Opera
Ballet & Dance
Drama

LULU

A.Berg : LULU

<Opera in 2 Acts>
<sung in German with Japanese supertitles>
OPERA HOUSE

<OPERA TALK> Please click here
STAFF
Music by : Alban Berg
Original by : Frank Wedekind
( "Erdgeist" / "Büchse der Pandora")
Conductor : Stefan Anton Reck
Production : David Pountney
Scenery Design : Robert Israel
Costume Design : Sue Blane
Lighting Design : Mimi Jordan Sherin
Stage Manager : Sato Kiminori
Orchestra : The Tokyo Symphony Orchestra
Presented by : New National Theatre, Tokyo

CAST
Lulu : Sato Shinobu
Gräfin Geschwitz : Koyama Yumi
Eine Theater-Garderobiere/ Ein Gymnasiast : Yamashita Makiko
Der Medizinalrat : Okubo Makoto
Der Maler : Takano Jiro
Dr. Schön/ Jack the Ripper : Claudio Otelli
Alwa : Takahashi Jun *
Schigolch : Hartmut Welker
Ein Tierbändiger : Hare Masahiko
Ein Athlet : Tsumaya Hidekazu
Der Prinz/ Der Kammerdiener : Kamoshita Minoru
Theaterdirektor : Kudo Hiroshi
  :  
:* For the detail of the cast change, please refer to New National Theatre News.

PERFORMANCES
 
February 2005 8
(Tue.)
11
(Fri.)
14
(Mon.)
17
(Thu.)
2:00pm       ×
3:00pm   ×    
6:30pm ×   ×  
Doors will open 45 minutes before the opening of the performance.
Approximate running time: 2 hours , 35 minutes with 1 intermission

ADVANCE TICKETS
  Available from Sunday 28 November , 2004 at 10:00am.
To order tickets, please call +81-3-5352-9999 (10:00am-6:00pm).
Internet ticket reservation available through the following Websites.(Japanese only)
http://t.pia.co.jp/
http://eee.eplus.co.jp/

TICKET PRICES (with tax)
Price(yen) 21,000 18,900 15,750 13,650 10,500 7,350 6,300 3,150 1,500
*Balcony row 4 centre and row 3-4 sides (¥3,150): Sold at the NNTT Box Office and all Ticket Pia outlets on the performance date only. Up to 2 tickets per person. No phone reservations. *Seat Z: Sold to students only at some Ticket Pia outlets on the day before the performance. Any tickets not sold by the performance date will be released to the general public at the NNTT Box Office and some Ticket Pia outlets. One ticket per person. No phone reservations. Students must bring a valid student ID. *Same day student tickets (50% off Except for seats for ¥3,150 and ¥1,500): Sold at the NNTT Box Office and some Ticket Pia outlets on the performance date. One ticket per person. No phone reservations. Students must bring a valid student ID.

*Opera House Ticket Prices & Seating Plan

The Greatest Masterpiece in 20th Century Opera on the Fate of Lulu, a Temptress Full of Mystery and Charm

handbill [LULU] Lulu, Alban Berg's masterpiece, depicts the vicissitudes of life that Lulu, a vampire who fascinates and ruins all people she meets, goes through. The music by the Austrian composer, who was a member of the so-called New Vienna School, is complicated and subtle as characterized by 12-note serial motifs and structures that incorporate diverse styles. It delivers the mysterious drama to the audience with tonal, sweet, and lyrical sounds. Wedekind's conflation of two plays, Erdgeist (Earth Spirit) and Die Büchse der Pandora (Pandora's Box), on which the opera is based, scathingly criticized moralistic society through Lulu, who is a manifestation of sensuality and lives on instinct. Die Büchse der Pandora was such a shocking work that the authorities issued an order to scrap it and ban its performance. It can be said that the opera was a product of urban culture, including expressionist art, the Bauhaus movement, revues and cabarets, which all flourished in Germany in the period of social crisis and hedonism that followed World War I.
Sato Shinobu will take on the challenge of singing Lulu, a most demanding soprano role that requires singing ability as well as personal beauty and acting ability. Countess Geschwitz, who admires Lulu, will be sung by Koyama Yumi, one of the prominent mezzo sopranos in Japan. The young and promising conductor, Stefan Anton Reck, is an expert on Alban Berg. The producer will be David Pountney, whose direction of NNTT's premiere of Madama Butterfly was much talked about. Pountney has created a sensation in various cities and the forthcoming production of Lulu is attracting the attention of the world. The major highlights of the opera will be expressive scenery designs, which vividly visualize the aesthetics of Lulu, and many gorgeous costumes that make abundant use of diverse materials and ornaments, beautifying the heroine in particular.

Synopsis

Lulu's patron, Dr. Schön, arranges Lulu's marriage to someone else, but her husbands die an unnatural death one after another with the first, dying of a heart attack and the second, killing himself with a razor. Unable to free himself from Lulu's domination, Dr. Schön finally marries her. Around Lulu, who lives as free and unrestrained a life as before, gather her dubious admirers, including the lesbian Countess Geschwitz, and even Dr. Schön's son Alwa confesses his love for Lulu. No longer able to tolerate the situation, Dr. Schön demands that Lulu kill herself with a pistol, but he is shot to death by her instead. Lulu is arrested but successfully escapes from prison as Countess Geschwitz takes her place. Lulu flees to Paris and then to London with Alwa, but her fate follows a path of degradation. Ruined, she makes a living as a prostitute, and she is finally killed by Jack the Ripper.
<Conductor> <Production>
Stefan Anton Reck David Pountney
Stefan Anton Reck David Pountney
<Cast>
Sato Shinobu Koyama Yumi Yamashita Makiko Okubo Makoto
Sato Shinobu Koyama Yumi Yamashita Makiko Okubo Makoto

Takano Jiro Claudio Otelli Hartmut Welker Hare Masahiko
Takano Jiro Claudio Otelli Hartmut Welker Hare Masahiko

Tsumaya Hidekazu Kamoshita Minoru Kudo Hiroshi
Tsumaya Hidekazu Kamoshita Minoru Kudo Hiroshi


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