John Cage: Europeras 1 & 2

Europeras is SOLD OUT at the moment. More John Cage:
Lecture on nothing. Robert Wilson reads John Cage.

Ruhrtriennale takes the opportunity provided by the open architecture of the Jahrhunderthalle Bochum and the occasion of the hundredth anniversary of the composer's birth to present John Cage's Europeras 1&2. The large-scale and radical work of music theater, one of the most spectacular operas of the twentieth century, will be staged by Heiner Goebbels and his team. Since the work's 1987 premiere in Frankfurt, directed by the composer himself, Europeras 1&2 has never - with one exception - otherwise been performed. John Cage's statement of intent - to send us back our operas - promises an exciting texture of arias, stage sets, costumes, figures, and gestures from the store of European opera history. In so doing, most compositional staging decisions were left to the I Qing, the Chinese oracle also known as the Book of Changes. Europeras 1&2 could thus also be called an ›opera of changes‹ created by ten outstanding European singers - and supported by around 30 instrumentalists and 60 ›assistants‹ - as a constantly changing acoustic and visual landscape. The result is a ›garden of images‹ (Cage) over which the fog, sun, snow, and wind pass by, and where the changing lighting opens ever new perspectives. Using exclusively old sounds, music emerges that has never been heard before. Europeras1&2 is the negation of opera - but for opera lovers. Cage frees the audience from the burden of opera history. The spectator can allow his or her own perceptions to take the lead, in so doing creating unique and new associations. In the title Europeras1&2, both can be heard: ›your operas‹ and ›Europe's operas‹. The European aspect is particularly present in the casting of the singers, the choice of musical material and the languages and cultural spaces that can be heard in it.

As composer for ensemble- und orchestra works and as director of radiopieces, staged concerts and music theatre Heiner Goebbels is one of the most important exponents of the contemporary music and theatre scene. He teaches as professor at the Institute for Applied Theatre Studies at Justus Liebig-University Gießen and is president of the Hessian Theatre Academy.