''Die Gespenstersonate'' is a 1984 German-language opera by

Aribert Reimann Aribert Reimann (born 4 March 1936) is a German composer, pianist and accompanist, known especially for his literary operas. His version of Shakespeare's ''King Lear'', the opera ''Lear (opera), Lear'', was written at the suggestion of Dietrich F ...

to a libretto by the composer and Uwe Schendel after

August Strindberg Johan August Strindberg (, ; 22 January 184914 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter.Lane (1998), 1040. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg wrote more than sixty p ...

's play ''

The Ghost Sonata ''The Ghost Sonata'' ( sv, Spöksonaten, links=no) is a play in three acts by the Swedish playwright August Strindberg. Written in 1907, it was first produced at Strindberg's Intimate Theatre in Stockholm on 21 January 1908. Since then, it has be ...

''. Strindberg's play also inspired another opera, '' Die Gespenstersonate'' by

Julius Weismann Julius Weismann (26 December 1879 – 22 December 1950) was a German pianist, conductor, and composer.See LCCN. Biography Weismann was born in Freiburg im Breisgau. He studied with Josef Rheinberger and Ludwig Thuille. As a composer, he left ove ...

(1930).

Premiere

World premiere by the

Deutsche Oper Berlin The Deutsche Oper Berlin is a German opera company located in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin. The resident building is the country's second largest opera house (after Munich's) and also home to the Berlin State Ballet. Since 2004, the De ...

at the

Hebbel Theater The Hebbel-Theater (Hebbel Theatre) is a historic theatre building for plays in Berlin-Kreuzberg, Germany. It has been a venue of the company Hebbel am Ufer (HAU) from 2003. The theatre, with approximately 800 seats, was built by Oskar Kaufmann i ...

in Berlin with the

Junge Deutsche Philharmonie The Junge Deutsche Philharmonie (''Young German Philharmonic'', JDPh) is one of the national youth orchestras of Germany. Unlike the Bundesjugendorchester, which is composed of pre-university students aged 14–19, the Junge Deutsche Philharmon ...

and

Ensemble Modern Ensemble Modern is an international ensemble dedicated to performing and promoting the music of modern composers. Formed in 1980, the group is based in Frankfurt, Germany, and made up variously of about twenty members from numerous countries. Hi ...

featured: * Der Alte – Hans Günther Nöcker * Die Mumie –

Martha Mödl Martha Mödl (22 March 1912, Nuremberg – 17 December 2001, Stuttgart) was a German soprano, and later a mezzo-soprano. She specialized in large dramatic roles such as Isolde, Brünnhilde, and particularly Kundry, and is considered, along with Ast ...

* Der Oberst – Horst Hiestermann * Der Student Arkenholz – David Knutson * Das Fräulein – Gudrun Sieber * Johansson –

Donald Grobe Donald Roth Grobe (16 December 1929 – 1 April 1986) was an American tenor, lyric tenor who sang at the ''Deutsche Oper Berlin'' during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. He made his début in Chicago, in 1952, as Borsa in ''Rigoletto''. He sang at his ...

* Bengtsson –

William Dooley William Dooley (September 9, 1932 – July 2, 2019 in Modesto, California) was an American bass-baritone singer who performed with many prominent opera companies. He began his career in Germany in the late 1950s, ultimately becoming a leading pe ...

* Die Dunkle Dame –

Barbara Scherler Barbara may refer to: People * Barbara (given name) * Barbara (painter) (1915–2002), pseudonym of Olga Biglieri, Italian futurist painter * Barbara (singer) (1930–1997), French singer * Barbara Popović (born 2000), also known mononymously ...

* Die Köchin – Kaja Borris A video of the premiere was released on DVD by

Arthaus White Wolf Publishing was an American roleplaying game and book publisher. The company was founded in 1991 as a merger between Lion Rampant

References

1984 operas Operas by Aribert Reimann German-language operas Operas Operas based on plays Operas based on works by August Strindberg {{German-opera-stub