Bohuslav Martinů's The Greek Passion launches Den Jyske Opera's 2024/25 season in Aarhus, Denmark

Bohuslav Martinů: The Greek Passion - Den Jyske Opera

Bohuslav Martinů's opera, The Greek Passion, is one of those complex works that continue to resonate, even though actual performances are still relatively rare. Whilst the work is technically about a village's preparations for Easter, central to the action is how the villagers deal with a group of refugees, subject that remains alarmingly topical.

Jutland Opera (Den Jske Opera), Denmark's touring opera company based in the country's second city, Aarhus, opens a new production of Martinů's The Greek Passion tonight, 23 August 2024. The production is a co-production with Theater Osnabrück where the production debuted in 2022. Directed by Philipp Kochheim and conducted by Andreas Holz, The Greek Passion features Rhys Jenkins, James Edgar Knight, Michael Ha, Amira Elmadfa, Stephanie Hershaw, Norbert Schmittberg, Mikolaj Bonkowski and Sten Byriel.

The work has a somewhat complex history. Written for Covent Garden in 1957, to Martinů's own English libretto (based on Jonathan Griffin's translation of the novel Christ Recrucified by Nikos Kazantzakis), the opera was rejected by Covent Garden, Zurich Opera and Universal Edition, Martinů radically revised the work and it was premiered in Zurich in 1961. The two versions are very different and the 1957 original was regarded as too radical, it has however been reconstructed and performed. Jutland Opera will be performing the work in the composer's 1961 revision, in English.

Looking ahead, the company has two more operas in the 2024/25 season. This Autumn they are performing Puccini's Madama Butterfly, conducted by Christopher Lichtenstein and directed by Ulrich Peters with Chunxi Stella Hu and Victoria Kaminskaite sharing the title role. 

Perhaps even more interesting, the final production of the season is Fete Galante, the only opera by Danish composer, Poul Schierbeck (1888-1949), which premiered in 1931. A pupil of Carl Nielsen, Schierbeck was known as a teacher in the Conservatory at Copenhagen, and the overture to Fete Galante retained a place in the orchestral repertoire, but his opera remains a relative rarity.

Details from Den Jyske Opera's website.

Sunbirds, demons and hairy giants: Huang Ruo's The Book of Mountains and Seas premieres at the Royal Danish Opera

The Chinese-born American-resident composer Huang Ruo is an intriguing figure, mixing both Chinese traditional and Western classical music. Born in 1976, the year the Chinese Cultural Revolution ended, he was taught composition and piano by his father, also a composer, and his training at Shanghai Conservatory of Music involved both traditional Chinese and Western music. His education continued in the USA at Oberlin Conservatory and the Juilliard School. His opera Dr Sun Yat-Sen premiered at Opera Hong Kong in 2011 with a Chinese orchestra, whilst the version for Western classical orchestra with three Chinese instrumental musicians had its premiere at the Santa Fe Festival in 2014, and his 2015 opera Paradise Interrupted premiered at Spoleto Festival USA and then toured Asia and Europe.

Huang Ruo's latest opera The Book of Mountains and Seas premieres at Royal Danish Opera in Copenhagen on 3 November 2021. The opera is an adaptation of the 2,400 year-old ancient Chinese creation myth-book of the same name and uses large-scale puppetry by Basil Twist. The performances are conducted by Paul Hillier with Ars Nova Copenhagen, and together, singers and puppeteers evoke a mythological world of sunbirds, demons and hairy giants.

The work is a co-commission by Beth Morrison Projects, Ars Nova (Copenhagen), Moss Arts Center/ Virginia Tech, Toronto Soundstreams, Koorbiennale, Hong Kong New Vision Festival, and Linda & Stuart Nelson, and will have its American premiere in January 2022 as part of the tenth annual PROTOTYPE Festival in New York.

Full details from the Royal Danish Opera website.

The inaugural Schackenborg Music Festival represents a bold endeavour from the Danish Clarinet Trio

Schakenborg Castle, Denmark

The present circumstances do not seem propitious to organising a new music festival, but that is just what the Danish Clarinet Trio is doing. Taking place from 13 to 15 August 2021, the inaugural Schackenborg Music Festival (Tommaso Lonquich, clarinet, Jonathan Slaatto, cello, Martin Qvist Hansen, piano) is a bold endeavour aiming to bring music to one of Denmark’s most beautiful locations in a somewhat forgotten and lesser known corner of the country, Southern Jutland. The festival takes place at Schackenborg Castle, a 17th century manor house which became a Royal residence in the 1990s (home to Queen Margarethe's second son, Prince Joachim) and which is now owned by a foundation.

Situated between Germany and Denmark, the area has a complex history as it was the subject of a long-running dispute between Germany and Denmark. The region has over time shifted between being situated in Germany and Denmark, and reflecting that local history is one of three themes of the festival, with a focus on Danish and German performers. A second theme is in supporting emerging talent in those countries through a programme of masterclasses, artistic exchanges and musical collaborations, while the third theme of the festival is the aim to raise the profile of a relatively unknown corner of Denmark, with the aim in future editions of attracting international visitors to the festival and region.

This year's festival is presenting three concerts, all taking place in a recently restored barn on the castle's estate dating from the 1870s. But future editions of the festival are already being planned, with artists including cellist Nicolas Altstaedt and pianist Alexander Lonquich already confirmed for 2022. 

This year sees violinist Christian Tezlaff performing with the Danish Clarinet Trio in a programme of Bach, Brahms, Bartok, Nielsen, and Per Nørgaard, and Tezlaff will also be giving a solo recital playing from Bach's Sonatas and Partitas for unaccompanied violin. The Rising Stars concert features Michael Germer (violin), Jonathan Swensen (cello), and Gustav Piekut (piano) in Debussy's Violin Sonata, Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 31, the world premiere of Bent Sørensen's Farewell Fantasy for solo cello and Shostakovich's Piano Trio No 2.

The festival looks all set to be one to keep your eye one, and a lovely excuse to visit a lesser known part of Denmark.

Full details from the festival website.