The box

‘Mr Hauser is simply one of the best drummers alive.’
– New York Times

A new living room opera by Fritz Hauser and Boa Baumann

Three of Australia’s most innovative arts companies come together to present a new chamber opera by Switzerland’s Fritz Hauser who is renowned for his explorations of sound and space, in collaboration with architect Boa Baumann (Switzerland). With a libretto by Aphids Artistic Director Willoh S. Weiland, featuring soprano soloist Deborah Kayser, a trio of Speak Percussionists, and a box.

Hauser and Baumann’s collaborative partnership spans more than 20 years, during which time they have worked together on both performance and architectural projects. These have included SCHALLMACHINE with Aphids and Speak Percussion which took audiences literally underneath Federation Square for the 2006 Melbourne Festival; going on to perform in Basel’s Kaserne in 2007. They have designed houses, vineyards and even castles – Castel Burio in the Piedmont in Italy has been the subject of their architectural experiments since the 1970s. This extraordinary relationship is subject of a major retrospective at the Zug Kunsthaus in Switzerland, and is chronicled in an 80 page full colour publication.

As the featured artist in the 2013 Lucerne Music Festival, Fritz Hauser’s THE BOX begins its life in Melbourne and will undoubtedly travel to many other places before arriving in Lucerne.

Chamber Made Opera’s Living Room Opera series began in 2010, with contemporary opera lovers donating their living rooms and in many cases the commission fee that enables these new works to come into existence.

CREDITS

Concept, Music, Space, Object – Fritz Hauser with Boa Baumann (Switzerland)
Libretto – Willoh S. Weiland
Soprano – Deborah Kayser
Percussion – Eugene Ughetti, Matthias Schack-Arnott & Leah Scholes
Couture – Alexi Freeman & Tessa Blazey