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The opera Sleepless is based on a book by Norwegian author Jon Fosse. It was adapted for the opera by Hungarian composer Peter Eötvös and director Kornél Mundruczó. The astounding Sleepless does not only offer an intriguing and rather unusual set design, the opera is also a thought-provoking modern take on the classical story of Maria and Joseph. In it, a heavily pregnant woman and her partner are refugees seeking shelter in an unwelcoming foreign land.
In his book, the Norwegian author Jon Fosse lets the couple resort to drastic means.
Successful Hungarian composer Peter Eötvös and Hungarian film and theater director Kornél Mundruczó have expanded this fascinating literary material into the gripping opera Sleepless.
For the unusual set design, Monika Pormale built a huge predatory fish on stage.
The scaly outer skin is the background for the coldness of street scenes, rejection, loneliness, dreamlike sequences.
The stage revolves and, in certain scenes, allows the audience a view of the rear as well.
In the bony interior of the fish belly there is space for the couple’s room and for bar encounters with the villagers.
For the world premiere of his opera in Berlin’s State Opera ‘Unter den Linden’, on November 28, 2021, Peter Eötvös was present and conducted the event in person.
The audience appreciated his personal appearance and reacted very favorably to Sleepless in general. The ensemble received thunderous applause with many shouts of bravo. So did the stage crew, the soloists, and the orchestra.
Alida (Victoria Randem) and Asle (Linard Vrielink) arrive in a small foreign town with their rowboat. In the cold, barren lands around the town, they find no place to stay. But Alida is about to give birth. In desperation, they kill and rob. As a result they find shelter, but their actions begin to lead to massive problems with the villagers…
Peter Eötvös is internationally celebrated and considered one of the formative composers of new music.
Eötvös’s music shows the influence of a variety of composers. As director of the Ensemble InterContemporain, he was exposed to a myriad of styles. This becomes apparent in the variety of timbres and soundworlds within his music.
Extended techniques such as over-pressure bowings coexist with lyrical folk songs and synthesized sounds.
Eötvös provides detailed instructions on how to mix instruments for electronic manipulation or amplification. His first large-scale compositions were for film.
This often reflects on his later pieces in moments of atmospheric airiness. Two of his compositions for orchestra and voice, Atlantis and Ima, were inspired by Sándor Weöres’s poem Néma Zene.
Peter Eötvös’s first major opera, Three Sisters after Chekhov, toured successfully around the world. In Germany, it was performed in several large cities.
The rather ominous sounding Sleepless is Eötvös’s thirteenth opera. For each of the scenes he uses a timbre made up of superimposed triads, creating a nightmarish world of tones.
When composing, Eötvös describes he feels, “As if I were sitting in the auditorium and looking at the stage, listening to the music. And I quickly write down what I see and what I hear.”
“What I do hear in those moments are timbre and mixture within myself. Like a painter who only has colors on his palette that he wants to use.”
Sleepless is the first opera production of Hungarian film and theater director Kornél Mundruczó.
In 2020, the director appeared at the Venice and Cannes film festivals with his latest films Pieces of a Woman and Evolution.
For the opera, he uses drastic images to visualize the questions the production asks of its audiences. Questions about the nature of guilt and our reactions to it.
The last performance of Sleepless in Berlin, for now, was yesterday, on December 16, 2021. The opera is bound to tour around the world, however. One of the next stops will be Geneva, in March and April 2022.
Sleepless Preview on YouTube
Official Website of Peter Eötvös
Kornél Mundruczó on the Internet Movie Database (IMDB)
Sleepless in Berlin’s State Opera
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Liam Klenk was born in Central Europe and has since lived on four continents. Liam has always been engaged in creative pursuits, ranging from photography and graphic design, to writing short stories and poetry, to working in theatre and shows. In 2016, Liam published his first book and memoir, 'Paralian'.
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