Detlev Glanert (*1960)
Oceane
A summer piece for music in two acts
Libretto by Hans-Ulrich Treichel
based on the fragment of Oceane von
Parceval by Theodor Fontane
Maria Bengtsson Oceane von Parceval
Nikolai Schukoff Martin von Dircksen
Christoph Pohl Dr. Albert Felgentreu
Nicole Haslett Kristina
Albert Pesendorfer Pastor Baltzer
Doris Soffel Madame Louise
Stephen Bronk Georg
Choir and Orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin
Donald Runnicles, conductor
Detlev Glanert (b. 1960) is a contemporary German
composer who found early success with his opera Der
Spiegel des großen Kaisers (‘The Big Emperor’s Mirror’),
which won the Rolf Liebermann Opera Award in 1995.
His newest stage work, Oceane, was premiered on April
28, 2019 at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. It enthused both
the audience and critics and was hailed as “one of the
most exciting new operas of recent times” by the Berlin
newspaper Der Tagesspiegel. Glanert and the writer Hans-
Ulrich Treichel conceived the libretto loosely according to
Theodor Fontane's fragment Oceane von Parceval. It tells
the story of Oceane, a mystical female creature of the sea,
that comes to land in search of the ability to feel emotions.
The world premiere recording was recorded by the
Orchestra and Choir of the Deutsche Oper Berlin under
the baton of Donald Runnicles. Maria Bengtsson excels
with her ethereal silver soprano voice in the title role; the
tenor Nikolai Schukoff as Martin von Dircksen succeeds in
portraying the human inability to recognise the true essence
of a creature beyond a dazzling exterior.