Opera Camps

Based on the Opera Capriccio by Richard Strauss

For young people from 13 to 16 years of age
Camp languages: German, English
Fees: € 515,- each (Siblings pay each € 495,-)

Public Performance:
Saturday, July 27, 4:00 PM
Universität Mozarteum - Max Schlereth Saal
Duration: approx. 50 minutes - Free admission - Distribution of free online-tickets starting on 6 July (no reservation possible)

‘A Conversation Piece for Music’ was the subtitle Richard Strauss gave to his final opera Capriccio, finished in 1941. A poet and a composer vie for the affections of the young, arts-loving Countess Madeleine, and soon get mired in a spat over two issues. Which is the greater art: poetry or musical composition? And what is more crucial in an opera: the words or the music? For Madeleine, settling on an answer proves just as challenging as choosing between her two suitors – and so in the end the decision is left to the audience. By playing in the orchestra, singing and acting on stage, the young participants will explore the libretto and music of Capriccio, seeking answers to the opera’s central question in their own performance.

Based on the Opera The Idiot by Mieczysław Weinberg

For young people from 15 to 17 years of age
Camp languages: German, English
Fees: € 515,- each (Siblings pay each € 495,-)

Public Performance:
Saturday, August 3, 4:00 PM
Universität Mozarteum - Max Schlereth Saal
Duration: approx. 50 minutes - Free admission - Distribution of free online-tickets starting on 6 July (no reservation possible)

Mieczysław Weinberg’s four-act opera The Idiot, based on the novel of the same name by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, was written in 1986–7 but only premiered in its entirety in 2013. Prince Myshkin is trusting, honest and kind in his dealings with people, which provokes considerable confusion in a corrupt and deceitful society. Moreover, he is in love with two women and cannot decide between them. Despite not wanting to upset anybody, and even harbouring benevolent sentiments towards his rival Rogozhin, he is powerless to avert the impending tragedy. The young participants in the opera camp will become familiar with the Polish-Soviet composer’s richly textured music and engage with the opera’s contradictory and complex characters, developing their own take on the piece through involvement in the orchestra, chorus, stage design and production.

Based on the Opera Les Contes d’ Hoffmann by Jacques Offenbach

For young people from 9 to 12 years of age
Camp languages: German, English
Fees: € 515,- each (Siblings pay each € 495,-)

Public Performance:
Sunday, August 11, 4:00 PM
Universität Mozarteum - Max Schlereth Saal
Duration: approx. 50 minutes - Free admission - Distribution of free online-tickets starting on 6 July (no reservation possible)

In his ‘fantastical opera’, the composer Jacques Offenbach makes the writer E. T. A. Hoffmann his protagonist. The story begins with Hoffmann in a lovesick depression about the mercurial Stella, with whom he is infatuated. The poet’s heartache sets him off on a flight of imagination in which he envisions Stella in three tales, with a very different persona in each. When they embark on this strange and surreal adventure, the children in the opera camp will not only encounter the bewitching doll Olympia, the unhappy singer Antonia and the irresistible Giulietta, but also the mad physicist Spalanzani, the devious Dr Miracle and the diabolical Dapertutto, who is determined to steal Hoffmann’s soul. Through their playing and singing of Offenbach’s lively music, they will mount a spirited staging of this wildly kaleidoscopic opera.