Dramma in musica by José M. Sánchez-Verdú (2018)
The legendary ship Argo is best known for the theft of the Golden Fleece. Jason sailed to Colchis with fifty heroes, including Orpheus and the lesser-known Butes. When the Sirens tried to defeat the Argonauts with their singing, Orpheus protected the men with his own song. Only Butes threw himself into the sea. "Antiquity and the history of the Mediterranean as a temporal and geographical space (Pelagos) are continuous points of reference in my work as a composer. Born in the extreme south of Spain (Al-Andaluz), I am fascinated by the history, literature, mysticism and music of this territory. The Mediterranean (Mare nostrum) as a space of encounters, movements, searches, exchanges, cultures and religions, but also of catastrophes, war and death." (José M. Sánchez-Verdú)
The composer often mentally incorporates light and space in his musical projects. For his new music theatre ARGO, too, the stage becomes a "meta-instrument". The libretto is written by author Gerhard Falkner, whose first novel was nominated for the German Book Prize in 2016.
Text source and further information about this event: http://www.staatstheater-mainz.com/web/veranstaltungen/oper-17-18/argo
