Boesman’s opera “Reigen” had its premiere at the Stuttgart Opera House

In search of the next kick In Arthur Schnitzler's "Reigen," things get pretty mixed up. The strumpet has sex with the count, the soldier with the parlor maid, the poet with the sweet girl - the erotic interplay goes right through the social classes, leaving out the act as such: Schnitzler only described the before and after, which after the play's premiere in 1920 was enough for one of the biggest theater scandals in history. Today, almost 100 years later, there are hardly any taboos left to be broken. Sex is ubiquitous, and not just in advertising: pornography is available without restriction through the Internet, and by means of dating sites like Tinder, people can arrange to have sex online. So "Reigen" has long since ceased to be an excitement, and that also applies to the opera version by composer Philippe Boesmans and librettist Luc Bondy. Unlike most works of contemporary music theater, the opera was performed several times after its premiere in Brussels in 1993, which is probably due to Boesmans' pleasing, virtuosic music. Nicola Hümpel has now restaged it at the Stuttgart Opera House. As co-founder of the Berlin ensemble Nico and the Navigators, the director has made a name for herself as an innovative theater woman in that she usually develops her productions improvisationally and in close collaboration with the actors. In Stuttgart, too, she worked together with Oliver Proske, who came up with an amazingly coherent concept for the stage design: in each of the ten scenes, walls and furniture penetrate (one could also say penetrate) each other to form new constellations - the round dance character is also reflected in the stage. And it shows what it looks like in the souls of the protagonists: cold and empty. Mostly tiles border the sparsely furnished room, sometimes a bed, sometimes a chair, sometimes a concrete whirlpool. It's hard to feel comfortable here, but that's not what these people are about. Whether soldier or gentleman, whore or singer: they are all lonely, depraved individuals who talk a lot but no longer communicate. They avoid encounters, instead they swipe on their smartphones in search of the next date, the next thrill. They can only lose their composure in solitude: the poet (Matthias Klink ) shows this in one of the strongest scenes, during internet sex with the cute girl (Kora Pavelic), where his facial features slip as he savors the pleasure. Otherwise, everyone is largely in control. But even if there are some tightly played and also some funny scenes - the basic thesis of the lack of relationships of modern man is not new. It all remains close to the (user) surface: this production does not penetrate to a sore point that could touch one in a lasting way, not to mention the explosive nature of Schnitzler's original. Thus the evening drags on, especially after the intermission, even if the music provides surprises again and again. Boesmans is a polystylist with a sense of humor who juggles with quotations and references and always composes close to the text. Sylvain Cambreling, who had already conducted the premiere, realizes this excellently with the State Orchestra, and the very homogeneous ensemble of singers is also rightly celebrated at the end. Nevertheless, a stale feeling remains: What would a director like Calixto Bieito have made of it? (Südkurier)

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