A small bang. The Olomouc Red Church presents an operatic novelty by three composers

by times news cr

2024-09-19 16:23:31

The directors Matyáš Dlab and Lukáš Jiřička have prepared a new opera and audiovisual performance called Malý třesk, tailored for Olomouc’s Red Church. He wants to offer different perspectives on the phenomenon of time. Sunday’s premiere and Monday’s rerun are already sold out, said representatives of the Moravian Theater in Olomouc, which covers the project.

Petr Šumník, chief conductor of the Olomouc opera and operetta, undertook the musical staging. In addition to the soloists, the choir and 11 players of the Moravian Theater orchestra perform in the novel.

Malý tresk is about “the creation of space and time, about the speed and expansion of not only the universe itself, but also about changes in the human understanding of time, birth and extinction”, according to the creators Matyáš Dlab and Lukáš Jiřička. They define the work as an opera, a stage concert and an audiovisual performance. They invited artists Mikoláš Zika and Jan Brejcha, lighting designer Jonáš Garaj and visual artist Šimon Levitner, who created a series of videos, to collaborate.

Malý presk was created in connection with the Year of Czech Music. The name covers a cultural event commemorating significant anniversaries of musical personalities every ten years.

Composers Petr Kofroň, Marek Piaček and Michal Cáb composed the new piece directly for the opera of the Moravian Theater in Olomouc. “One of the greatest satisfactions an ensemble can experience is when a new work is created for it. This is quite common for a drama, but exceptional for an opera. The opera ensemble threw itself into the preparation of an experimental work including scientific texts and stimuli, together with the staged work, and thus he set out on unexplored journeys,” says head of the group Veronika Kos Loulová.

Each of the authors created their part independently, yet they will seamlessly follow each other. The first was created by music designer, composer and performer Michal Cáb. In shorter compositions, he focuses on active work with the acoustic properties of the Red Church. He also works with the sound of objects and instruments built for the needs of the production, as well as with musicians and singers.

The second part, called Purkyně – Duch jest, vylej poří provyvy, is the work of the Slovak composer and music director Marek Piaček. It reflects the literary legacy of the romantic scientist and breakthrough experimenter Jan Evangelista Purkyně, who lived from 1787 to 1869.

The third part was then created by the composer and conductor Petr Kofroň, who composed a piece called Je čas for a smaller orchestra and soloists.

According to the conductor Petr Šumník, all parts are compositionally completely different. In the instrumental one, it is not an orchestra, but a set of 11 players who will play strings, brass and drums. In the vocal section, the audience will hear ten soloists in Kofroň’s and Cáb’s parts, plus a choir in Marko Piaček’s work.

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