The lush string writing in Schoenberg ́s beautiful Verklärte Nacht voices his early years as an intense romanticist. Inspired by a poem by German expressionist Richard Dehmel in which a woman confesses to her lover that she bears the child of another man, the music ultimately is radiant and joyous.

Erwartung comes from Schoenberg ́s later years - it explores, in thirty minutes, a flash of intense emotion. A monodrama for solo soprano and orchestra, the music illustrates the woman's volcanic emotions as she discovers her dead lover in a wood at night. Netia Jones, whose BNO/FiB production of Marco Polo riveted its audience will again use highly evocative film with real-time video to present these extraordinary stories.

Introduction 45 minutes before the performance in the foyer.

Presented by Bergen National Opera and Bergen International Festival in cooperation with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra.

A production by Bergen National Opera.

Arnold Schönberg / Music Marie Pappenheim / Libretto

Contributing actors

Mezzo-sopran:
Allison Cook

Director:
Netia Jones

Conductor:
Baldur Bronnimann