Zwerger - Amann - Kruse

GREAT OPEN EYES

COMPOSER

LIBRETTIST

DIRECTOR

SET DESIGNER

COSTUME DESIGNER

VIDEO DESIGNER

CREATIVE PRODUCER

Manuel Zwerger

Carolyn Amann

Carmen C. Kruse

Valentin Mattka

Ulf Brauner

Susanne Brendel

Leonora Scheib

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Finalist, FRINGE OPER.A 20.21 Competition

Conceived by Carmen C. Kruse & Manuel Zwerger.

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Commissioned and produced by

Civic Opera Creations and Theater Münster.

Funded by

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Developmental support by Schloss Unterloibl, KARBA Pack & Dr. Elke Piskernik.

type

chamber opera

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duration

75-minutes, including a 15-min

pre-show video installation

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space

black box or sight-specific space

Great Open Eyes is a new chamber opera by composer Manuel Zwerger, librettist Carolyn Amann and director Carmen C. Kruse that combines themes from Ibsen’s Little Eyolf with first-hand community accounts to explore the themes of grief and child loss. The audience follows the grief of Rita and Alfred, who lost their son Eyolf.

In an immersive, intimate world with a concentric stage designed for a black box or sight-specific space, three singers, one child, two conductors and 35 musicians offer its surrounding audience a unique scenic and acoustic experience that cuts right to the core of this human emotional journey.  

As a modular production Great Open Eyes is unique to each place, collaborating with local ensembles and featuring its own row of interviews that  are reflected in new composition elements, text, and a 15-minutes pre-show video installation.

CAST

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. Alfred, baritones

. Rita, soprano

. Rat-wife, mezzo-soprano

. Eyolf, child

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. 2 conductors

. 2 oboes

. 2 clarinets

. 2 contraforte*

. 2 trumpets*

. 2 horns*

. 2 trombones*

. 1 percussion (small instruments)*

. 22 solo strings (5-5-6-4-2)* **

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. Voices of the Rat-wife on tape

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*prepared instruments

** with scordatura