Two EQ artists will be part of the world premiere of Benjamin by Peter Ruzicka at the Staatsoper Hamburg this Sunday, June 3rd.
Mezzo-soprano Marta Świderska sings the role of Dora K. and conductor Gabriella Teychenné is the souffleuse for the production (or maybe better to call her the coast guard!)
About Benjamin
Music by Peter Ruzicka; Libretto by Yona Kim
Walter Benjamin was a German philosopher and cultural scientist. A Jew and Marxist, his path through the 20th century was irregular and meandering. The figures in this opera accompanying Benjamin on his last wanderings through life designate areas of his influence. Hannah Arendt spoke of the “banality of evil”, Benjamin’s chess partner Bertolt Brecht polemicised against his “Jewish fascism”, the Kabala researcher Gershom Scholem urged his friend to come to Israel, and with the Latvian actress Asja Lacis, Benjamin fantasised about proletarian children’s theatre. To Benjamin, it was not world revolution, but “weak messianic power” that pointed the way to a just society. While escaping to the USA, Benjamin took his own life in the Spanish border town of Port-Bou in 1940.
Performance dates of Benjamin:
Sunday 03 June 2018, 6:00 pm
Wednesday 06 June 2018, 7:30 pm
Sunday 10 June 2018, 7:30 pm
Wednesday 13 June 2018, 7:30 pm
Saturday 16 June 2018, 7:30 pm