Dienstag aus Licht


Dienstag aus Licht is an opera by Karlheinz Stockhausen in a greeting and two acts, with a farewell, and was the fourth of seven to be completed for the opera cycle Licht: die sieben Tage der Woche. It was begun in 1977 and completed from 1988 to 1991, to a libretto by the composer.

History

Dienstag is an opera for 17 solo performers, actors, mimes, choir, orchestra, and electronic music. Tuesday is the red day of conflict between Michael and Lucifer.
As was the case for most of the operas in the Licht cycle, component sections of Dienstag were commissioned and composed separately, and given seriatim premieres. The first component of this opera was in fact the first part of the entire Licht cycle to be composed: Jahreslauf, which became the first act of Dienstag, was originally written in 1977 as an independent piece for gagaku ensemble. Stockhausen finished it in Kyoto in the fall of 1977, and it was premiered by the Imperial Gagaku Ensemble at the Tokyo National Theatre on 31 October. This version is dedicated to Jaynee Stephens. A concert version for European instruments, with the slightly different title Der Jahreslauf, was performed in the Large Broadcasting Hall of the WDR, Cologne, on 10 February 1979. The day before the premiere, a studio recording was made for commercial release, and the same musicians participated in five staged performances of this act produced by the Paris Opera at the Opéra-Comique from 20 to 24 November 1979. It was while working on this piece in Japan that the idea occurred to him of composing a seven-part cycle of operas, all based on a single, multi-layered musical formula. In the spring of 1991 Stockhausen added a narrative frame for Michael and Lucifer.
The Dienstags-Gruß was commissioned by the University of Cologne for the celebration of the 600th anniversary of its founding in 1388. It was premiered under the title Willkommen mit Friedensgruß on 4 November 1988 in the Kölner Philharmonie, as part of the ceremony marking the anniversary. The performers were Annette Meriweather, the Collegium Musicum Vocale of the University of Cologne, and an ensemble of nine trumpets and nine trombones, with Michael Obst and Simon Stockhausen. Dieter Gutknecht, music director of the university, conducted. Willkommen opened the ceremony, followed by the rector's greeting, speeches by the mayor of Cologne, the governor of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, and the president of Germany, and the conferring of honors by the rector. The Friedensgruß was then performed and, after a celebratory lecture, the final section was repeated as a "closing hymn".
The second act, Invasion, was originally commissioned for the Ensemble InterContemporain by Michel Guy, director of the Festival d'Automne, on the occasion of the bicentenary of the French Revolution in 1989. However, the administration of the ensemble declined to perform it after being informed of the requirements. Consequently, the score was not worked out until 1990. The solo synthesizer part together with the electronic music for the closing five scenes of this act constitute Stockhausen's Klavierstück XV. The score is dedicated to the composer's son, Simon Stockhausen, who gave the premiere performance at the Museum Ludwig in Cologne on 5 October 1992.
Dienstag as a whole was originally commissioned by the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, but on 7 May 1991 the new Sovrintendente of La Scala, Carlo Fontana, wrote Stockhausen to say cuts to government support of La Scala had forced cancellation of the premiere there in 1992 as planned, and subsequent correspondence led to the release of rights for the premiere. Dienstag was given its staged premiere on 28 May 1993 by the Leipzig Opera. Subsequent performances were on 29 and 30 May. The stage realisation was by Uwe Wand, Henryk Tomaszewski, and Johannes Conen. Karlheinz Stockhausen was the music director and sound projectionist. The actor-mimes were members of the Tomaszewski Pantomime Theater, Wrocław.

Roles

RolePerformerPremiere Cast
EvesopranoAnnette Meriweather
MichaeltenorJulian Pike
LuciferbassNicholas Isherwood
Michaeltrumpets and flugelhornMarkus Stockhausen,
Andreas Adam,
Achim Gorsch
LucifertrombonesMichael Svoboda,
Timo Bäuerle,
Iven Hausmann
Synthi-FousynthesizersSimon Stockhausen
synthesizerMassimiliano Viel
percussionAndreas Boettger, Renee Jonker
Millenium RunnerdancerTadeusz Dylawerski
Century RunnerdancerJerzy Reterski
Decade RunnerdancerMarek Oleksy
Year runnerdancerArtur Borkowski
Little GirlactorKatja Mittag / Manuela Fritz
Three ApplaudersactorsZbigniew Szymczyk,
Krzysztof Antkowiak,
Maciej Prusak
CookactorAleksander Sobiszewski
Three WaitersactorsZdzisław Zaleziński,
Krzysztof Antkowiak,
Artur Grochowiecki
LionactorMaciej Prusak
Car Driver actorAleksander Sobiszewski
Beautiful WomanactorAnja Hanisch
Four Thunderstorm AcrobatsactorsKrzysztof Antkowiak, Artur Grochowiecki,
Maciej Prusak, Aleksander Sobiszewski
Michael and Lucifer Choirs /
Those from the Beyond		choirChor der Musikalischen Komödie,
Extrachor der Musikalischen Komödie,
Leipziger Vocal-Ensemble

Synopsis

Dienstags-Gruß

A "Welcome" fanfare from a choir of trumpets and trombones with synthesizers is followed by a "Peace Greeting", in which a Michael choir of sopranos and tenors opposes a Lucifer choir of altos and basses from opposite sides of the hall in a musical dispute. A soprano intervenes four times in an attempt to mediate—first appearing at the right side of the audience, then at the back, and a third time at the left, before finally walking out on to the stage in front where she remains, singing to both groups until the end, when both parties agree, "We want peace, freedom", but with a remaining difference, "in/without God!".

Act 1: Der Jahreslauf

The first act, The Course of the Years, is performed as a ballet, accompanied by a tenor, bass, actor-singers, modern orchestra, tape and sound projectionist. Lucifer challenges Michael to a contest, a race of the years. He, Lucifer, will attempt to stop the flow of time, and Michael shall try to set it going again. Four dancers personify the years, the decades, the centuries, and the millennia, while four groups of musicians play music in four corresponding temporal layers. Lucifer stops the race four times with temptations, and each time Michael finds incitements to get it going again.

First Temptation

A ship's bell and marching steps of three entering characters are followed by an announcement by men's voices offering flowers to the runners, who stop.

First Incitement

Children run in, clapping their hands, and a girl's voice urges the audience to applaud the runners, who resume.

Second Temptation

"A cook with exquisite spices"

Second Incitement

A lion roars, and the runners quickly return to their rounds.

Third Temptation

An automobile drives onstage, tooting four bulb-horns. The runners stop to watch.

Third Incitement

A girl runs in to announce a cash prize for the winner of the race, which spurs the runners on. The car rushes off.

Fourth Temptation

A slow, sultry blues in night-club style is followed by a man's voice, announcing the entrance of a female figure: "ho ho ho ho: stark naked!"

Fourth Incitement

A ferocious thunderstorm breaks the spell and the runners continue.
With irony, Lucifer congratulates Michael on winning the contest, but darkly warns: "MIKA, brace yourself for a much tougher fight!".

Act 2: Invasion-Explosion mit Abschied

Eight-channel electronic music is projected from the corners of a cube surrounding the audience throughout Act 2. The act is divided into three large sections, together containing eleven scenes, though they run continuously without a break :

Invasion

The stage is filled with a rocky precipice, covered with vines, moss, shrubs, and bushes. At the front there is a raised, rocky ledge, which slopes down to the ground at the left and right. Night is falling, and the sky is overcast.