An Israeli Opera in Frankfurt

 

“An unserem Fluss” (By Our River): Frankfurt’s Opera House commissioned an Israeli composer to write an opera about the Middle East conflict. The result is a call for greater dialogue.

 

A conflict that has made enemies of neighbours – and two teenagers who nonetheless fall in love. With “An unserem Fluss”, Frankfurt Opera addresses the Middle East conflict, without making one side solely responsible. Rather, Israeli composer Lior Navok, born in 1971 in Tel Aviv, presents the protagonists as prisoners caught up in a cycle of fear, revenge and intrigues. He wrote and composed the piece on behalf of Frankfurt Opere and at the end of May it premiered there. Director Bernd Loebe talks about the commissioned piece, the responsibility of the art world, and a possible performance in Israel.

 

Mr. Loebe, you knew Iraeli composter Lior Navok through his children’s operas “Die kleine Meerjungfrau”(The Little Mermaid) and “Pinocchios Abenteuer” (The Adventures of Pinocchio), both of which premiered under your directorship at Frankfurt Opera. What prompted you to ask him to write an opera about the Middle East conflict?

The Middle East conflict is a topic that crops up almost daily in life in Germany and not just owing to the news coverage on TV. It always leaves you feeling so powerless. I got the idea of having the conflict seen through children’s eyes for once. As with “West Side Story” by Leonard Bernstein or “Romeo and Julia” – basing the plot on love between two young people from different camps. I asked Lior Navok, whether he could imagine writing it. The original idea was to have a children’s opera, but it became clear during composition that we needed professional singers from our ensemble.

 

First of all Lior Navok hunted around for a play or a story on which to base his opera. And because he didn’t find anything suitable he wrote the libretto himself. Is this non-existence of a narrative typical for the Middle East conflict?

When I was still working in Brussels, the chamber orchestra travelled to Tel Aviv to perform Viktor Ullmann’s “The Emperor of Atlantis, or The Refusal of Death”. And we sensed to what extent people still shied away from the topic of Auschwitz, but also from that of violence and war, and perhaps even from pointing a finger. I believe this continues to be a sensitive issue in Israel. I had hoped we would also find a Palestinian librettist for “An unserem Fluss” to reflect both sides. But it did not come about. Perhaps Lior Navok was afraid it would not go down well in Israel. Whereby it must be said that this opera is a piece you could perform very well in Tel Aviv. And in Ramallah, too.

 

Would that not be an ideal work for Daniel Barenboim’s West-Eastern Divan Orchestra? After all, it is made up of equal number of Israeli and Arab musicians.

I know Daniel Barenboim very well and he knows about our opera. I believe a performance would be interesting for him, we could offer it to him. The projects with his orchestra, which are so very well received internationally, are a matter of controversy inside Israel. That said, our production is contemplative in a positive sense, the issue gets addressed objectively, and the piece does not come down on one particular side.

 

This year, Germany and Israel are celebrating the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations. And we have had events to mark the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp. You had two pieces in your programme that deal with Jewish and Israeli history this year: “Die Passagierin” (The Passenger), a piece about Auschwitz, and now “An unserem Fluss”. Is this coincidence?

Actually, I always try to avoid major anniversaries and simply try to produce an intelligent programme. But we must keep the memory of Auschwitz alive as long as possible. Things happened there that make you speechless. That must not be forgotten. I think everyone active in the world of culture should bear that in mind.

 

Can an opera achieve more than television news?

Of course. After a discussion on “Die Passagierin”, an old lady told me that music can achieve what words cannot, namely express the ineffable. She had experienced the camp herself. I believe if you tell individual stories people become more aware of things again.

 

In “An unserem Fluss” the figures on the stage fail to find a way out of the conflict. It remains unclear whether the two youngsters find a place where they can live their love. What can opera achieve in the case of something like the Middle East conflict?

With an opera we can indicate that we recognize the problem. There is a certain authenticity in the fact that the piece is the brainchild of an Israeli composer. We can make the public more aware and perhaps help people to gain a more differentiated perspective on the conflict. I think those of us who produce operas are also theatre people and have an obligation to comment on current affairs. “An unserem Fluss” takes as its starting point the Middle East conflict, but the composer wanted to make a more general statement, with what is potentially a parable on violence and conflicts in the world.