Harakiri
Scene with music
Commissioned by WDR, Cologne
Description
First performance: September 1973, Bonn, Germany
Tokk – Ensemble Tokyo
Language: japanese and homelanguage
Based on the libretto of István Bálint
Written in 1973, Harakiri is based on the libretto providing by a Hungarian poet: István Bálint. He wrote it when he heard about the harakiri committed by Yukio Mishima on 25 November 1970. He committed the ritual suicide crowning his oeuvre focusing on the unity of life and art after five years of preparation.
István Bálint combines the antecedents of the harakiri with a motif well-known from an Andersen tale: the story of the pea put under the mattresses. The main character getting prepared to die returns the seven mattresses to the key figures of his life. The trivial Hungarian sentences were translated into Japanese.
Synopsis
Performances
Eötvös: Secret kiss, Harakiri
Tokyo Bunka Kaikan
Ryoko Aoki
9 March, Tokyo, Japan
Eötvös: Harakiri
Thomas Piercy / Storyteller
Christopher Yohmei Blasdel / Shakuhachi
Reison Kuroda /Shakuhachi
Go Mochizuki / Hyoshigi
Eötvös: Harakiri
Hidejiro, Honjoh, Thomas Piercy, Elizabeth Brown, Jun Ando
"Tokyo to New York" Concerts. NYC
Eötvös: Harakiri
The Japan Foundation
Budapest Music Center
Ryoko Aoki
Eötvös: Harakiri
Prague Shakuhachi Festival 2015
Kuniyoshi Sugawara, Yuji Kikuo and Christopher Yohmei Blasdel
Eötvös: Harakiri
October 12, 2014
cafeBudapest
Contemporary Music Festival
Ryoko Aoki
Eötvös: Two poems to Polly, Cadenza, Harakiri
Alter Ego Ensemble (Roma)
International Bartók Festival
Eötvös: Harakiri
21 May, 2014
Ryoko Aoki
Eötvös: Harakiri
le Balcon ensemble
Musical Director: Maxime Pascal
Église Saint-Merry
Eötvös: Harakiri,Two poems to Polly, Natasha, Sonata per sei
Rheingau Festival
Ensemble Modern
Eötvös: Radames, Harakiri
Berliner Kammeroper
Staging: Kay Kuntze
Cast:
Radames/Aida: Tim Severloh
Film director: Nicholas Isherwood
Theater director: David Schröder
Opera director: Annette Schönmüller
Conductor and E-piano: Philip Mayers
Philipp Krüger (Tuba), Christian Raake (Sopransaxophon) and Anton Richter (Horn)
Eötvös: Radames, Harakiri
Berliner Kammeroper
Staging: Kay Kuntze
Cast:
Radames/Aida: Tim Severloh
Film director: Nicholas Isherwood
Theater director: David Schröder
Opera director: Annette Schönmüller
Conductor and E-piano: Philip Mayers
Philipp Krüger (Tuba), Christian Raake (Sopransaxophon) and Anton Richter (Horn)
Eötvös: Radames, Harakiri
Berliner Kammeroper
Staging: Kay Kuntze
Cast:
Radames/Aida: Tim Severloh
Film director: Nicholas Isherwood
Theater director: David Schröder
Opera director: Annette Schönmüller
Conductor and E-piano: Philip Mayers
Philipp Krüger (Tuba), Christian Raake (Sopransaxophon) and Anton Richter (Horn)
Eötvös: Radames, Harakiri
Berliner Kammeroper
Staging: Kay Kuntze
Cast:
Radames/Aida: Tim Severloh
Film director: Nicholas Isherwood
Theater director: David Schröder
Opera director: Annette Schönmüller
Conductor and E-piano: Philip Mayers
Philipp Krüger (Tuba), Christian Raake (Sopransaxophon) and Anton Richter (Horn)
Eötvös: Radames, Harakiri
Berliner Kammeroper
Staging: Kay Kuntze
Cast:
Radames/Aida: Tim Severloh
Film director: Nicholas Isherwood
Theater director: David Schröder
Opera director: Annette Schönmüller
Conductor and E-piano: Philip Mayers
Philipp Krüger (Tuba), Christian Raake (Sopransaxophon) and Anton Richter (Horn)
Eötvös: Harakiri
3, 4, 6, 7, 8 Februar, 2012
28 April, 2012
Stage director: Kay Kuntze
Annette Schönmüller, soprano
Dietmar Herriger and Christian Raake
Eötvös: Harakiri
Ensemble Alter Ego
Ryoko Aoki
Japanese Institute of Culture
Eötvös: Harakiri
May 19-20, 2011
Eötvös: Harakiri
Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana
Mizue Furukawa
Giulia Matteucci
Julia Garanikova
Luigi Gaggero
Silvana Torto
Eötvös: Harakiri
Musée d'Art Moderne Linea Ensemble
Kiyoko Okada
Mario Caroli
Keiko Murakami
Michael Pattmann
Eötvös: Music for New York, Harakiri, Drei Madrigalkomödien
Eötvös:
Music for New York (Ladányi, Horváth Csaba)
Harakiri (Csengery)
Drei Madrigalkomödien (Tomkins Ens., Dobra)
Katona József Theatre
Eötvös: Insetti Galanti, Hochzeitsmadrigal, Harakiri, Music for New York
Budapest Chamber Opera
October 27-31
Eötvös' portrait
Eötvös' portrait
Time of Music Festival
Kosmos (Jukka Tiensuu)
Kosmos (Emil Holmström, Joonas Ahonen)
Derwishtanz (Päivi Kiljala, Heikki Nikula, Kaisa Koivula)
Psy (Mikael Helasvuo, roi Ruottinen, Joonas Ahonen)
Drei Madrigalkomödien (Finnish Radio Chamber Choir)
Harakiri (Mikael Helasvuo, Lauri Toivio, Piia Komsi, Kari Kaarna, Reijo Kela)
Windsequenzen (Uusinta - Zagros Ensemble, cond. Susanna Mälkii)
Two poems to Polly (Roi Ruottinen)
4-5-6 July, Time of Music Festival
Eötvös: Harakiri
Time of Music Festival
July 4-6
Mikael Helasvuo
Lauri Tolvio
Piia Komsi
Kari Kaama
Reijo Kela
Eötvös: Harakiri, Drei Madrigalkomödien, Radames
Budapest Chamber Opera
Eötvös: Harakiri, Drei Madrigalkomödien, Radames
Budapest Chamber Opera
Eötvös: Harakiri
29-30 December 1997
Eötvös: Harakiri
Video: Hungarian Television 1993
Eötvös: Harakiri
30 November 1988
Eötvös: Harakiri
15 March, 1987
Eötvös: Harakiri
22 November, 1986
Eötvös: Harakiri - World premiere
September 1973
Tokk Ensemble Tokyo
Details
Publisher information
Edition Ricordi München (Sy 3225)
Cast
1 performer (in Japanese), 1 Narrator (home-language)
Orchestration
Orchestration to shakuhachi
or
2 bassclarinets, 1 wood-cutter or hyoshigi (performer or musician).
The composer prefers the bass clarinet version.