Luciano Berio
Opera
Short instrumentation: 2 2 3 2 - 3 3 3 1 - perc(5), pno(2), e.org, alto sax, t.sax, e.guit, vln(12), vla(10), vc(10), cb(8) - on stage: fl, cl, perc, pno, vln(1), vc(1), cb(1)
Duration: 90'
Übersetzer: Céline Zins, Luciano Berio
Libretto von: Vittoria Ottolenghi, Luciano Berio
Choir: vocal ensemble 2 2 2 2 / children
Roles:
13 actors
2 sopranos
1 tenor
1 baritone
Instrumentation details:
1st flute
2nd flute (+picc)
1st oboe
2nd oboe (+c.a)
1st clarinet in Bb
2nd clarinet in Bb
3rd clarinet in Bb (+bass cl)
alto saxophone in Eb
tenor saxophone in Bb
1st bassoon
2nd bassoon
1st horn in F
2nd horn in F
3rd horn in F
1st trumpet in C
2nd trumpet in C
3rd trumpet in C
1st trombone
2nd trombone
3rd trombone
bass tuba
percussion(3)
marimba
vibraphone (+xyl)
1st piano
2nd piano
electric organ
electric guitar
violin(12)
viola(10)
violoncello(10)
contrabass(8) - on stage: flute
clarinet
percussion
piano
violin(1)
violoncello(1)
contrabass(1)
Berio - Opera
Sample pages
Audio preview
Work introduction
When Berio decided to write a libretto in 1957 about the sinking of the Titanic, it was called a rappresentazione. However, before he
completed it, he realised that it was not going to meet the requirements of
traditional musical theatre. Over the next 12 – 13 years,
he created “Opera” (plural of “opus”), wherein the Titanic tragedy no longer figures; there is no longer a plot in
this “non-story.” So there is no libretto, either; the words, like the music, are part of the score.
The material consists of three layers, all of them simultaneously
present – the ship sinking slowly, the production of the Open Theatre, entitled
“Terminal” (= fatal, as in an illness) and the Orpheus myth (which includes
fragments of Alessandro Striggio’s libretto for Monteverdi’s Orfeo).