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Organization

Singer

Bass-baritone

Bo Skovhus

König Lear

Bass

Wilhelm Schwinghammer

König von Frankreich

Christian Miedl

Herzog von Albany

Tenor

Peter Galliard

Herzog von Cornwall

Jürgen Sacher

Graf von Kent

Lauri Vasar

Graf von Gloster

Countertenor

Andrew Watts

Edgar

Martin Homrich

Edmund

Soprano

Katja Pieweck

Goneril

Hellen Kwon

Regan

Ha Young Lee

Cordelia

Spoken

Erwin Leder

Narr

Frieder Stricker

Bedienter

Conductor

Simone Young

Stage director

Karoline Gruber

Costume designer

Mechthild Seipel

Set designer

Roy Spahn

Lighting designer

Hans Toelstede

Chorus master

Eberhard Friedrich

Assistant Stage Director

Anja Krietsch

Staatsoper Hamburg

Lear -  (King Lear)

Hamburg

Germany

Staatsoper

In 1961, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau asked Benjamin Britten to compose an opera version of Shakespeare’s tragedy King Lear. Unfortunately, the English composer refused. Although the complexities of the Bard’s play had put Britten off—much like Berlioz, Verdi, and Debussy previously—the legendary baritone saw his wish come true thanks to the German composer Aribert Reimann and librettist Claus H. Henneberg. Premiered in 1978 in Munich, their adaptation tightens the plot and concentrates on its essential elements, notably retaining the relentless pace of the play. The expressive range of the score is a credit to the composer, remarkable in his unique musical depiction of characters and an orchestral architecture to challenge even his predecessors Schoenberg and Berg.

In this impressive production by Karoline Gruber at the Staatsoper Hamburg, the plot is transported to the modern business world. The cursed king, masterfully portrayed by Danish baritone Bo Skovhus, is no longer a victim of his senility, but of his oversized ego. Maestro Simone Young conducts the resident orchestra, joined by a fantastic cast revolving around the protagonist and his three daughters, played by the superb Katja Pieweck, Hellen Kwon, and Siobhan Stagg.

Lear Reimann

Public

King Lear

Approved

Aribert Reimann's setting of the Shakespeare play is one of the most successful German operas of the 20th century. The composer was inspired to do this by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, who also sang the title role at the world premiere in 1978 at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich. The libretto by Claus H. Henneberg is based on Johann Joachim Eschenburg's translation of Shakespeare's »King Lear«.

King Lear by Reimann, From (2014/2014), Directed by Karoline Gruber,, Conductor Simone Young, Staatsoper, Hamburg, Germany

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