Christophorus oder Die Vision einer Oper

Roles

Synopsis

Prologue

Anselm, a young composition student, is set an assignment by his teacher Meister Johann to write a string quartet after the legend of St. Christopher. Deciding that the subject calls for dramatic treatment, Anselm instead resolves to write an opera in which he himself, his composer friend Christoph and wife Lisa (with whom Anselm is in love) are all to play parts.

Act 1

It is a year later and Anselm is hard at work on the opera. Christoph has decided to renounce composition in favour of marriage and family. After the birth of a child, Lisa is feeling unfulfilled and tormented by the loss of her looks and figure. She is increasingly attracted to Anselm, who has composed a scene for her in which she appears as a dancer representing sin and seduction. Anselm and Lisa grow increasingly aroused. Discovering them in flagrante, Christoph shoots and kills Lisa. Christoph flees with Anselm.

Act 2

Anselm and Christoph, now on the run, find themselves in a seedy night-club where they are entertained by a cabaret singer, Rosita. In a séance held by the Abbé Caldani, Christoph, high on opium, attempts to make contact with his dead wife. The scene grows increasingly intense and chaotic. Anselm realises that he is losing control of his own work.

Epilogue

Dream and reality have become hopelessly blurred. Anselm, terrified by what he has created, is unable to complete the opera and calls for his teacher for help. Meister Johann leads him back to the idea of music at its simplest and most direct. Anselm duly begins to write the string quartet.

Instrumentation

Onstage:

Recordings

Christophorus: Georg Ahrens, Susanne Bernhard, Jörg Sabrowski, Robert Chafin, Matthias Klein, Bernd Gebhardt, Hans-Jürgen Schöpflin, Simon Pauly, Jennifer Arnold, Kieler Opernchor,

References