25 – 28 August 2021

Inspired by the author George Perec’s novel Life: A User’s Manual, Backyard Opera unfolds fragments of secluded lives behind the facades and windows of a Copenhagen backyard. A collection of destinies and strange states of mind evoke an audible puzzle of passions, disappointments, illusions and (self) deceptions.

For a number of years, composer Bent Sørensen and director Anna Berit Asp Christensen have collected sounds and fragments of statements on life, now composed with the Backyard as the work’s actual protagonist and echo chamber. As with life, Backyard Opera’s kaleidoscope on life reassure and amaze in what may – or may not – be real.

[dansk]
Inspireret af forfatteren George Perecs roman “Livet – En brugsanvisning” udfolder Backyard Opera fragmenter af levet liv gemt bag baggårdens facader og vinduer. En samling sælsomme skæbner og tilstande indgår i et lydligt puslespil af lidenskaber, skuffelser, illusioner og (selv)bedrag.

Credits

Idea & concept: Bent Sørensen and Anna Berit Asp Christensen
Staging, libretto and sound design: Anna Berit Asp Christensen
Musical composition and sound design: Bent Sørensen
Sung lyrics / excerpts: Tomas Espedal
Production management and technical direction: Janus Jensen and Peter Barnow
Producer: Mette Hornbek Hansen
Sound supervisor: Sebastian Vinther Olsen
Musicians: James Sherlock, conductor and Signe Asmussen, soprano with Anna Melander, Jonas Frølund, Therese Iversen, Oriol Pares, Katerina Anagnostidou, Fei Nie, Mikkel Egelund, Louise Gorm, Iben Teilmann and Lea Emilie Brøndal Pedersen
Voice actors: Birgitte Prins, Camilla Gottschalck, Charlotte Munksgaard, Claus Flygare, Henrik Birch, Louise Pøhler, Mikkel Trier Rygaard, Morten Klode, Rasmus Hougaard, René Kruse, Sophie Zinckernagel and Søs Uldall-Ekmann
Promotion photo: Marc Fluri

Backyard Opera is a part of Copenhagen Opera Festival, commissioned and produced by Scenatet and supported by The Danish Arts Foundation, Augustinus Foundation, Danish Composers’ Society, KODA’s Cultural Funds, KODA Dramatik, Copenhagen Opera Festival and Aage and Johanne Louis-Hansen’s Foundation.