Toshio Hosokawa: Matsukaze

On 3 May 2025, Toshio Hosokawa’s Matsukaze will premiere at UTOPIA in Munich. The dream-like opera Matsukaze, an adaptation of a 15th-century Japanese Nō theatre play by the master Zeami, tells the story of the unrequited love of two sisters, the salt pan washerwomen Matsukaze and Murasame, for the nobleman Yukihira. Hosokawa’s composition transforms natural moods into delicate, loving sounds, plays with silence, traces the passing of time and the non-passing of deep feelings, of madness, of the relationship between past, present and future, of the very fundamental connection between human existence and nature.

For the production at the Bayerische Staatsoper, the directing duo Lotte van den Berg and Tobias Staab are working for the first time with Alicja Kwade, one of the most internationally renowned contemporary artists, who is responsible for the design of the stage set. In addition to members of the Munich Chamber Orchestra (MKO), (Japanese) performers and the Bayerische Staatsoper project choir, the young up-and-coming singers of the Seonwoo Lee Opera Studio, Natalie Lewis, Paweł Horodyski and Bruno Khouri will be on stage. The Bayerische Staatsoper’s Opera Studio prepares highly talented young singers for an international career with a practical focus. After passing the multi-stage selection process, the selected talents support the ensemble of the Bayerische Staatsoper for a period of two years.

The direction concept envisages an extension in the form of an approx. one-hour staged admission situation (which takes up the sound worlds of the piece and transfers them into a sound installation) and thus makes the installative character of the spatial design individually tangible. At the end of the composition, there is a transition to an open situation in the room for lingering and conversation.

The performance of Toshio Hosokawa’s Matsukaze is supported by the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation

Further information:
staatsoper.de

Dates

May 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11, 2025
UTOPIA, Munich