Viola (Wundersame Reise nach Esmir)

"The Wondrous Journey to Esmir" - a children's opera by Georg Klusemann and Matthias Bonitz, tells a story about integration. A good choice of piece, because different nationalities also meet in the chorus. Director Wolfgang Gruber about his musical multi-culti story: "It's about the father of the main character, Kläusch, hanging up his job, and both decide to visit the Sheik Iphraim of Esmir. A journey through half of Europe begins. It goes over the Balkans - there then a Hungarian song is sung, to Istanbul. Then there is a Turkish song - and then it goes on via a caravanserai, there an oriental song is sung. Finally they come to Sheik Iphraim. He's not well, and Klaus then becomes the sheik's body and stomach poet, so to speak."

Miraculous journey to Esmir:

Father Kretschmar and his son want to visit Sheikh Ifraim. They pack their luggage and off they go: Over dirt roads, villages, towns and dark forests they always walk straight ahead. On the way they have many adventures to overcome. They meet a gypsy family, get into storms, cross the big black sea on a ship, visit Istanbul, a caravanserai. When they finally reach Esmir, the population is in mourning, because the sheikh has been suffering from terrible stomach pains for a long time.

An exciting story by the Essen painter and children's author Georg Klusemann.

Singing and playing along is allowed!

World premiere of the orchestral version: 1994 at the Festspielhaus Recklinghausen with the "Westfälisches Sinfonieorchester" (cond.: Helmut Imig)

World premiere of the string quartet version:

1st Children's Opera Festival Essen, Ceche Karl, June 2009 with the Mannheim String Quartet, Conductor: Alexander Eberle.

Aalto Theater Essen January 2011

with the Mannheim String Quartet, conductor: Alexander Eberle

Together with the Aalto Spatzen, the Mannheim String Quartet and the German-Turkish actor Aydin Isik, we embark on a fairytale journey to Esmir: Father Kretschmar and his son want to visit Sheikh Ifraim. They pack their luggage and off they go: Over dirt roads, villages, towns and dark forests they wander always straight ahead. On the way they have many adventures to overcome. They meet a gypsy family, get into storms, cross the big black sea on a ship, visit Istanbul, a caravanserai. When they finally reach Esmir, the population is just mourning, because the sheik has been suffering from terrible stomach pains for a long time ... The exciting story and the illustrations by the Essen painter and children's book author Georg Klusemann have been wonderfully set to music by Matthias Bonitz. Singing and playing along is allowed!

The wondrous journey to Esmir:

WAZ of 2.9. 1994 (eli): Children's opera tells of friends in foreign lands Fairy-tale premiere in the Festspielhaus - much applause The wondrous opera "The Journey to Esmir", which celebrated an acclaimed premiere in the Festspielhaus, was written by Matthias Bonitz... More than a hundred children acted confidently and with fun on stage. The children's opera (text: Georg Klusemann) invited to a journey to distant lands..Effortless encounters between different cultures..enable new friendships.... In the background, the "Westphalian Symphony Orchestra" conducted by Helmut Imig interpreted the Bonitz music, which consists of a clever mixture of classical sounds, folk music borrowings and quotations from outside Europe.

Translated with DeepL