“The Traveler” as a musical melodrama

dunera.de reported on biography von Ulrich Boschwitz and on several adaptations of his novel in German-language theaters. The artistic reception is now entering a new phase: the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra has announced the premiere of “Der Reisende” (The Traveler) as a one-time performance. The piece is described as a “melodrama for narrator, female narrator, tenor, baritone, choir, recordings, and large orchestra.”

The composer and author of the libretto is Jan Müller-Wieland. He studied composition with Hans Werner Henze, one of the most important composers of the 20th century, who was also known in his work as a consistent opponent of war and fascism and as a leftist, which caused him some trouble in the Federal Republic of Germany during the Cold War.

Jan Müller-Wieland: “I am interested in music that looks ahead by looking back. For me, a future without a past is inconceivable.” Photo: Müller-Wieland website.

In terms of both composition and content, Müller-Wieland follows in the footsteps of his teacher. He was fascinated by the exile novel Der Reisende (The Traveler), which he adapted in terms of composition and libretto.

From Müller-Wieland’s perspective, the novel’s character Otto Silbermann continues to live the life of Ulrich Boschwitz’s father, who died two weeks after his son’s birth in 1915, and sets the action shortly after the November pogroms in November 1938. “The novel immediately triggered a scenario for me for an extensive melodrama for narrator (Elfriede Silbermann), narrator (Otto Silbermann), tenor (Eduard Silbermann), baritone (Otto’s colleague Becker/Elfriede’s brother), choir (the illusion, the visa), orchestra (the psyche, the brutal pressure on the Silbermanns’ apartment door) and recordings (express trains, ATM noises). The soul art of music as an escape. But the Silbermann couple does not play music in it. It is out of the question. They only speak and whisper to each other, as if they still had something to say.”

From the outset, Müller-Wieland assigns the orchestra a dramaturgical task: “The scenario began and begins with a dissonant primal sound in the orchestra, a kind of battering ram. This represents the brutal pressure on the Silbermanns’ apartment door.” Among other things, he picks up on the pop song “Das ist die Berliner Luft” (That’s the Berlin Air) musically. The choir accompanies Otto Silbermann’s train journeys until his “arrest, the madness, as the young Boschwitz – a contemporary Büchner – put it in a dramatic way.”

The Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra scheduled the world premiere of “Der Reisende” as a special concert in its series “80 Years Since the End of World War II 2025” and aptly for November 9, the anniversary of the Nazi pogroms against the Jews. However, the musical melodrama is not only intended to denounce flight and expulsion, but also to highlight “the hope, longing, and humanity that find their place even in the greatest despair,” writes the Dresden Philharmonic.

It is very gratifying that Ulrich Noethen and Birgit Minichmayr, two well-known character actors from German-language theater and cinema, have been won over for the project. Singers Kangyoon Shine Lee and Michael Borth have extensive experience with both classical and modern music literature.

“The Traveler”
By Jan Müller-Wieland, based on the novel by Ulrich Boschwitz.

World premiere on Sunday, November 9, at 6 p.m. at the Kulturpalast Dresden (Schloßstraße 2, 01067 Dresden). At 5 p.m., Jan Müller-Wieland will give an introduction to the evening.

More info and tickets

Contributors:
Conductor: Gergely Madaras. Narrators: Ulrich Noethen (Otto Silbermann), Birgit Minichmayr (Elfriede Silbermann). Singers: Kangyoon Shine Lee (tenor), Michael Borth (baritone). Dresden Philharmonic Choir, kammerchor cantamus, Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra.

Ulrich Noethen and Birgit Minichmayr play the roles of the Silbermann couple. Photos: Irene Zandel; Rainer Werner (Burgtheater).

At the age of only 27, Ulrich Boschwitz fell victim to the sinking of the Abosso.

To the Dunera biography