»All opera is Orpheus«, wrote Theodor W. Adorno in one of his music-sociological works. In opera music intervenes in different ways with the »blind hopeless nature of fate«. In the end though – and this is shown in the tale of Orpheus better than in hardly any other work – it is useless. Orpheus is about the irreversibility of events and this is shown in this new work by the Heidelberg born composer Arnulf Hermann and Munich born lyricist Nico Bleutge.
In Water the ancient tale serves as a mythological base for a story in which a man attempts to recreate something that has been lost forever. There comes a point when he realises it is impossible. He can’t let go of what happened in the past. In the end he gives himself to water, the element of cleansing. Water, said Arnulf Hermann, symbolizes that »everything surrounding the man is gradually submerged«. His search for himself appears to without definite purpose. He loses himself in the depths of recollection. In the myth Orpheus turns to look at Euridice and loses her forever, in Water the woman turns away from the man forever. She knows that it is over and that she can no longer accompany him. This moment is portrayed in shifting rhythms and spoken variations: »I told you, we shan’t see each other again« and »I told you: go away«. The male chorus confims this in a statement which is valid for both, the woman (high soprano) and the man (baritone): »away is away«

CONDUCTOR Hartmut Keil
DIRECTOR Florentine Klepper
STATGE DESIGNER Adriane Westerbarkey
COSTUME DESIGNER Anna Sofie Tuma
VIDEO Heta Multanen
LIGHT DESIGNER Frank Keller
DRAMATURGE Norbert Abels
LIVE ELECTRONIC/SOFTWARE Josh Martin

KATJA Sarah Maria Sun
ROBERT Boris Grappe
TENOR Sebastian Hübner
VOICE OF A CHILD Arthur Würzebesser

Ensemble Modern, Schola Heidelberg (Chorus Master: Walter Nußbaum)

PERFORMANCES AT FRANKFURT LAB
June 16th, 17th, 19th, 20st, 23rd & 24th, 2012

WORKSHOP TALK AT THE FRANKFURT LAB
Sunday, June 17th, 2012
right after the performance with Norbert Abels, Arnulf Herrmann, Nico Bleutge and Hartmut Keil

HAPPY NEW EARS CONCERT AT OPER FRANKFURT
Concert by Ensemble Modern - Portrait Arnulf Herrmann
Tuesday, 29th May 2012

WORLD PREMIERE AT THE MÜNCHENER BIENNALE
Mai 16th, 2012,  Muffathalle, Munich
Further performances in Munich: Mai 18th & 19th, 2012,

Composition commissioned by Ensemble Modern, funded by Ernst von Siemens Musikstiftung. Libretto commissioned by Ensemble Modern. Co-production: Munich Biennale, Opera Frankfurt and Ensemble Modern, in collaboration with Studio für Elektroakustische Musik der Akademie der Künste Berlin. Ensemble Modern thanks Aventis Foundation for their support.