Composition Commission issued to Sarah Nemtsov

Theater Dortmund, Germany
 

The Theater Dortmund has commissioned composer Sarah Nemtsov to set Jewgeni Samjatin´s dystopian masterpiece WIR to music. The novel WIR is formally and linguistically radical, far ahead of its time. In it, Samjatin describes a fictional society in the indeterminate distant future that lives in complete transparency and oppression, a disembodied collective without any individuality with forced happiness through total conformity. Sarah Nemtsov's composition will be structured by "cold" and "warm" parameters, just as Samjatin´s text alternates between technical terms, a clear, cold, almost protocol-like language and highly poetic, radically sensual descriptions and reflections in accordance with the subject. For this, acoustic instruments, voices (souls) and the orchestra become the counterpart of electronic sounds and instruments. In the course of the opera, the boundaries become blurred, as do the plot and the emotional state of the protagonists. The composition is funded by the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation.

Due to the current situation and associated regulations, there may be changes at short notice. For the latest information on the project please therefore check theaterdo.de