' is an opera by

Philippe Boesmans Philippe Boesmans (17 May 1936 – 10 April 2022) was a Belgian pianist, composer and academic teacher. He studied to be a pianist at the Royal Conservatory of Liège, and was self-taught as a composer, influenced by the Liège Group of Henri Po ...

to a

libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...

Luc Bondy Luc Bondy (17 July 1948 – 28 November 2015) was a Swiss theatre and film director. Life and career upright=1.3, '' Charlotte Salomon'' at the Salzburg Festival 2014 Trained in Paris with the theatre teacher Jacques Lecoq, he received a jo ...

and after Shakespeare's ''

The Winter's Tale ''The Winter's Tale'' is a play by William Shakespeare originally published in the First Folio of 1623. Although it was grouped among the comedies, many modern editors have relabelled the play as one of Shakespeare's late romances. Some criti ...

''. It was premiered on 10 December 1999 at

La Monnaie The Royal Theatre of La Monnaie (, ; , ; both translating as the "Royal Theatre of the Mint") is an opera house in central Brussels, Belgium. The National Opera of Belgium, a federal institution, takes the name of this theatre in which it is ho ...

in Brussels. The German premiere followed in 2001 at the

Staatstheater Braunschweig The is a theatre company and opera house in Braunschweig, Germany, presenting and producing music theatre (opera, operetta, musical), Tanztheater, theatre, Theatre for Young Audiences and concerts. The is owned by the State of Lower Saxony. ...

History

has been

composer-in-residence Artist-in-residence (also Writer-in-residence), or artist residencies, encompass a wide spectrum of artistic programs that involve a collaboration between artists and hosting organisations, institutions, or communities. They are programs that pr ...

Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie The Royal Theatre of La Monnaie (, ; , ; both translating as the "Royal Theatre of the Mint") is an opera house in central Brussels, Belgium. The National Opera of Belgium, a federal institution, takes the name of this theatre in which it is ho ...

in Brussels, where he successfully showed '' Reigen'' in 1993, a literary opera after the play '' Reigen'' by Arthur Schnitzler, on a libretto by

. Now assisted by the writer , Boesmans and Bondy created ''Wintermärchen'' after Shakespeare's play ''

''. The opera is dedicated to

Bernard Bernard ('' Bernhard'') is a French and West Germanic masculine given name. It has West Germanic origin and is also a surname. The name is attested from at least the 9th century. West Germanic ''Bernhard'' is composed from the two elements ''be ...

, Annick Foccroulle, and

Harry Halbreich Harry Halbreich (Berlin, 9 February 1931 – Brussels, 27 June 2016) was a Belgian musicologist.Dust jacket biography of Harry Halbreich from #Halbreich2007, Halbreich (2007).Patrick Szersnovicz. Harry Halbreich (obituary). ''Diapason (magazine), ...

. The premiere on 10 December 1999 at La Monnaie was staged by Bondy on a set by Erich Wonder, conducted by

Antonio Pappano Sir Antonio Pappano (born 30 December 1959) is an English-Italian conductor and pianist. He is currently music director of the Royal Opera House and chief conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra. Early life Pappano was born in Epping, Esse ...

and choreographed by

Lucinda Childs Lucinda Childs (born June 26, 1940) is an American postmodern dancer and choreographer. Her compositions are known for their minimalistic movements yet complex transitions. Childs is most famous for being able to turn the slightest movements into ...

. It was a great success, selling out eleven times. The production was shown in November 2000 at the Festival d’Automne in Paris. The opera was performed in 2001 in Braunschweig, in 2002 at the Neue Oper Wien and in Nürnberg, and in 2004 at the

Liceu The Gran Teatre del Liceu (; ; ), or simply Liceu, is a theater in Barcelona, Spain. Situated on La Rambla, it is the city's oldest theater building still in use for its original purpose. Founded in 1837 at another location, the Liceu ope ...

in Barcelona. A recording of the Brussels performance was recorded,Wintermärchen
Operone and presented on 29 November 2000 on TV (

Arte Arte (, , ; ' ('), sometimes stylised in lowercase or uppercase in its logo) is a European Union, European public service Television channel, channel dedicated to culture. It is made up of three separate companies: the Strasbourg-based Europea ...

) and in 2015/2016 on internet TV (ARTE Concert).

Roles

Music

The libretto stays close to Shakespeare's play, and is "skilfully abbreviated and adapted", according to one reviewer, but because "neither oesmans nor Bondycould bear to cut Shakespeare's original", they wrote the Sicilian scenes mostly in German, a language in which both librettist and composer were fluent. The scenes on the seacoast of Bohemia, in the third act, are mostly in English, accompanied by jazz-rock music. In the premiere and the first recording this was performed by the Belgian group

Aka Moon Aka Moon is the Belgian jazz trio of saxophonist Fabrizio Cassol, bassist Michel Hatzigeorgiou and drummer Stéphane Galland. Aka Moon combines jazz, rock, and world music. ''In Real Time'' (2001) was composed for ballet company of Anne-Teresa ...

. They invented the role of Green, who personifies Time and is a Shakespearean jester holding the scenes together. The music at times alludes to

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; ; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer and conductor best known for his Tone poems (Strauss), tone poems and List of operas by Richard Strauss, operas. Considered a leading composer of the late Roman ...

, and

Alban Berg Alban Maria Johannes Berg ( ; ; 9 February 1885 – 24 December 1935) was an Austrian composer of the Second Viennese School. His compositional style combined Romantic lyricism with the twelve-tone technique. Although he left a relatively sma ...

Claudio Monteverdi Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi (baptized 15 May 1567 – 29 November 1643) was an Italian composer, choirmaster and string instrument, string player. A composer of both Secular music, secular and Church music, sacred music, and a pioneer ...

is quoted literally. Boesmans writes lyrical and singable parts, and finely detailed orchestration. He uses music described as

expressionist Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

to characterize Leontes who is insane with jealousy, causing pain and guilt. The music for Hermione, his wife, is full of passion and warmth. A reviewer summarizes that "the sometimes eclectic melodic and harmonic characteristics of his music reaccessible yet challenging".

Recordings

*''Wintermärchen'', Dale Duesing (Leontes), Susan Chilcott (Hermione), Cornelia Kallisch (Paulina),

Anthony Rolfe Johnson Anthony Rolfe Johnson (5 November 1940 – 21 July 2010) was an English operatic tenor. Early life Anthony Rolfe Johnson was born in Tackley in Oxfordshire. As a boy, he demonstrated musical ability and sang as a boy soprano, making a record ...

(Polixenes), Franz-Joseph Selig (Camillo),

Heinz Zednik Heinz Zednik (born 21 February 1940) is an Austrian operatic buffo tenor, closely associated with the character tenor roles of Wagner such as Mime and Loge (''Der Ring des Nibelungen'') and David (''Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg''). He is also ...

(Le Temps), Juha Kotilainen (Antigonus), Johanne Saunier (Perdita), with the jazz band

, conducted by

Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...

References

{{Authority control 1999 operas Operas by Philippe Boesmans Operas Operas based on works by William Shakespeare Multiple-language operas Opera world premieres at La Monnaie Works based on The Winter's Tale