September 15th 2004 8pm, Köln Philharmonie in Cologne (sold out)

Romantische Oper in zwei Akten nach der Erzählung von Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Opera in two acts by Nikolaus Schapfl (booklet and music)


Orchestra, solists and chorists from Köln Music University
are conducted by Michael Luig


Kathrin Smith • Sopran (Der kleine Prinz)
Giovanni Araujo da Silva • Tenor (Pilot)
Kyu Cheoul Lee • Tenor (Fuchs)
Alexandra Bohnert • Mezzosopran (Blume)
Daniela Thomas • Alt (Schlange)
Uli Kordes • Tenor (Laternenanzünder)
Ogünc Kardelen • Bass (Säufer)
Cesare Kim • Bass (Geograph)
Moon-Soon Park • Bass (König)
Fabian Hemmelmann • Bariton (Eitler)
Julian Krüper • Bariton (Geschäftsmann)

Synopsis of the Opera:

- Opening -

First Act
Scene 1 - The pilot regains consciousness. He meets the Little Prince who asks him to draw a sheep.Scene 2 - The little Prince talks about the danger that baobabs represent on his planet.
Scene 3 - Sunset.
Scene 4 - The Pilot repairs his plane's engine, while the Little Prince asks him about flowers, spices and other things. Aria: "If someone loves a one in a million star…"
Scene 5 - The Rose.
Scene 6 - The king
Scene 7 - The vain man.
Scene 8 - The drunkard
Scene 9 - The Businessman
Scene 10 - The Lamplighter
Scene 11 - The Geographer - Followed by an orchestral scene: the Little Prince takes advantage of a bird migration to reach the earth.

- Intermission -

Act 2.
Scene 12 - The Snake
Scene 13 - The little Prince climbs a moutain and meets the echo.
Scene 14 - The roses and the fox
Scene 15 - The wale in the desert.
Scene 16 - Finale.

Exclusive interview with the composer:

My history with Antoine de Saint Exupéry's The Little Prince began when I was 6 years old: that's when I first read the Little Prince. And this still lasts.
The choir of the Little Prince Opera is full of sounds, meanings and melodies that words are not enough to express. His being, candid and frank, carries something of the music's essence. With him it is impossible to separate appearance from being, expression from impression, sound from emotion.
Characters depicted by Saint Exupery have no age and they all have the necessary qualities to think as dramatic art.
The first time I heard Gudrun Ebel - then a Soprano at the Nuremberg Opera - sing the first "Lieder of the Wandlung cycle" (Transformation) adapted from poems by Paul Celan, Else Lasker-Shueler and Jean de la Croix, I felt like composing an Opera for all age groups, and all families.
1990 was the year of the first arrangement of the libretto, the first melodies and musical sketches. In 1995, my meeting with August Everding - then a State Intendant at the Prinzregententheater of Munich, president of the Academy of Bavarian Theater and stage world renowned stage director - was the opportunity to present my opera project of The Little Prince. Everding enjoyed the melodies very much. Both he and I collaborated on the libretto and the stage version. We received support from the Bavarian Academy of Theater of Munich.
The first musical representation of the opera was given in Salzburg in 1998, in the presence of the Saint Exupery heirs, Sir Frederic d'Agay and Sir the Baron de Fonscolombe, as well as a spokesperson to Gallimard Publishers. I then obtained an agreement of principle on the project.
In 1998, the libretto was completed. Later came the musical elaboration of the snake, fox, businessman, lamplighter, and geographer characters. Each one getting a very specific tone.
In 2001 the orchestral score was completed followed by a series of concerts, in Agay, at the Munich Prinzregententheater and in Salzburg's Bluehnbach Castle. This orchestral suite has been played by six different orchestras in four different countries. The orchestra is constituted of double wind instruments, three horns, three trombones, two percussionists, (with a special instrument: a strengthen rattle snake), a harp, a celesta, a marimba, a string orchestra and the stars choir (the echo: double choir) and the roses (four sopranos and four altos ensemble) Le Petit Prince : soprano

Nikolaus Schapfl - A few biographical references:

Born in Munich in 1963, he grew up in Nuremberg and worked part time in a silent-film theater and with a jazz trio. He wrote his first composition at the age of 14. He graduated from the Musical and Drama Salzburg University in 1996, and was honored with the Mozarteum award. In 1997 he got the Bonn Deutscher Musikrat grant and travels to Shangai. The Little Prince opera is played in may by the Shangai Symphonic Orchestra and by the Brasov Philharmonic, then by the Opolska philharmonic and by the young Salzburg philharmonic orchestra. In November 1998, he worked with August Everding on the production of the opera, but Everding died suddenly, leaving the project in waiting.
Nikolaus Schapfl has composed many pieces and CDs for Austrian, Belgian, and Polish radios. He is often commissioned to write for ensembles or chamber orchestras. On January 9, 2002, a mass for choirs, soloists and organ was celebrated at the Stephansdom in Vienna. The Rome University invited the composer to talk about "artistic creation”.

Discography:

• Wandlung, 1995 (ORF, BR), (Lieder)
• « Songs without words » for violin and piano, NY-Philharmonic – Vladimir Tsypin
• Orchestra Suite "The Little Prince“
• String Quartett – Linos Musikverlag – Duisburg
• « Elektronic Spring », Elektroacustic Society, Austria, a.o.

Praise:

"Nikolaus Schapfl's score arouses and creates waves of emotions."
4.11.02, Süddeutsche Zeitung

"The score is very melodious, eclectic with wonderfull melodies, sumptuous duets and colored effects."
Regine Koch, Académie de théâtre bavaroise au Prinzregententheater, Munich, 2000

Nikolaus Schapfl's score is filled with talent, technically precise, but remains accessible to the contemporary audience. Full of sumptuous melodies, his work leans on a thrilling orchestration, high in colors, served by upbeat rhythms."
Dr. James Stuart, Ohio Light Opera, USA

"(…) Both very exciting scoring and instrumentation, an eminent piano part."
Prof. August Everding, Intendant d´État bavarois



Salzburg 2003
Junge Philharmonie Salzburg conducted by Elisabeth Fuchs
Opera's World Premiere.
Thursday, July 24th 2003, 8pm
Grober Saal Mozarteum Salzburg
(Semi-staged representation)

Orchestra:
2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets
2 bassoons, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones
2 percussionists, 3 kettledrums, harp, celesta, marimba
string orchestra

Soloists present to the Salzburg premiere:
The Little Prince: Alexandre Zamojska (soprano)
Dresden Opera, Avignon festival 2003
Ruhrtriennale (conducted by Gerard Mortier)
The rose / the snake: Monika Waeckerle (mezzo-soprano)
Salzburg, Bad Ischl festival
The pilot / The Lamplighter: Bernhard Bertchold (tenor)
Salzburg, Bad Ischl festival
The King / the geographer / the drunkard: Christoph Stephinger (bass)
Munich Opera, Prinzregententheater, Gärtnerplatztheater Munich
The Fox: Johann Windser (tenor)
Opera productions, Munich
The vain man / the businessman: Einar Gudmundson (baritone)
Reykjavik, Salzburg
The stars / the echo / the roses: Mixt choir composed by singers from the Salzburg Theater Choir.

The september 15th concert is sold out!
you can book your place for the november 16th 2004 at the Beethovenhalle Bonn
(Bonn)
and the january 25th 2005
at the Forum Leverkusen,
(near Cologne).

www.koelnticket.de

Kölner Philharmonie
Bischofsgartenstr. 1
50667 Köln - GERMANY
Telefon: 0221 204080
Fax: 0221 20408222

Nikolaus Schapfl

"Words ring, sounds speak. We will find our path to the melody. It is the carrier of the choir."

August Everding

listen extract music in a click



Nikolaus Schapfl
The Little Prince: soprano
The fox : tenor
The pilot : tenor
The rose : mezzo-soprano
The King : bass baritone
The Vain man : baritone
The Lamplighter : high baritone
The Drunkard : baritone
The businessman : baritone
The geographer : bass
The snake : alto

score extract