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Coetzee's novel becomes opera
09/06/2005 09:42 - (SA)
Erfurt - Rehearsals began on Tuesday at Erfurt Theatre in eastern Germany for the world premiere of the Philip Glass opera Waiting For The Barbarians - based on the novel of the same title by Nobel Literature Prize laureate JM Coetzee.
Following the premiere in Erfurt on September 10, the opera under the musical direction of Dennis Russell Davies will be performed later this year in Austin and Cincinnati in the United States.
Set design for what is being described as a "distinctly post-modern" production is by George Tsypin. The libretto is by Christopher Hampton, who won two Tony awards in 1995 for best book and best lyrics for Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Sunset Boulevard.
"We are exceedingly happy that this ground-breaking opera will have its world premiere here in Erfurt," said Erfurt Theatre director Guy Montavon, who is directing the production. "It is significant that this piece is being performed for the first time in former East Germany."
Coetzee's 1980 novel tells the tragic story of a magistrate in a far-flung garrison of an unnamed empire who must tread the tightwire between duty to his country and love for a "barbarian" woman.
South Africa's reclusive dean of writing, Coetzee won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2003.
Glass has written numerous operatic and movie scores, and won a Golden Globe for the score to Kundun and the 2003 British Academy (Bafta) Film Award for Achievement in Film Music. - Sapa-dpa
- SAPA
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South Africa
