Chaya Czernowin Heart Chamber opera to a libretto by the composer. Directed 2019 by Claus Guth at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. Stars Patrizia Ciofi (She), Noa Frenkel (Her Internal Voice), Dietrich Henschel (He), Terry Wey (His Internal Voice), Frauke Aulbert (The Voice), and Uli Fussenegger (The Double Βass Player). Johannes Kalitzke conducts the Orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin and the Ensemble Nikel Vocal Ensemble. Set and costume design by Christian Schmidt; video design by rocafilm; live electronics by SWR Experimentalstudio. The opera lasts 87 minutes and a feature film, I Did Not Rehearse to Say I Love You lasts 86 minutes as an extra feature. Opera and film both directed by Uli Aumüller. Sung in English. Released 2021, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
We have a few truly avant-garde modern operas in Blu-ray by composer like Unsuk Chin and now, Chaya Czernowin. Here is a comment about Heart Chamber from Tim Rutherford-Johnson that was included in the program notes at the world premiere in Berlin in 2019:
“This is a romantic opera for the twenty-first century. At its core are questions that could not have been asked seriously before. Is it inevitable that two people should be joined in a physical, emotional, social, and familial bond? Do we want to be alone, or do we want to live in a couple or in a family? Must we sanctify love above all else? Insofar as it tells a story—or describes a series of scenes—Heart Chamber does so in ways that engage us listeners aesthetically, psychologically, and physically. As far as is possible, we are drawn into the same adventure into the unknown as the lovers themselves.”
Joe Cadagin gives this title the “Critic’s Choice” award in the August 2021 Opera News at pages 44-45. Per Cahagin, this is a love story that “alchemically distills its pure essence and lets all the hackneyed commonplaces burn off. ” It thereby “completely obliterates our preconceived notions of how love is expressed in music.” Four singers and six instrumentalists give us a new vocabulary for describing a love affair with Guth contributing “something of a plot” for structure. If you want to surf a towering musical wave, this title is for you.
Here’s a clip from Naxos:
