One insight gained from this evening of the premiere of “The End of Creation” at the Augsburg State Theater is how well Joseph Haydn’s oratorio “The Creation” works as musical theatre. Haydn’s music is concise. The Augsburg Philharmonic, conducted by Ivan Demidov, play them catchy and precise. Added to this is the formidable choir, which in the scenic context even masters the fugue at the end of the second part very well. Yes, there is very successful musical craftsmanship to admire. This also applies to the ensemble of soloists, to Young Kwon with his appealing bass and to Pascal Herington as the eloquent tenor. Soprano Jihyun Cecilia Lee caught a cold that evening. She appears as a mute version of herself, plays, marks the lip movements. But the singing comes from the orchestra pit: by Katja Stuber for Haydn’s music, by Evgeniya Sotnikova for the newly composed parts of the soprano part. How well this works, even with tercets, is impressive.
New composition is at the core of this music theater. What is offered here is not only the staging (director: André Brücker) of a Haydn oratorio. It is the premiere of an “overwritten” “creation” told up to the apocalypse. The composer Bernhard Lang interwoven Haydn’s work parts No. 1 and 2 with electronic sound alienation and added a new third part (in place of the Garden of Eden). A work concept that is not a bland diet.
After the break it gets dark: Man destroys himself and his world
The further the creation progresses, the more colorful the scenery becomes, which is characterized by the choir in surgical gowns and two large bookshelves. The initially white, so to speak blank books become colourful. In the middle, the live Haydn is stopped several times and alienated by a loop effect. This heralds commentary speech episodes (deliciously played by Hanna Eichel, Paul Langemann and Nadine Quittner), which deal with oddities such as the question of whether small Scotch bottles should have a cork or a screw cap. What is the purpose? It’s entertaining – and reflects cleverly, it also seems.
After the break – the climax of creation with a great hallelujah has not yet been reached – the colorful has given way to darkness. Soldier-like robes. Limbs assembled into a corpse. Texts devised by André Brücker based on Jean Paul and Lord Byron instead of the original libretto. Lang instead of Haydn. Lang has created a rhythmically powerful score for classical instruments and lots of percussion, which exhausts the expressive maxima without inhibitions. That sounds horribly frightening and is shiveringly well composed. Man destroys himself and his world. What remains are a man and a woman who wrap themselves in body bags.