MEDIATHEK

In 2001 the Staatsoper Hamburg embarked on a journey to introduce more young people to opera. This new series – “opera piccola” – broke new ground in Germany by feature children as the performers and musicians. Since then thousands of children have experienced opera as musical theater performed by their peers. Significantly, the Staatsoper Hamburg has also contributed to the genre “Kinderoper” by commissioning new works, of which this, “The Sinbadventurers” is the most recent. It was decided to integrate local history into the opera, hence the references to Hamburg, the Elbe river, the medieval city of Rungholt, and the exchange of Heligoland with the British for Zanzibar.

First and foremost among the many aims of this project is that young people should experience all of the aspects of opera – singing, acting, staging, lighting, orchestra – just in a smaller version. No amplification is used, and only live music. To accommodate the less powerful voices of children, the performances take place on a smaller stage, where the audience is never more than a few meters from the performers on stage.

The children are cast each year anew, and the musicians are selected from Hamburg youth orchestras. The singers range from 8-18 years old, the musicians are 13-21. All productions are double cast, which enables more children to take part, and also ensures that cast members can cover for each other in the event of illness. The participants are not paid; they only receive a stipend to cover public transportation to and from the opera house.

The singers rehearse with the musical staff three afternoons a week for 8 weeks to train their voices and learn their roles; after memorizing their parts, they work with the stage director for 10 weeks to refine their acting skills and learn the staging. In the week leading up to the premiere, the children are excused from their normal school responsibilities and rehearse every day with the orchestra, which has 16 rehearsals with the conductor over a period of five months. It is an incredibly demanding project for the children, most of whom are in school every day from 8 in the morning until 4 in the afternoon, even the younger ones. This does not discourage them, rather the children are especially excited to undertake something unique which sets them apart from their peers.

While it is not the aim of the *opera piccola* to produce future opera singers, many have gone on to study music and are now singing in opera houses in Germany.