Gian Carlo Menotti

The Medium

Opera by Gian Carlo Menotti
Duration: est. 70 minutes, no intermission
in German
Team
Musical conduction: Silvia Vassallo Paleologo
Director: Kevin Barz
Stage and Costume Design: Dejana Radosavljevic
Light: Dirk Douma
Dramaturgy: Berthold Warnecke
Cast
Barbara Schöller (Madame Flora, called Baba)
Silke Evers (Monica, her daughter)
Julian Fellner (Toby)
Scherhezada Cruz (Mrs. Gobineau)
Tobias Germeshausen (Mr. Gobineau)
Elisabeth Mertens (Mrs. Nolan)
Madame Flora holds séances with her daughter Monica and the mute Toby, whom she adopted as her foster son years ago. Her clients are in the belief that through Flora they can make contact with deceased relatives. Although Flora herself believes that everything supernatural is fake, one day she is thrown off track. During a séance with Mrs. Nolan and the Gobineau couple, she thinks she feels a hand around her neck. She is convinced that Toby has touched her. In her desperation, she becomes more and more addicted to alcohol. A few days later, when she wakes up, a curtain moves, behind which Flora suspects a ghost. She takes a revolver and shoots...

Gian Carlo Menotti, born in 1911 in Lombardy and died in Monte Carlo in 2007, is one of the central figures of 20th century American opera. After initial studies at the Milan Conservatory, he moved to the renowned Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia in 1928. Menotti's musical language is in the tradition of Italian opera of the late 19th century. It seeks proximity to the audience and demonstrates a special feeling for drama, melodic vocal parts and surprising harmonic turns. His operas - including the Pulitzer Prize-winning “The Consul” and “The Saint of Bleecker Street” - were able to assert themselves on international stages early on. Gian Carlo Menotti's "Medium", premiered on May 8th, 1946 at the Brander Matthews Theatre of Columbia University New York. This was his breakthrough Opera. The expressive, situational music, the text based on everyday language and the exciting plot make “Medium” a veritable opera thriller and an almost ideal introduction to the world of opera.