Theatre of the World
Theatre of the World is the fifth and last opera by Dutch composer Louis Andriessen, with a libretto by Helmut Krausser. Subtitled A Grotesque Stagework in 9 Scenes, the work concerns itself with the life of 17th-century Jesuit scholar Athanasius Kircher and was premiered at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles 6 May 2016, a co-production between Los Angeles Philharmonic and Dutch National Opera, conducted by Reinbert de Leeuw. The title alludes to the Catholic idea that life is a great play with God as the author, a concept also found in Shakespeare's "All the world's a stage" passage.
Synopsis
Kircher, aged 76, meets a boy of about twelve years who we learn is the devil. He takes the unsuspecting Kircher, together with his patron Pope Innocent XI, on a magical journey through ancient Egypt, China and Babylon. Kircher was renowned for building fanciful theories based on weak material and as the journey unfolds his outlandish ideas begin to unravel before our eyes. Kircher starts to become increasingly anxious and suspicious. We learn that earlier in his life, Kircher had mistakenly given his soul to the devil instead of to God during his narrow escape from Protestant mercenaries. The boy now curses Kircher and orders him to be broken by illness. On his deathbed Kircher requests the hangman to cut out his heart and take it to a shrine of the Virgin. On doing so, the boy grabs the heart and eats it only to discover that Kircher's soul has evaded him.The opera is scored for the singers and full orchestra plus eight guest musicians playing: clarinet, bass clarinet, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, percussion, keyboards, bass guitar and electric guitar.