Venus und Adonis

For other uses, see Venus and Adonis.

Venus und Adonis
Opera by Hans Werner Henze
The composer in 1960
Librettist	Hans-Ulrich Treichel
Language	German
Based on	Shakespeare's "Venus and Adonis"
Premiere	11 January 1997 (1997-01-11) Bavarian State Opera, Munich

Venus und Adonis is a one-act opera by Hans Werner Henze with a German libretto by Hans-Ulrich Treichel, after the poem by William Shakespeare. The work uses singers and dancers.

It was first performed by the Bavarian State Opera in Munich on 11 January 1997. The American première was at the Santa Fe Opera in August 2000, staged by Alfred Kirchner, and the same production was used for the Canadian première, which took place in Toronto in 2001. The Japanese premiere was given in concert form in Tokyo on 11 January 2001.

Roles

Roles, voice types, premiere cast

Role	Voice type	Premiere cast, 11 January 1997 (Conductor: Markus Stenz)
Clemente	tenor	Chris Merritt
Heldendarsteller	baritone	Ekkehard Wlaschiha
Primadonna	soprano	Nadine Secunde
6 Madrigalists

Sources

• Brockmeier, Jens (2003). "Mythische Imagination in der Musik Hans Werner Henzes" [Mythical imagination in the music of Hans Werner Henze]. In Peter Petersen (ed.). Hans Werner Henze: Die Vorträge des internationalen Henze-Symposions am Musikwissenschaftlichen Institut der Universität Hamburg 28. bis 30. Juni 2001. Hamburger Jahrbuch für Musikwissenschaft (in German). Vol. 20. Frankfurt, Berlin, Bern, Brussels, New York, Oxford, Vienna: Peter Lang. ISBN 978-3-631-51114-5.
• Casaglia, Gherardo (2005). "Venus und Adonis, 11 January 1997". L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia (in Italian).
• Chōki, Seiji [長木誠司]. 1997. "Hentse no shinsaku opera Vinasu to Adonisu shoen" [The première of Henze's new opera Venus und Adonis]. Ongaku geijutsu (March): 18–56.

Further reading

• Konold, Wulf. 1996. "Venus und Adonis: Hans Werner Henzes Komposition eines Mythos". Neue Zeitschrift für Musik 157, no. 4 (July–August): 16–21.
• Petersen, Peter (1999). "Die Oper als Mythos: Venus und Adonis von Hans Werner Henze". In Hans Werner Henze; Michael Kerstan (eds.). Musik und Mythos. Neue Aspekte der musikalischen Ästhetik (in German). Vol. 5. Frankfurt am Main: Fischer-Taschenbuch-Verlag. pp. 137–153. ISBN 3-596-13852-3.
• Treichel, Hans-Ulrich (1996). "Die Schule des Librettisten". Neue Zeitschrift für Musik (in German). 157 (4 (July–August)): 22–25.
• Weryha-Wysoczański, Chevalier Rafael de (2000). "Zwei Aquarelle von Hans Werner Henze". In Constantin Floros (ed.). Komposition als Kommunikation. Zur Musik des 20. Jahrhunderts. Hamburger Jahrbuch für Musikwissenschaft (in German). Vol. 17. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang Verlag. pp. 415–421. ISBN 3631367457. OCLC 925103186.