” Fossilized Wings revolves around the theme of sacrifice, a fundamental theme of Christian ethics. According to the Annunciation, Mary offers herself as the medium through which Christ comes into the world, not as her son, but as God’s Son, destined to be sacrificed for humanity, in two ways: the mother knows that she will suffer a terrible loss very soon, and her son is aware that his death is an inevitable event.
Ancient Greek theatre offers the most appropriate means of portraying the grief of a parent forced to sacrifice her child, as in the story of Andromaca and Astianatte, in which one can also find echoes of the stories of Medea and of Abraham and Isaac. “Petrified wings” is the flight of the angel in Heiner Müller’s text, introduced by the actors at the beginning of the opera, and “fossilized wings” is also the death of Astianatte, who is thrown from a hill. (Silvia Rosani)
In the composition there is a metaphor of bells, the sound of which recurs three times in the Angelus prayer, so the orchestration uses some components of the tubular bell sound. The rhythm can be derived entirely from the metre of the Greek text, and as in the tradition of ancient Greek tragedy, the choir comments on and underlines the musical gestures of the soloists.
Fossilized Wings
Music theatre for ensemble, singers and three actors
Text: Heiner Müller “The Luckless Angel”, Euripides “The Trojan Women”, Luke 1.34-36, Genesis 6.2-4
Commissioned work for the 2011 Pocket Opera Festival Salzburg
Music Silvia Rosani
Director Reinhold Lay
Soprano Sandra Quell
Mezzo-soprano Reinhild Buchmayer
Alto Annette Schönmüller
Tenor Alexey Kokhanov
Performer Josef Ettmayr
Actor Jakob von Kotzebue
Actor Jürgen Oestreich
