12 Composers Write an Opera

The chamber opera “Ovartaci” is an experiment. 12 composers each write one scene. I know the text, but not the music. I wonder what my colleagues are coming up with?

The Danish artist Ovartaci (1894-1985) created a fantastic body of work – while in a mental institution. He believed that he had been a mountain lion, a flower, a butterfly, or that he had once lived in Ancient China. His ideal was the female being, and after two attempts at unmanning himself he was finally granted his transformation when he was 63 years old. The opera is an homage to an extraordinary human being, who created works full of fantasy while suffering from severe schizophrenia – at all times convinced that in doing so he was giving the world his love. More details: https://www.startnext.com/ovartaci

„Mountain Lion Metamorphosis“ after texts by Tanja Langer; and one scene from „Ovartaci – crazy, queer and lovable“
January 11th and 12th, 2017. 8:00 pm each day
Staatsoper im Schiller Theater – Werkstatt
Bismarckstr. 110, 10625 Berlin
Thorbjörn Björnsson (baritone), Claudia Herr (mezzo-soprano), Ramina Abdullah-Zade (soprano), Alexandros Giovanos (percussion), Dirk Girschik (director)