Repertoire

David Lang: Prisoner of the State (2019) 70′ – National premiere. Co-commissioned with the New York Philharmonic, the De Doelen Concert Hall, the Barbican Centre, the Bochum Symphony Orchestra, the Concertgebouw Brugge and Malmö Opera.

Artists

Barcelona Symphony Orchestra (OBC)
Ludovic Morlot, conductor

Men’s choir of the the Youth Choir of the Orfeó Català and of the Chamber Choir of the Palau de la Música Catalana

Claron McFadden: The Wizard
Davone Tines: The Jailer
Alan Oke: The Governor
Jarrett Ott: The Prisoner
Orfeo Català: Choir of prisoners and guards

Elkhanah Pulitzer: Stage director
Diana Wyenn: Associate director
Miguel Alejandro Castillo: Assistant director, movement and choreography
Matt Saunders: Set Design
Adam Larsen: Projections
Thom Weaver: Light Design, Technical Director
Yannick Godts: Associate Light Design
Maline Caste: Costume
Noelle Quanci: Wardrobe Assistant

Unusual Suspects (NL): Executive Producers

We thank Simon Mordant AO, Catriona Mordant AM and an anonymous donor for their generous support in making this production possible.

Program

All works of art must be regarded in terms of their historical context, since this background framework offers important clues that were not apparent or could not be foreseen at the time of their creation. This was the experience of composer David Lang when he attended a performance of Fidelio, the only opera by L. V. Beethoven. In Prisoner of the State, Lang actively appropriates Fidelio, transposing it to his own post-revolutionary context in a new opera for concert halls where the orchestra becomes part of the staging. Taking certain gaps in Beethoven’s several times rewritten opera as his starting point, Lang’s libretto highlights its most dramatic aspects, together with the concepts of love and freedom and the fate of the political prisoners, who are moved into the spotlight. It is reinforced by allusions to philosophers like Rousseau or Bentham, relinquishing the romantic plot and directing the opera at contemporary spectators. It is a work that has been defined as a fascinating contemporary singspiel, with a positive reception on both sides of the Atlantic in a rare consensus with regard to new compositions. An exercise in musical hermeneutics, it unites three outlooks: Beethoven’s, Lang’s and that of the audience attending its national premiere in 2023.

Co-produced with: