Spring doch – Children's Opera

Bavarian State Opera, Munich, Germany

If only Lena hadn't been the last one chosen for the gym team again, she would never have let herself be carried away by this sentence: "I'm jumping from the three-meter board this afternoon!" The challenges in the children's opera Spring doch (Go on, jump) slowly take their course. The opera deals with children's loneliness and their overcoming of inner fears, focusing on the moment a child is thrown back on their own resources. Situations like this give rise to surprising courage and shifts in personal boundaries and it is these that will be in the spotlight at the Bavarian State Opera in May 2020. In his composition, Gordon Kampe presents a test of courage as an act of emancipation, liberation and self-conquest. The opera is designed for a young audience who will be treated on stage to four solo singers, a 12-piece children's choir and a small orchestra. Andri Beyeler's libretto provides a regular shift in narrative style creating within the music a blend of epic narrative moments and scenic action. Young viewers are taken via their childlike perception and world of experience to a space where they can recognize and discover themselves afresh with their own themes, conflicts, dreams and fears. This test of courage as a rite of passage becomes a playful, positive and yet unmelodramatic stage moment, which supports children in the development of their personality and in their ability to deal with cultural content on their own account. At the same time, Kampe's music opens up new listening experiences and perceptions of space and sound through an encounter with contemporary music. The Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation is funding the composition commission issued to Gordon Kampe.

May 17 – 23, 2020
Rennertsaal, Munich, Germany

Further Information:
staatsoper.de