehopf

Julie Goussot

Zaunschlüpfer

Josef Wagner

Prometheus

Bass

Young-Min Suk

Stimme des Zeus

Daniel Dropulja

Rabe

Namdeuk Lee

Flamingo

Simonetta Cavalli

1. Drossel

Mezzo-soprano

Nathalie Gaudefroy

2. Drossel

Dilan Ayata

Die Schwalben

Aline Gozlan

Tatiana Zolotikova

Opéra National du Rhin

Orchestra

Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg

Others

Chœur de l'Opéra National du Rhin

German

Die Vögel -  (The Birds)

Mulhouse

France

La Filature

he Birds is neither a documentary film about our feathered friends nor a remake of Hitchcock’s horror classic; it is rather an operatic adaptation of Aristophanes’ ancient Greek comedy and a key work by German composer Walter Braunfels.

Braunfels did most of his composing in the early twentieth century at a time when Late Romanticism and Impressionism were running into new theories of music, neoclassicism and other new currents. Braunfels saw himself as belonging to the line of Straussian Late Romantics. Since he was a Jew, his works fell victim to the Nazi censors during the Third Reich. For a long time all but forgotten, they are now becoming popular again, first and foremost among them The Birds.

The plot turns on two friends, Hoffegut (Good Hope) and Ratefreund (Loyal Friend), who having had their fill of the world of humans set off in search of new adventures in the realm of the birds. There, Hoffegut lets himself be seduced by the song of the Nightingale, while Ratefreund, succumbing to human greed, persuades Hoopoe, King of the Birds, to build a grand new city in the sky. This will prevent the smoke from humans’ sacrificial offerings from reaching the gods, the aim being to starve the gods into submission to the birds. But the avian bid for power does not turn out as planned. So furious are the gods that they declare war on the birds.

Strasbourg

Opéra national du Rhin

Die Vögel Braunfels

Public

The Birds

French

Approved

Die Vögel Braunfels - Trailer

Interview with Ted Huffman (Director) - Les Oiseaux - 2022

Die Vögel Braunfels - Interview Director

ired by the gloom of everyday life and the mediocrity of their fellows, Fidèlami and Bonespoir set out in search of the kingdom of birds where they hope to live on art and love. They meet King Huppe, who reigns nonchalantly over the colorful world of birds. Learning that the sky does not belong to the birds, Fidèlami urges them to take power. Making them dangle a new golden age, he convinces them to build a city-fortress in the clouds, in order to intercept the fumes of the sacrifices thanks to which men feed the gods. Forced by famine, they will have to bow to the birds! But beware of the promises of tomorrow that sing: the awakening could be brutal. Abundant and lyrical music, charming and poetic libretto ... Under its airs of animal fable, Les Oiseauxis a post-romantic adaptation of an ancient Aristophanes comedy. Composed by Walter Braunfels during the First World War and premiered in Munich in 1920, this sumptuous opera tenderly and melancholy recounts human aspirations and then the failure of utopias. It was high time that this 20th century masterpiece was presented in France

English

Fatigués par la morosité du quotidien et la médiocrité de leurs semblables, Fidèlami et Bonespoir partent en quête du royaume des oiseaux où ils espèrent vivre d’art et d’amour. Ils rencontrent le roi Huppe qui règne avec nonchalance sur le monde bigarré des volatiles. Apprenant que le ciel n’appartient pas aux oiseaux, Fidèlami les exhorte à prendre le pouvoir. Leur faisant miroiter un nouvel âge d’or, il les convainc de bâtir une cité-forteresse dans les nuages, afin d’intercepter les fumées des sacrifices grâce auxquels les hommes nourrissent les dieux. Contraints par la famine, ceux-ci devront s’incliner devant les oiseaux ! Mais gare aux promesses de lendemains qui chantent : le réveil pourrait être brutal.
Musique foisonnante et lyrique, livret charmeur et poétique... Sous ses airs de fable animalière, Les Oiseaux est une adaptation post-romantique d’une comédie antique d’Aristophane. Composé par Walter Braunfels durant la Première Guerre mondiale et créé à Munich en 1920, ce somptueux opéra raconte avec tendresse et mélancolie les aspirations humaines puis l’échec des utopies. Il était grand temps que ce chef-d’oeuvre du XXᵉ siècle soit présenté en France

français

Performance credits (Cast & Crew )

Cast

Crew

Ensemble