On 22 November, the Fondazione Teatro Due de Parma hosted 'Erwartung', an opera produced by the Teatro Arriaga Antzokia, thanks to ETC's Performance Exchange Grant.
Teatro Arriaga takes one of its productions to the international stage; this time to Italy, specifically to the city of Parma.
The Fondazione Teatro Due in Parma hosted a performance of "Erwartung" on 22 November. This opera was produced and premiered by the Teatro Arriaga in June 2021 and staged again in April 2022.
In this production directed by Calixto Bieito, the outstanding Lithuanian soprano Ausrine Stundyte performs Arnold Schönberg's enigmatic opera, accompanied on the piano by maestro Andrej Hovrin.
Thus, the Teatro Arriaga achieves one of the goals of building collaborations with other theatres across the continent to showcase its productions when joining the European Theatre Convention (ETC) in November 2022.
About Erwartung
'Erwartung' (in English, 'Expectation') is a one-act opera with music by Arnold Schönberg and a German libretto by Marie Pappenheim. Written in 1909, it premiered on June 6, 1924, in Prague. It is a unique composition that demands superlative quality in both vocal and musical execution.
"This involves representing everything that occurs during a single second of maximum spiritual
excitement in slow motion, stretching it out until it reaches half an hour."
This was Arnold Schönberg's description of his opera "Erwartung." In this work, Schönberg was already moving towards a twelve-tone composition, showcasing an atonal and dissonant creation, yet filled with expressionistic textures and extraordinary strength. Throughout history, many authors have tried to define the music of 'Erwartung,' to portray this work by Schönberg that narrates, or perhaps describes, the nocturnal journey of a woman searching for her lover in a forest in the dead of night.
Phantasmagorical figures intertwine in the shadows, the cloak of night falls over the uncertainty of the protagonist desperately seeking her lover while the shadow of misfortune looms over her.
Staged imaginatively by Bieito, Ausrine Stundyte's brilliant performance brings the full intensity of this work to the audience.
Photos: © E. Moreno Esquibel - Teatro Arriaga
