Klaipėda to stage Philip Glass's opera Voyage with singers performing in the air
The Klaipėda State Musical Theatre in Lithuania will perform American composer Philip Glass's opera The Voyage on 20 and 21 November. Singers perform suspended above the stage.
The Klaipėda State Musical Theatre in Lithuania will present American composer Philip Glass's opera The Voyage on 20 and 21 November at 6:30 p.m. In the production, soloists rise above the stage and sing in mid-air to convey weightlessness. The staging is part of the season marking the composer's 90th birthday.
About the composer and the opera
Glass is described as one of the most prominent minimalist composers. His music features in more than a hundred films, including The Hours, The Truman Show, The Illusionist, Kundun and Notes on a Scandal. His works rely on short melodic phrases that repeat, intertwine and change gradually. His best-known opera is Einstein on the Beach, created with director Robert Wilson.
The Metropolitan Opera in New York commissioned The Voyage to mark the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's journey to the Americas. The world premiere took place on 12 October 1992. Together with librettist David Henry Hwang, Glass placed the historical event within a story about travellers from different eras: at the start, space travellers arrive on primeval Earth, later Columbus sails across the Atlantic, and future humanity prepares for a new space expedition.
The Klaipėda production
The creative team was chosen in an international competition that drew 43 applications. It was won by Italian director Chiara Osella and her team: director and choreographer Carlo Massari, set designer Eleonora Peroneti and costume designer Emilia Zanjoli. They were joined by video projection artist Linartas Urniežis and lighting designer Andrius Stasiulis.
The Klaipėda premiere took place in October 2024 under Italian conductor Dante Santiago Ancolini, who has collaborated with Glass for many years. The opera became the first opera premiere in the theatre's new building. The November performances will be led by Lithuanian conductor Adrija Čepaitė.
The opera is sung in English, Spanish and Latin. Individual screens built into seat backs show subtitles in English and Lithuanian. Tickets are available at klaipedosmuzikinis.lt.
