Daniel Börtz is a distinguished Swedish composer (born 1943), there is an interesting biography of him on his publisher Gehrman's website. His first opera Backanterna (The Bacchae) was premiered in 1991 and his latest opera is also based on a Greek drama. Medea, based on the drama by Euripedes, has its premiere at the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm on 23 January 2016. The libretto is in Swedish, based on a new modern poetic version Agneta Pleijel and Jan Stolpe. The title role will be sung by Swedish soprano Emma Vetter, a singer whose roles encompass Sieglinde, Elsa (Lohengrin) and Chrysothemis (Elektra). Swedish actor and director Stefan Larsson directs and Patrick Ringborg, the Swedish conductor who is music director of Staatstheater Kassel, conducts.
The opera deals with the grimmer of the Medea stories, the one where she murders her children and Börtz said that
'I cannot understand her deed. I can try to ilustrate it. I am enthralled by the story. What Medea is subjected to and the madness she then unleashes, also happens to people in our world.'
Further information from the
Royal Swedish Opera website.
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