ANDREA LORENZO SCARTAZZINI (*1971)
EDWARD II., OPERA IN 10 SCENES
Edward II. – Michael Nagy
Isabella – Agneta Eichenholz
Piers de Gaveston – Ladislav Elgr
Roger Mortimer – Andrew Harris
Walter Langton, Bishop of Coventry –
Burkhard Ulrich
Lightborn – James Kryshak
Angel – Jarrett Ott
2 Soldiers / 2 Councillors / 2 Clerics /
2 Guards / 2 Tour Guides – Markus Brück,
Gideon Poppe
Prince Edward – Mattis van Hasselt
Choir of the Deutsche Oper Berlin
Choir Director: Raymond Hughes
Orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin
Conductor: Thomas Søndergård
When one selects the subject of a gay king and his tragic story for an opera, the aspect of
homosexuality is naturally at the foreground, as is the question of whether such a subject
is still relevant in Central Europe in view of the strivings for equal rights there. Edward II is
not the rst “gay” opera and will surely not be the last one, either. But most dramas concerning relationships
in literature and opera have always focussed on the classical heterosexual constellation.
Telling more stories about love between people of the same sex, however, does not necessary have
to be due to current political reality. Rather, it is a sign of a growing social variety that is also re ected
in contemporary art. (Andrea Lorenzo Scartazzini)