Das Opernschiff oder Am Südpol, denkt man, ist es heiß

Heidenreich, Elke

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At the South Pole, you think it’s hot! But it’s not, as Uncle Otto explains. The hearts of the penguins, however, do beat hot: above all for opera. So, it is not surprising that everyone feverishly awaits the opera ship from Cologne [alterable depending on the venue], which comes once a year to the opera fans at the South Pole.
After careful consideration and heated dispute, the artists aboard the opera ship finally decide to perform La Traviata. The young Alfredo falls in love with the beautiful Violetta, and both are very happy together. However, Alfredo does not know that Violetta is incurably ill. And then there is Alfredo’s father, who does not like Violetta and wants to separate the lovers. He visits Violetta, and at his urgent request she leaves Alfredo, without telling Alfredo how much she really loves him. Only when she is already dying, does he learn the truth. And there is a sad ending. During the performance of the opera, the penguins do not hold back with expressions of emotion and make sure that the opera ends quite differently than planned ...

The witnesses of this premiere, both young and old, were totally thrilled. The play by Elke Heidenreich, which she herself adapted for the libretto, was congenially set to music by Marius Felix Lange, the prizewinner of the First International Composition Competition Cologne ... A work born, so to speak, as a classic. (Olaf Weiden, Kölner Rundschau, 27 April 2005)

Marius Felix Lange’s melodically catchy, action- and emotion-filled work seems to have been created perfectly for Heidenreich’s amusing story. (Felix Mauser, Aachener Zeitung, 29 April 2005)