Oscar Strasnoy (born November 12, 1970) is a French-Argentine
composer,
conductor and
pianist.[1] Although primarily known for his stage works, the first of which Midea (2) premiered in
Spoleto in 2000, his principal compositions also include two secular cantatas and several
song cycles.
Luciano Berio awarded him the 2000 Orpheus Prize for his
chamber operaMidea (2) produced at the Teatro Caio Melisso in Spoleto in 2000 and at the
Rome Opera in 2001.[4] He was also artist in residence at the
Akademie Schloss Solitude in Stuttgart, in 2003 at the Villa Kujoyama in
Kyoto (Institut français), and in 2006 at the Civitella Ranieri Foundation in
Umbria, Italy.[5] In 2007 he received a
John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship for Music Composition.[6]
Radio France, in association with the parisian
Théâtre du Châtelet, featured Strasnoy as the main composer of the
Festival Présences 2012, a retrospective of most of his works in 14 concerts in January 2012.
Compositions
Oscar Strasnoy has composed twelve stage works, including operas performed at Spoleto, Rome, Paris (
Opéra Comique,
Théâtre du Châtelet),[7] Hamburg, Bordeaux,
Aix-en-Provence Festival,
Teatro Colón of Buenos Aires),
Berlin State Opera; a live-accompanied silent film score for
Anthony Asquith's Underground which premiered at the
Louvre in 2004 and was subsequently played at the Cine Doré in Madrid, the Mozarteum Argentino, Kyoto, and Tokyo) and a secular cantata, Hochzeitsvorbereitungen (mit B und K). He also composed several pieces of chamber, vocal and orchestral music, including his song cycle Six Songs for the Unquiet Traveller which premiered in 2004 performed by the
Nash Ensemble and
Ann Murray in a concert to inaugurate the newly refurbished
Wigmore Hall in London.[8]
In January 2012 a retrospective of his work in 14 concerts has been presented at the
Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris as part of the Festival Présences of
Radio France. Strasnoy's works are primarily published by
Universal Edition (Vienna) Chant du Monde (Paris) and Billaudot (Paris). His opera Midea is published by
Ricordi (Milan).[9]
1996-1999: "Midea (2)" chamber opera. Libretto (in Italian) by Irina Possamai. Premièred at the
Teatro Caio Melisso, Spoleto, Italy, 8 September 2000 directed by Hennig Brockhaus, conducted by Andrea Molino.
2002: "Opérette". Libretto (in French) by
Witold Gombrowicz. Premièred at the Grand Théâtre of Reims, France, 10 January 2003[10] directed by Christian Gangneron.
2003: "Geschichte", operetta a cappella. Libretto (in German) by Galin Stoev and Oscar Strasnoy based on
Witold Gombrowicz's play, premièred at
Theaterhaus Stuttgart, 31 March 2004, directed by Galin Stoev. Second production in 2011 directed by Titus Selge. Third production at the Berlin Staatsoper, Sept.-Oct. 2015, directed by Isabel Ostermann.
2005: "Fabula", pocket-opera. Libretto (in Spanish and Yiddish) by Alejandro Tantanian. Premièred at Teatro San Martín, Buenos Aires, 29 November 2005, directed by Renate Ackermann.
2000-2006: "L'instant", children opera in one act. Libretto (in French) by Alejandro Tantanian. Premièred at Maison des Arts de Créteil, Paris, 2008 (concert version), conducted by Oscar Strasnoy.
2008-2009: "Le Bal" opera in one act based on
Irène Némirovsky's novelette The Ball, libretto (in French) by
Matthew Jocelyn, premièred in Hamburg Opera-House, 7 March 2010, directed by Matthew Jocelyn, conducted by
Simone Young. Second production:
Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris, January 2012, directed (semi-staged) by Matthew Jocelyn, conducted by
Anu Tali. Third production:
Prinzregententheater of Munich, November 2012, directed by Karsten Wiegand, conducted by Ulf Schirmer.
2009-2010: "Un Retour", chamber opera in one act, Libretto (in Spanish, French and Latin) by
Alberto Manguel based on his novel El Regreso, premièred at Festival d'Aix en Provence, France, 5 July 2010)[11]
2010: "Cachafaz" opera in two acts. Libretto (in Spanish) by
Copi based on dis play, premièred at Théâtre de Cornouaille, Quimper, France, Nov. 2010),[7] directed by Benjamin Lazar, conducted by Geoffroy Jourdain. Second production: Teatro San Martín of Buenos Aires, Nov. 2012, directed by Pablo Maritano and conducted by
Pierre Roullier.
2011-2012: "Случай" (Slutchai, Incidents), chamber opera in two acts. Libretto (in Russian) by Christine Dormoy based on
Daniil Kharms writings. Premiered at Bordeaux Opera House, 26 November 2012, directed by Christine Dormoy, conducted by Oscar Strasnoy. Second Production, new version ("Fälle" in German) at
Zürich Opera House,
premiere on 8 May 2015, directed by Jan Eßinger, conducted by Carrie-Ann Matheson.
2012-2014: "Requiem", opéra in two acts. Libretto (in English and Latin) by Matthew Jocelyn based on the novel Requiem for a nun by
William Faulkner, premièred at
Teatro Colón of Buenos Aires, 10 June 2014, directed by Matthew Jocelyn, conducted by
Christian Baldini.
2015-2016: "Comeback", chamber opera. Libretto (in German) by
Christoph Hein, based on "Tilla" and "Jannings" by Christoph Hein. Première:
Staatsoper Berlin, 30 September 2016.
2016-2017: "Luther". Libretto (in German) by
Christoph Hein. Première: Händel-Halle, Halle, 22 October 2017.
2022-2023: "Robinson". Libretto (in German) by Sigrid Behrens. Première:
Staatsoper Berlin, Halle, 25 February 2023.
Concert works (selection)
1992: Piano 1: Incognito (Ed. Billaudot, Paris)
1995: Piano 2: Britannicus
1995: Naipes, for Pierrot-Lunaire-type quintet (Ed. Le Chant du Monde/Wise Music)
1997: Piano 3: à Corinthe (Ed. Billaudot, Paris)
1999: Piano 4: 5 pièces (Ed. Billaudot, Paris)
1999: Two tangos (Ed. Lemoine, Paris)
2000: Bloc-notes d'Ephemera (1) for ensemble
2000: Bloc-notes d'Ephemera (2) for two pianos (Ed. Le Chant du Monde/Wise Music)
2002: Piano 5: Exercices de Latinité (Ed. Billaudot, Paris)
2000-(rev. 2005): Hochzeitsvorbereitungen (mit B und K) (cantata)[12] (Ed. Le Chant du Monde/Wise Music)
2004: Underground, music for the 1928 silent film by Anthony Asquith.[3]
2004: Six Songs for the Unquiet Traveller (on texts by
Alberto Manguel) (Ed. Le Chant du Monde/Wise Music)
2005: Scherzo (Sum nº 3) for orchestra (Ed. Le Chant du Monde/Wise Music)
2006: The End (Sum nº 4) for orchestra (Ed. Le Chant du Monde/Wise Music)
2008: Quodlibet, song cycle, premièred in Stuttgart, 2008.[10]
2010: "Heine", song cycle on poems by
Heinrich Heine (Ed. Billaudot, Paris)
2009-2011: Incipit (Sum nº 1), for orchestra (Ed. Billaudot, Paris)
2009-2011: Y (Sum nº 2, for orchestra) (Ed. Billaudot, Paris)
2012: Odyssée, cantata (libretto:
Alberto Manguel), for 12 vocal soloists, 5 choirs and three instrumental groups (Ed. Billaudot, Paris)
2013: Vague-Requiem, for Cello Octet (Ed. Billaudot, Paris)
2016: Ghost Stories, for string quartet and 33rpm record (Ed. Billaudot, Paris)
2016: Automaton, for violin and chamber orchestra (Ed. Billaudot, Paris)
2017: Kuleshov, for piano and chamber orchestra (Ed. Billaudot, Paris)
2017: Ittingen-Concerto, for chamber orchestra (Ed. Billaudot, Paris)
2017: 2. Juni (from "Tage-Buch"), for violin, horn and 33rpm record.
2017: 4. Juni, (from "Tage-Buch") for solo violin and 33rpm record.
2017: 5. Juni, (from "Tage-Buch") for violin and tenor.
2017: Flashbacks, for 10 instruments. Première: 8 DEC 2017 by the
Ensemble Modern Frankfurt, in Munich. Ed. Billaudot.
2018: d'Amore, for viola d'amore and ensemble. Première: 20 OCT 2018 by Garth Knox and the Ensemble Modern, in Donaueschingen. Ed. Billaudot.
2019: Trí Amhrán Ghaelacha (Three Irish Songs) for tenor and piano.
2019: Chanzuns Popularas Rumanchas (Rhaetian Folk Songs) for female singer and ensemble. Première: 29 MAY 2019, La-Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland
Universal Edition
2019: Zaunkönig und -gäste, for orchestra. Première: 1 JUL 2019 by the Musikalische Akademie des Nationaltheater-Orchesters Mannheim conducted by
Alexander Soddy. Ed. Billaudot
2019: Verschiedene Canones - Neue Auflösungen (nach J.S. Bachs Canones, BWV 1087) for baroque orchestra and percussion. Première: 19 OCT 2019 in Berlin,
Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin (
Universal Edition)
2019: Für Felice for vocal ensemble (12 voices) and instrument ad libitum. Commissioned by the Ensemble Musicatreize (
Universal Edition)
2020: Three Kamasutra Etudes, for vocal ensemble (12 voices). (
Universal Edition)
2010: La Forza del Destino, Overture by
Giuseppe Verdi, for ensemble.
2011: Trois caprices de Paganini, for violin and orchestra.
2011: "Dido and Aeneas" chamber opera based on
Henry Purcell's opera), for seven singers, two pianos, two brass instruments and two percussion players. Premièred in Paris,
Théâtre du Châtelet, January 2012 (concert version) conducted by Roland Hayrabedian.
2017 Two Schubert Menuets (from "Fünf Menuette mit sechs Trios"), Nº 3 and Nº 5 for octet (like Schubert's Octet).
2019: Romanze Op. 118, Nº 5 (by
Johannes Brahms), arrangement for violin and orchestra. Première: 25 APR 2019 at the Elbphiharmonie Hamburg,
Isabelle Faust, NDR Elbphilharmonie-Orchester, cond.
Antonello Manacorda.
2020: Saint François d'Assise, opera by Olivier Messiaen (re-orchestration for reduced (à 2) orchestra). Première: 15 OCT 2020 at Theater Basel, Switzerland.
Discography
2022: Tombeau de Monjeau, for piano. Mara Dobresco
CD La Scala.
2022: Chanzuns Popularas Rumanchas, for female voice and ensemble. Sarah Maria Sun and Ensemble SONGS
CD SONGS OO1.