Nancy Rhodes Stages

DEATH IN VENICE

in Stockholm, Sweden

Music by Benjamin Britten
Libretto by Myfanwy Piper
Based on the short story by Thomas Mann
German Translation by Claus Henneberg and Hans Keller
Piano reduction by Colin Matthews
Directed by Nancy Rhodes
Conducted by Hannu Bister
Scenography by Styrbjörn Engström
Performed at Göta Lejon Theatre, Stockholm

1984 Scandinavian Premiere

“[The] scenographer together with director Nancy Rhodes from the U.S.A. have created something far beyond the usual.” - Soren Engblom, Expressen

On March 11, Stockholm’s Musik Dramatiska Ensemble (SMDE) had its Scandinavian premiere with Benjamin Britten’s last opera, Death In Venice. It is based on Thomas Mann’s short story. Death in Venice, performed in Swedish, is about a writer who, frustrated by the emptiness his life has ended up in, lets himself be taken to Venice. There, he encounters beauty, passion and his own death, or rebirth, if you will.

STAFF
Costumes (Ramon Cavaller)
Makeup/masks (Helena Ekenger, Gunilla Gränsbo, Barbro Malmström)
Lighting (Torkel Blomkvist)
Choreography (Saeed Hooshidar)
Arrangement (Stiftelsen, Stockholms MusikDramastika Ensemble)
Music (Hel operaorkester)
Assistant Director (Karin Persson)
Builders (Sona Fricker and Bengt Svedberg)
Costume Studio (Carina Edlund, Gunilla Hällström, Cecilia Iversen, Annika Liljegren, Christin Olsson)
Tailor (Eric Sporrong)
Répétiteur (László Hórvath)
Prompter (Evabritt Selén)
Props Master (Max Kern Hansen)
Translation (Palaemona Mörner)
Publisher (Reimers)
Production Manager (Gertrud Sivall, Karin Persson)
Executive Producer (Robert Carleson)
Production Assistant (Max Kern Hansen)
Information Manager (Palaemona Mörner)
Information Assistant (Christer Behnke)
Program (Palaemona Mörner)
Photography (Véronique Gauffin, Ingrid Rossi)
Hotel Guests and Residents of Venice (Stockholms MuskDramatiska Ensemble)

CAST
Gustav von Aschenbach (Matti Juhani, tenor)
The Traveller who also sings
The Elderly Fop
The Old Gondolier
The Hotel Manager
The Hotel Barber
The Leader of the Players
The Voice of Dionysus
(Mikael Samuel, baritone)
Tadzio (Jon Lars Johansson)
The Hotel Concierge (Lars Cleveman, tenor)

CHORUS
Irene Bernius: German mother
Marie-Louise Carlsson: Venetian
Susie Edlarsson: girl, Venetian
Cattis Feuer girl, hotel guest, Venetian
Annika Halvarsson: English lady
Asa Holmberg: Tadzio’s mother, musician
Asa King: girl, Finnish lady
Annika Littwold: Voice of Apollo, French girl
Gabriella Lockwall: Girl, Tadzio’s sister
Angela Rotondo: strawberry saleswoman, hotel guest
Ann-Charlotte Rudenstedt: girl, hotel guest, newspaper woman
Helene Sundqvist: saleswoman, hotel guest
Anna Ahnell: girl, hotel guest
Almudena Arques: Russian nurse, hotel guest
Ann Eklöf: Tadzio’s sister
Ika Hidemark: Russian girl
Ann Johansson: Russian nurse
Ulrika Lautman: girl, Venetian
Elisabeth Medin: beggar
Lena Tolstoy: one of the ancestors
Anneli Akerberg: Venetian
Anna Östlund: French mother
Sigge Andreasson: boat passenger, hotel child guest, glass blower
John Haataja: boat passenger, American, gondolier
Kenneth Nilsson: ancestor, boat passenger, travel agency clerk
Lars Palerius: boat passenger, Venetian, musician
Urban Amlert: steward, hunchback, hotel guest
Benny Andersson: boat passenger, travel agency clerk, gondolier
Tore Bloomberg: boat passenger, guide
Olof Hedberg: ancestor, priest
Peter Lagergren: ancestor, Apollon
Mattias Milder: boat passenger, waiter
Nils Norberg: blind man, boat passenger, hotel guest
Christer Sköldebo: boat passenger, bellboy
Arne Stenstedt: ancestor, German father
Magnus Karlsson: Jaschiu, Tadzio’s friend
Stefan Lagerström: the beggar’s child, one of Tadzio’s comrades
Thomas Swanholm: Russian boy, one of Tadzio’s comrades
Adam Axelsson: hotel child guest, one of Tadzio’s comrades
Fredrik Lyrberg (one of Tadzio’s comrades)