Swan Bone City

Music by ÜLO KRIGUL
Libreto by Taavi Eelmaa, Marianne Kõrver, Kristiina Ehin

Stage direction by Marianne Kõrver
The cast:
The Storyteller – Iiris Vesik, soprano
The Beloved one – Helen Lepalaan, mezzo
The Architect – Marius Peterson, baritone
Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra
Dance artists
Conductor RISTO JOOST

Stage design Kristjan Suits, costume design Triinu Pungits
video artist Emer Värk, light design Oliver Kulpsoo
Choreography Marge Ehrenbusch
Duration: appr. 1 h 20 min
World premiere: July 2016, at Saaremaa Opera Festival, Estonia

An architect loves a lady. But the lady is frightened by the vastness of her love and has no courage to answer the Architects proposals. However, she extends a seemingly impossible task for the Architect to fulfil – to build a city that flies as high as her own dreams.
Through the search and research, prays and revelations the Architect eventually explores an unknown magic material – swan bones. In the city of swan bones he is now expecting to meet his beloved one. In the same time he realises that the streets of this city have to be paved with his own skin, his own blood would run the engines of the power plant and his very own skull shall be shining on top of the church tower.

The plot is founded on a short story by Kristiina Ehin. The body of texts include works from Kristiina Ehin (translated into English by Ilmar Lehtpere), Taavi Eelmaa, Andres Ehin and Marcus Aurelius and uses both English, Estonian and Latin.

“Swan Bone City” is an opera once again trying to gain the impossible – blending together into pure gold the emotions bigger than life, the inevitability of earthly temporality and dreams. This musically integral whole complemented by the minimalistic and precise visual art is meant to nourish those blessed and blind ones who have chosen the way of ardour, devotion and sacrifice. We believe that there is a certain kind of religious dimension which opens up only through a public walk of passion. The kind of salvation one has to call for over the whole city.
Marianne Kõrver, Taavi Eelmaa, Ülo Krigul

Among Krigul’s successes are also the first prize at the International Composers’ Rostrum in Paris in the category of composers under 30 years and Europäische Komponistenpreis at the young.euro.classic festival.
More information about the composer Ülo Krigul please visit:
http://www.ulokrigul.com/