Raoul

Michael Kunze is one of the most successful librettists of present times. He has written texts for musicals such as “Elisabeth”, “Rebecca”, or “Mozart” which have reached and moved more than 16 million people all over the world. Kunze started to rewrite international musicals for German audiences and with this he opened the German trade before the American – British modern musicals. These musicals, however, are different to typical American musicals, because he describes his libretti as “Musical-Drama” and hence creates complex works of art. Since the beginning of the 1990s, Kunze has written several of his own musicals. In 1990, together with his friend, Sylvester Levay, he produced Hexen and in 1992, Elisabeth, which ran for more than four years at the Theater an der Wien. “Raoul” is Kunze’s first opera-libretto. He cooperated with Roman Polanski and composer Jim Steinman and wrote his first libretto in English for the Tanz der Vampire; its German version was performed in the Raimund Theatre in Vienna in 1997. This was followed by Mozart! (music: Sylvester Levay, director: Harry Kupfer) where he showed the composer’s life. His next play, Rebecca, based on the famous novel of Daphne Du Maurier, was performed in Vienna in Raimund Theatre in 2006.

Gershon Kingsley’s biography is tied to the history of many other Jewish people in Europe. His parents fled Vienna in order to escape persecution by the Nazis when Gerhson Kingsley was nine years old. He became known in New York as a composer who mainly dealt with electronic music and the artistic possibilities of the Moog-Synthesizer. His most famous, yet not his most typical work, is the melody “Pop-corn” which everybody has heard (at least) once in their life. He was the musical director of the Robert Joffrey Ballet Company and has worked with Joséphine Baker. Kingsley has composed various scores, written music for TV movies and commercials, created song-cycles and opera compositions - and still counts as one of the most innovative musicians of our time. In the last two years, Kingsley and Michael Kunze have cooperated on the opera based on Raoul Wallenberg’s life, performed in New York in Goethe Institute, 2004.

Raoul

The opera is set towards the end of World War II, which Raoul Wallenberg spent in Budapest. In the beginning of the plot, which is based on true events, the young Swedish merchant witnesses a scene at a railway station in Germany that will change his life. When he learns of Eichmann’s mass murders, he decides to travel to Budapest and help the victims. Knowing the Germans’ attitude towards governmental papers, he gets Swedish papers for the Jews. Among the saved people there is a couple: Serge and Rachel. Their struggle for a life with dignity is an additional part of the plot. While Wallenberg fights Adolf Eichmann, and stops those who are marching into their death, some people believe that he was collaborating with the Nazis to make a profit for the Swedish banking dynasty, whose name he bears. Others, the Soviets for instance, think that he is an American spy. Raoul, the last minute before the Germans leave, find an unexpected ally, who helps him to stop the final mass murder.

Julia Haebler about Raoul:

"Raoul" is a piece of documentary theatre, focusing on the time Wallenberg spent in Budapest until his disappearance. The chorus is central to the opera providing nearly all the soloists who step forward from the group to pley their roles. While it may seem obvious that the chorus represents those rescued by Wallenberg, Michael Kunze and Gershon Kingsley wanted something different. They decided that the chorus should be victims of the holocaust, who act on stage without showing emotions such as hatred or revenge. I see this chorus wanting to encourage future generations to create more people like Raoul Wallenberg. I want to show that everybody, not only superheroes, has the potential to be like Wallenberg, who was, after all, "...just a man, a simple human being" struggling in the face of adversity. My aim was to find an interpretation avoiding any kind of movie-realism focusing only on the permanent transformation processes.

Raoul (baritone) – Marcin Habela (Poland)

The Polish opera singer studied in Paris and Marseilles, he won the first prize at the UFAM International Singer Competition. His main roles include Don Alfonso, Figaro, Sharpless, Ford, Demetrius, Earl Almaviva, Marcello and Onegin. He performed at the Théâtre du Châtelet and Salle Pleyel in Paris, in the National Opera House in Lyon, Marseilles, Frankfurt and in Wiesbaden among others.

Rahel (mezzo-soprano) – Violaine Kieffer (France)

The French singer graduated from the Sorbonne in Paris. She is a regular participant at several French national singing competitions, festivals and international tours. She finished second at the International Song Competition of Toulouse in 2007. She sang Rosina's role (Il barbiere di Siviglia).

Serge (tenor) – Beöthy-Kiss László (Hungary)

The Hungarian tenor graduated from the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music in singing. Currently, he is an affliated singer of the Hungarian State Opera. Main roles: David (The Mastersingers of Nürnberg), Podesta, Don Basilio, Monostatos, Arlechino. He was a finalist at the Lugoj International Tenor Competition.

Monika Gora (born. 1967) studied in the Mozarteum in Salzburg at the faculty of stage and costume design. In the period from 1993-95 she was a stage design assistant at the Grillo Theater in Essen, Germany. From 1995 she has been working freelance as a stage and costume designer. She has worked in the following cities: Lübeck, Essen, Krefeld, Oldenburg, Braunschweig, Mainz, Oberhausen, Wilhelmshaven, Konstanz und Gießen. Since 2007 she has been the set scene leader in the Theater Bremen. The production Raoul was her 125th work.

Ildikó Debreczeni has been working in her profession for 22 years. She has designed the costumes for the Experidance Company for 9 years. Her company’s offices are in Budapest and Szolnok. 25 people in her team are working for several Hungarian theatres, such as the Hungarian National Theatre, the Comedy Theatre of Budapest, the Madách Theatre and the Operetta Theatre. At the moment, she is the designer for the most popular talent-spotting competition in Hungary. The Opera Competition and Festival with Mezzo’s invitation gave her a professional breakthrough in 2007.

According to her three year contract, she will make all the costumes for the international production and because of this, new paths have opened for her in many countries around Europe. Italians, too, noticed her work and invited her to design costumes for one of their operas in their opera festival.

Márton Terts was born on September 12, 1979, in Budapest. In the period 1991-98 he took preparatory courses in piano at the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music. In 1989, he won first prize in a National Piano Competition of the Hungarian Public Music Schools in Nyíregyháza and in Cophin-Competition of Academy of Music. He was in the final round of the Czech Ustí nad Labem International Piano Competition and won a special award. From 1998, he studied piano in Vienna at the Music and Theatre University. Conductor appearances: 2001 - Mozart: The Marriage of Figaro in the Vienna Music Academy, Janácek: The Cunning Little Vixen in Schönbrunn Castle in March 2004, Leonard Bernstein: Trouble in Tahiti in April 2004. Since 2001 he has regularly appeared as conductor in the ”Music without borders” festival in Balassagyarmat (Kodály: Missa brevis). As piano attendant he played: in “Debüt in Meran” Singing Competition in South Tirol in 2002. In 2003 International Opera Festival Miskolc ( Éva Marton, chairwoman of the jury). Since 2003 he has taken part in the Klassik Mania International Singing Competition in Vienna and in Helena Łazarska singing master courses: Musikforum Viktring (Karintia, Austria) and in the Mozarteum-University “Sommerakademie“ in Salzburg.

Born in Berlin Julia Haebler studied opera directing at the Hochschule für Musik ’Hanns Eisler’ (Berlin) and attended master classes with Christine Mielitz, Peter Konwitschny and Ruth Berghaus. In 2000 she directed “Pollicino” by Hans-Werner Henze, a fairytale opera about leaving home and coming of age. She worked as an assistant director in Innsbruck (Austria), Wiesbaden and Bremen assisting Philipp Himmelmann, Barrie Kosky, Konstanze Lauterbach and Rosamund Gilmore, all outstanding and reknowned directors. Among the various projects she has directed, Julia Haebler’s credits include “Bastien und Bastienne” by W.A. Mozart (Brotfabrik Berlin), Ba-ta-clan by Jacques Offenbach (Tiroler Landestheater, Kammerspiele) and a children’s version of “The Magic Flute” (Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden). In 2005 she directed “Brundibar” by Hans Krása (Bremer Theater, Concordia) which subsequently was transferred to the Schauspielhaus in 2007. Also in 2007 Julia Haebler directed “Die drei Rätsel” (the three riddles) by Detlev Glanert, a revolutionary socio-cultural project, which she initiated recruiting diverse professional operatic talents as well as utilising community resources. In 2008 she will direct “Raoul” by Gershon Kingsley and Michael Kunze on the occasion of its world premiere.