Alban Berg's "Lulu" in the studio theatre
Students bring their own opera production to the stage
Over the past six months, students at the University of Music FRANZ LISZT Weimar have been working intensively on their own musical and scenic realisation of one of the major works of modern music: They are bringing the first act of Alban Berg's opera "Lulu" to the stage in a new version for eight jazz musicians and vocal soloists, which is being presented to the public for the first time. The performers are students from the Vocal and Jazz Departments.
The staged workshop production will be performed on Saturday, 2 March at 6:30 p.m. and on Sunday, 3 March at 5:00 p.m. in the Studiotheater Belvedere. The new version was arranged by Noah Damm, who is the artistic director of the evening. Ioana Petre is the director and Alban Matthiaß and Noah Damm will conduct. Stage and costumes were created by Sandra Schröder. Admission to both performances is free.
The opera evening begins with a musical introduction to the work and its realisation with Professor Michael Klaper, Ioana Petre and Noah Damm. What is presented on stage is the result of an intensive examination of Alban Berg's music and Frank Wedekind's texts by the students involved. A jazz band also played as "incidental music" in the original score.
The first act of Alban Berg's opera "Lulu", set in Vienna in the 1920s, takes us into a world of intrigue, passions and moral abysses. The plot revolves around the fascinating yet tragic figure of Lulu, a seductive and enigmatic woman who casts a spell over men and inexorably drives their fate forward. A wide range of characters appear, from Dr Schön, a respected doctor and lover of Lulu, to Alwa, his son, who is also fascinated by Lulu.
The relationships between the characters are characterised by complexity and manipulation, while Lulu herself seems to hover between innocent and nefarious seductress. The first act of "Lulu" lays the foundation for the drama and leads the audience into a world of moral ambivalence.
[29 February 2024]