TheMunich Biennale (German:Münchener Biennale) is a contemporaryopera andmusic theatre festival in the city ofMunich. The full German name isInternationales Festival für neues Musiktheater, literally: International Festival for New Music Theater. The biennial festival was created in 1988 byHans Werner Henze and is held in even-numbered years over 2–3 weeks in the late spring. The festival concentrates on world premieres of theater-relatedcontemporary music, with a particular focus on commissioning first operas from young composers.[1][2]
Henze, himself a prolific composer of operas, described the genesis of the festival like this:
The whole story started with a query from the departmental head of the (Munich) cultural office ... whether I ... would be interested in considering creating some sort of civic music festival in Munich. After a period of time I suggested organizing something that had been lacking up until that point, something that also did not exist anywhere else in the world and yet was an urgent necessity – namely, a place where the young generation of composers interested in theatre ... could realize their ideas.[3]
Henze curated the first four festivals, from 1988 to 1994, and established the general format of most of the festivals that followed.[4] Short runs of the premiered operas are preceded by talks and additional concerts from the featured composers, to introduce the audiences to their ideas and music.[5] See alsoKlangspuren.
Peter Ruzicka took over as artistic director ("one of the most influential administrative/ artistic positions in the European music-theatre scene")[6] in 1996, with that year's biennale being jointly curated by Henze. Ruzicka broadened the scope of the works presented, with more emphasis on works using multimedia, and moving away from the text-based sources that characterised the period curated by Henze.[7]
The composersManos Tsangaris andDaniel Ott took over as joint artistic directors of the Biennale, starting in 2016.[8] Their approach to curation further expanded the festival's remit beyond opera, to reflect an 'expanded composition term' and the 'open field' ofnew music theatre which spans '[f]rom new opera to scenic installation, from minimalized artistic interventions in municipal spaces to composed performance'.[9]
Katrin Beck and Manuela Kerer took over as joint artistic directors of the Biennale, starting in 2026.[10]
World premieres are marked as WP
| Premiere | Composer | Title | Libretto and source | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 May 1988 | WP | Detlev Glanert | Leyla und Medjnun | Aras Ören andPeter Schneider, afterthe epic poem byNizami |
| 3 Jun 1988 | WP | Gerd Kühr | Stallerhof | Franz Xaver Kroetz, afterhis own play |
| 4 Jun 1988 | WP | Adriana Hölszky | Bremer Freiheit | Thomas Körner (librettist) [de], after the play byRainer Werner Fassbinder |
| 17 Jun 1988 | WP | Mark-Anthony Turnage | Greek | the composer andJonathan Moore, afterthe play bySteven Berkoff |
| 26 Apr 1990 | WP | András Hamary | Seid still | José Vera Morales, after the playTóték byIstván Örkény |
| 28 Apr 1990 | WP | Wolfgang von Schweinitz | Patmos | D. E. Sattler [de], after theApocalypse of St John inMartin Luther's translation |
| 6 May 1990 | WP | Hans-Jürgen von Bose | 63: Dream Palace | the composer, after the novella byJames Purdy |
| 14 May 1990 | WP | Michèle Reverdy | Le Précepteur | Hans-Ulrich Treichel, after the playDer Hofmeister byJakob Michael Reinhold Lenz |
| 7 May 1992 | [11] | Violeta Dinescu | Eréndira | Monika Rothmaier, after the storyThe Incredible and Sad Tale of Innocent Eréndira and Her Heartless Grandmother byGabriel García Márquez |
| 29 Apr 1992 | WP | Jorge Liderman | Antigona Furiosa | the composer, after the drama byGriselda Gambaro |
| 27 May 1992 | [12] | Giorgio Battistelli | Teorema | the composer, loosely afterthe film byPier Paolo Pasolini |
| 16 May 1992 | WP | Gerhard Stäbler | Sünde.Fall.Beil | Andreas Lechner [de], after the dramaCatherine Howard byAlexandre Dumas père |
| 22 May 1992 | [13] | Param Vir | Broken Strings | David Rudkin, after the Buddhist storyGuttil Jatak |
| 22 May 1992 | [13] | Param Vir | Snatched by the Gods | William Radice, after the poemDebatar Gras byRabindranath Tagore |
| 1 May 1994 | WP | Tania León | Scourge of Hyacinths | the composer, after the radio play byWole Soyinka |
| 19 May 1994 | WP | Benedict Mason | Playing Away | Howard Brenton |
| 4 Dec 1996 | WP | Michael Obst | Solaris | the composer, afterthe novel byStanislaw Lem |
| 9 Dec 1996 | WP | Hanna Kulenty | The Mother of Black-Winged Dreams | Paul Goodwin |
| 14 Apr 1997 | WP | Roderick Watkins | The Juniper Tree | Patricia Debney, after the folk tale by theBrothers Grimm |
| 19 Apr 1998 | WP | Toshio Hosokawa | Vision of Lear | Tadashi Suzuki, after his stage playThe Tale of Lear |
| 21 Apr 1998 | WP | Sandeep Bhagwati | Ramanujan | the composer, after the life of Indian mathematicianSrinivasa Ramanujan (1887–1920) |
| 25 Apr 1998 | WP | Jan Müller-Wieland | Komödie ohne Titel | the composer, after the dramaComedia sin título byFederico García Lorca |
| 19 Apr 1999 | WP | Mauricio Sotelo | De Amore | Peter Mussbach [de] |
| 10 May 2000 | WP | Chaya Czernowin | Pnima ... ins Innere | |
| 27 Apr 2002 | WP | André Werner | Marlowe: Der Jude von Malta | the composer, after the playThe Jew of Malta byChristopher Marlowe |
| 3 May 2002 | WP | Manfred Stahnke | Orpheus Kristall | Simone Homem de Mello |
| 12 May 2004 | WP | Johannes Maria Staud | Berenice | Durs Grünbein, afterEdgar Allan Poe |
| 25 May 2004 | WP | Brian Ferneyhough | Shadowtime | Charles Bernstein |
| 9 May 2006 | WP | Aureliano Cattaneo | La Philosophie dans le labyrinthe | Edoardo Sanguineti, after the Greek myth of the Minotaur |
| 18 May 2006 | WP | José María Sánchez-Verdú | GRAMMA | the composer |
| 17 Apr 2008 | WP | Enno Poppe | Arbeit Nahrung Wohnung | Marcel Beyer, loosely after the novelRobinson Crusoe byDaniel Defoe |
| 18 Apr 2008 | WP | Klaus Lang | Die Architektur des Regens | after the Noh playShiga byZeami (c1363–c1443) |
| 23 Apr 2008 | WP | Carola Bauckholt | hellhörig | (none) |
| 30 Apr 2008 | WP | Jens Joneleit | Piero – Ende der Nacht | Michael Herrschel, loosely after the novelDie Rote byAlfred Andersch |
| 27 Apr 2010 | WP | Philipp Maintz | Maldoror | Thomas Fiedler, afterLes Chants de Maldoror byComte de Lautréamont |
| 28 Apr 2010 | WP | Márton Illés | Die weiße Fürstin | after the first draft of the dramatic poem byRainer Maria Rilke |
| 5 May 2010 | WP | Klaus Schedl | Tilt[14] | Roland Quitt, after the diary of SirWalter Raleigh |
| 5 May 2010 | WP | Tato Taborda | Der Einsturz des Himmels[14] | Roland Quitt, after the bookLa Chute du Ciel byDavi Kopenawa andBruce Albert |
| 5 May 2010 | WP | Ludger Brummer (web) | In Erwartung[14] | Peter Weibel |
| 9 May 2010 | WP | Lin Wang | Die Quelle | the composer andCan Xue, after a story "the Double Life" by Can Xue |
| 3 May 2012 | WP | Sarah Nemtsov | L'Absence | the composer, afterLivre des Questions byEdmond Jabès |
| 5 May 2012 | WP | Eunyoung Esther Kim (web) | Mama Dolorosa | Yona Kim |
| 16 May 2012 | WP | Arnulf Herrmann | Wasser | Nico Bleutge (lyrics) |
| 7 May 2014 | WP[15] | Marko Nikodijević | Vivier | Gunther Geltinger [de], after the life and death ofClaude Vivier |
| 8 May 2014 | WP[15] | Samy Moussa (web) | Vastation | Toby Litt |
| 11 May 2014 | Claude Vivier | Kopernikus | opéra-rituel de mort, libretto by the composer | |
| 17 May 2014 | WP[15] | Dieter Schnebel | Utopien | |
| 22 May 2014 | WP[15] | Héctor Parra | Das geopferte Leben | Marie NDiaye |
The Munich Biennale has provided first or early commissions for stage works from many composers now established as opera composers, such asMark-Anthony Turnage,Detlev Glanert,Gerd Kühr,Hans-Jürgen von Bose,Param Vir,Toshio Hosokawa andVioleta Dinescu.
The strongly international scope of the festival has meant that it has been able to offer opportunities missing at a national level.[16]
Notes
Sources
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
