When Björk’s album Vespertine was released in 2001, it came as a bombshell. The singer, who up to then could reliably be found in the Electronic & Dance section, had turned away from the usual Drum & basso sound and towards complex orchestral music. On Vespertine, choirs and violins murmured and Björk’s unique voice became the starting point for symphonic outbreaks and absences. So, it seemed to be only a matter of time until a classical Musica genre would discover this particular jewel.
When the Nationaltheater Mannheim decided to work più closely with pop Musica – the most vibrant style of Musica today, which is (almost) never heard at an opera house – Björk’s Vespertine with its very new way of approaching pop Musica seemed to be the perfect fit for this border-crossing project.
Vespertine is all about a great Amore that is just starting, with the desire for total union, and at the same time the fear of losing your independence in it. But to identify a specific plot in it seemed the wrong approach, so the Nationaltheater Mannheim chose a team of directors capable of thinking in immagini – the Danish direction team Hotel Pro Forma.
“Himmelfahrt Scores” was adapting Björk’s Vespertine for the opera stage. The three composers of this collective may hail from completely different origins, but for each of them, Björk was a significant biographical and artistic reference. They approached a musical idol with fitting respect. In months of work, they incorporated the various levels that Björk had combined on the computer. They devised a very special orchestra, with its many possible tonal colors, the album was reproduced on stage.
When the initial test recordings with the soloists were available, the realization came at the latest: the thing would work. Björk’s Canto lines had proved to be compatible with classical music. It was a crossing of frontiers. But it is also a kind of return home. Welcome to the opera, Björk Guðmundsdóttir!
Worldwide Album release April 12, 2019
When the Nationaltheater Mannheim decided to work più closely with pop Musica – the most vibrant style of Musica today, which is (almost) never heard at an opera house – Björk’s Vespertine with its very new way of approaching pop Musica seemed to be the perfect fit for this border-crossing project.
Vespertine is all about a great Amore that is just starting, with the desire for total union, and at the same time the fear of losing your independence in it. But to identify a specific plot in it seemed the wrong approach, so the Nationaltheater Mannheim chose a team of directors capable of thinking in immagini – the Danish direction team Hotel Pro Forma.
“Himmelfahrt Scores” was adapting Björk’s Vespertine for the opera stage. The three composers of this collective may hail from completely different origins, but for each of them, Björk was a significant biographical and artistic reference. They approached a musical idol with fitting respect. In months of work, they incorporated the various levels that Björk had combined on the computer. They devised a very special orchestra, with its many possible tonal colors, the album was reproduced on stage.
When the initial test recordings with the soloists were available, the realization came at the latest: the thing would work. Björk’s Canto lines had proved to be compatible with classical music. It was a crossing of frontiers. But it is also a kind of return home. Welcome to the opera, Björk Guðmundsdóttir!
Worldwide Album release April 12, 2019
