HANSEL AND GRETEL

Hansel and Gretel is a fairy tale of Germanic origin, recorded by the Brothers Grimm. Hansel and Gretel are the young children of a poor woodcutter. They have an evil step-mother who convinces the father to abandon the children in the woods as there is not enough food to feed the whole family. Hansel, aware of the plan, leaves a trail of pebbles back to the house so he and his sister find their way back home. The next night Hansel leaves a trail of bread-crumbs but they get eaten by hungry birds and the two children get lost in the woods. After wandering around, Hansel and Gretel stumble across a house made of gingerbread and other confectionery. They are very hungry and begin to eat it. It is owned by an evil old witch.

DON JUAN OR THE FEAST WITH THE STATUE

Sexual tragicomedy

Director Boris Cavazza

Premiere 15 April 2011, Old hall

Don Juan or The Feast with the Statue (Dom Juan ou le Festin de pierre) is a French play by Molière, based on the legend of Don Juan. Don Juan is the last part in Molière’s hypocrisy trilogy, which also includes The School for Wives and Tartuffe. It was first performed on February 15, 1665, in the Palais-Royal, with Molière playing the role of Sganarelle.

Don Juan is essentially a casanova. He exasperates his servant Sganarelle and must constantly be extricated from sticky situations by his disapproving father. He excels at trapping countless women because he engages in secret, mock marriages that appease the girls but leave him with no strings attached when he gets tired of them. He has most recently lured the beautiful Elvire from a convent to “marry” him in this manner. Despite Sganarelle’s indignation and warnings of Heaven’s wrath, Don Juan has left Elvire and now plans to ensnare the fiancée of a friend.

GOGA, WONDERFUL TOWN

Based on texts by Slavko Grum

Drama of  Slovenian family perversions

Director Sebastijan Horvat

Premiere 19 March 2011, Old hall

A drama about the psychopathic life in the provincial town of Goga must be one of the most intriguing Slovenian plays. In it, Grum presents a psychological profile of sociopaths. The story in Grum’s famous play An event in the town Goga focuses on Hana, who was sexually abused as a child and now feels repulsed by anything sexual. When she returns to her town awareness of her life helps her to free herself from physical violence. However, Goga remains a play about individuals feeling trapped, about the burning desire to escape the everyday life and the yearning for an event that would change the stifling atmosphere in the town. Unfortunately, Goga offers no salvation; everyone remains a victim of his or her oppressed and unfulfilled passions.

Romantic love comedy

Director Janusz Kica

Premiere 15 January 2011, Old hall

Twelfth Night, or What You Will (1601) is a comedy by William Shakespeare (1564–1616), one of the world’s greatest dramatist.

Viola, cross dresses and takes the man’s name of Cesario. Viola enters the service of the Duke of Illyria, Orsino. Orsino longs for the love of a neighbouring countess. Viola (Cesario) then falls in love with Orsino. To add to the farce Viola’s (Cesario) identical twin, Sebastian arrives on the scene. Living in Olivia’s household is her uncle, Sir Toby Belch, a merry character. The steward of the household is the conceited Malvolio.The plot illustrates jealousy, mistaken Identity, cross-dressing and features fights and duels. In the end Sebastian and Olivia fall in love and marry. Orsino realises that it is Viola that he loves and she agrees to marry him. Sir Toby Belch and Maria also decide to marry! Twelfth Night ends and everyone, except Malvolio, is happy and Shakespeare speaks of the madness of love.

STEEL CHICKENS

Based on texts by Italian futurists

Futuristic comedy

Director Vito Taufer

Premiere 20 November 2010, Old hall

Filippo Tommaso Emilio Marinetti (1876–1944), the founder of the Futurist movement,  wrote in 1908 the Futurist Manifesto. In their works of art the Futurists tried to capture the experience of a modern world transformed by steam engines, electricity, automobiles, locomotives, and aeroplanes.

Instead of standing aloof from the experience of the modern
world, Futurist artists threw themselves into the battle against a suffocating past and for a liberating future. From the beginning of the movement, the Futurists treated the performing
arts as one of their favourite means of expression. Theatrical evenings in playhouses (serate) were used to disseminate the political and artistic aims of the movement. More radical in conception and execution were the street actions, ‘political action theatre’. Futurism soon began to operate in more professional theatrical surroundings. The new dramatic genre of sintesi had been proclaimed by Marinetti, Settimelli, and Corra in their manifesto The Futurist Synthetic Theatre: A-technical, Dynamic, Simultaneous, Autonomous, A-logical, Un-real.
Despite the upheavals caused by the First World War, Futurist theatre evenings continued to be organized and new ideas and forms were experimented with.

ANTIGONE

Problematical political drama

Director Sebastijan Horvat

Premiere 24 September 2010, Small Stage

Dominik Smole (1929–1992) was a Slovenian playwrighter, sharp thinker who lucidly analyzed his surroundings. His works echo the existentialist issues of contemporary modern literature. His literature can be read both as a critical account of totalitarian reality, as well as a global metaphor on the tragic essence of the human condition.

His most important poetic play, Antigona (”Antigone”), written in 1960. The play is conceived as a remake of Sophocles’ famous play, where everything revolves around an Antigone who never appears on the stage. Before the beginning of the play’s action, Eteocles and Polyneices, two brothers leading opposite sides in Thebes’ civil war, died fighting each other for the throne. Creon, the new ruler of Thebes, has declared that Eteocles will be honored and Polyneices disgraced – unburied on the battlefield. Ismene, sister of the dead brothers, wants to bury Polyneices’ body. She convinced sister Antigona, which “in corpore” does not appear on the stage, to help her. After long searching, Ismena gives up, but she is unable to dissuade Antigone from going to bury her brother herself. In the last scene a Creont’s Page enters and report that the body has been buried.

Viva la France, Thursday, 14th April 2011, Grand Hall

Chamber ensemble of Symphonic orchestra SNG Maribor:

Igor Grasseli – violin

Jannis Vagenas – violin

Rostyslav Denysyuk – viola

Nikolaj Sajko – violoncello

Tadej Kenig – clarinet

Mateja Kremljak – flute

Tina Žerdin – harp

Program:

Jacques Ibert: Deux interludes suivi de Carillon for flute, violin and harp

Albert Roussel: Sérénade, op. 30 for flute, violin, viola, violoncello and harp

Aleš Strajnar: World premiere of composition for string quartet, flute, clarinet and harp

Jean Francaix: Quintet for clarinet and string quartet

Maurice Ravel: Introduction et allegro for string quartet, flute, clarinet and harp

Busina Brass, Thursday, 24th February 2011

Marko Bobičanec – trumpet

Krunoslav Zver – trumpet

Miro Markuš – horn

Ivan Bošnjak – trombone

Željko Kertez – tuba

Program:

A. Sullivan: Overture to opera HMS Pinafore or The Lass that Loved a Sailor

J. S. Bach: Prelude and Fugue in G minor, No. 16 from The Well-Tempered Clavier

J. S. Bach: Contrapunctus No. I from The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080

G. Bizet/Canadian Brass: Suite from opera Carmen

I. Luis: Paravent

G. Gershwin: Four Hits for Five

P. Jones: Hiplips II (arr. Donald Pearson)

Melrose, David, Pollack: Tin Roof Blues
L. Henderson: Glory, Look Away

M. Ottolini: Buster Keaton Blues

P. R. Buttal: Samba … alla Turca!

The voice of the past, Thursday, 20th January 2011

Chamber ensemble of Symphonic orchestra SNG Maribor

Soloist: Max Emanuel Cenčič, countertenor

Concert of Advent and Christmas Songs, Thursday 16th and Monday 20th  December 2010

Choir of Opera and Ballet SNG Maribor

Conductor: Robert Mraček

Program:

Jacobus Gallus: Alleluia, Cantate Domino

Valentin Štolcer: Rajske strune

Leopold Belar: Glej, zvezdice božje

arr. Matija Tomc: Poslušajte vsi ljudje

arr. Matija Tomc: Tam stoji pa hlevček

Andrej Vavken: Zveličar dans se je rodil

G. F. Händel: 1. chorus (No. 4) from Messiah: And the glory of the Lord (HWV 56)

J. S. Bach: Das neugebor’ne Kindelein

O Jesulein süss

German song from 15th century, arr. R. Mraček: Cvet je vzbrstel prelepi

Sergei Rachmaninoff: Bogoroditse Devo

Leopold Cvek:  Raduj človek moj

John Francis Wade, arr. R. Mraček: Adeste fideles

Aleksander Vodopivec: Otrok v božični noči

Frank Loesser, arr. P. Keveren and R. Mraček: What are you doing New Year’s eve

Negro spiritual, arr. Lasse Axelsson: Swing low

Adolphe Charles Adam: O holy night

Sally de Ford: Guard Him, Joseph

Traditional West country carol, arr. Arthur Warrel: A merry Christmas

James Pierpont, arr. Gordon Langford: Jingle Bells