Switzerland Beat Furrer, Das Grosse Feuer: Soloists, Extras Association of Zurich Opera, Cantando Admont, Philharmonia Zurich / Beat Furrer (conductor). Zurich Opera, 23.3.2025. (MF)
Zurich Opera, who commissioned this work, brings to the stage the world premiere of Das Grosse Feuer by Swiss-born composer (and conductor, in this case) Beat Furrer.
Furrer sets to music the libretto by Austrian writer Thomas Stangl which is in turn based on Eisejuaz, a novel by Argentinian journalist and writer Sara Gallardo (1931 – 1988). While on a journalistic assignment on the borders of the Argentinian Gran Chaco forest, Gallardo had met Eisejuaz, an indigenous shaman brought up by Christian missionaries. Originally, the account of her encounter with Eisejuaz appeared as a newspaper article. Gallardo went on to develop the material into the eponymous novel which was first published in 1971. Eisejuaz is by now regarded as a literary classic in Argentina. The book is set against the backdrop of colonial exploitation in northern Argentina, describing the oppression and cultural alienation of the indigenous people.
Fifty years later, the opera tells Eisejuaz’s story as an inner monologue from the protagonist’s perspective in non-linear narration. Time levels, reality and dreams overlap. The singers perform simultaneously and alternately in German and Spanish. Forced, as a child, to flee from the forests in escape of famine to the city of white men, Eisejuaz grows up in a Christian mission. His life remains torn between the two worlds. On the one hand, he is deeply rooted in the animist spirituality of his indigenous community. Having to work in a sawmill, he hears the voices of the wood and remains connected to supernatural animal angels. On the other hand, brought up by Christian missionaries, he is a devout follower of Christ the Lord. A ‘voice of the Lord’ tells him to save a human life. He projects this mission of unconditional charity onto Paqui, a white racist with nothing but disdain for the indigenous people. Eisejuaz encounters Paqui lying in the mud, facing death. Driven by his mission, Eisejuaz saves Paqui and cares for him until Paqui betrays Eisejuaz by impersonating a grotesque saviour figure. As a consequence, Eisejuaz loses his wife, his home, his cultural orientation and ultimately his life. All of this tragedy notwithstanding, the opera’s ending leaves room for the possibility of salvation.
Beat Furrer develops the opera’s musical cosmos out of the narrative style of multiple voices. He combines instrumental and vocal sounds of a staggering array. The orchestra acts as a resonating space and creates a web of varied voices. It sings, screams or whispers, as does the chorus, which is a character in itself. By his own account, Furrer developed the opera from a choral principle. The twelve-voice vocal ensemble was the starting point of the composition. Choral spheres representing the songs of the forest woods are carried forward by solo protagonists, allowing for a development of widely spaced polyphonic and mostly atonal structures.
For this Zurich premiere, Furrer could rely on the Austrian ensemble Cantando Admont, founded a decade ago and still led by Swiss born Cordula Bürgi. Cantando Admont are experts on contemporary pieces, including in particular Furrer’s choral works, but also on sixteenth- and seventeenth-century vocal music. Their sound is more three-dimensional than a traditional opera choir’s, not least due to their mastery of old tunings, microtonality and overtones. The score transcends the usual separation of choir and soloists. The supporting roles emerge from the vocal ensemble and then blend in again, allowing for fluidity that reflects Eisejuaz’s loss of orientation. The equally etheric and raw diversity of musical expression, tension and dynamism created by Philharmonia Zurich under the baton of composer Furrer himself and the vocal magicians of Cantando Admont is spellbinding.
The main character Eisejuaz is sung, shouted, murmured and aspirated by formidable English baritone Leigh Melrose, an acclaimed specialist of modern and contemporary works. He is on the stage for the entire two hours of the performance without interval. A Herculean task he delivers admirably, to the excitement of this reviewer and the entire audience. The other main roles, in particular villain Paqui performed by Andrew Moore, Eisejuaz’s lover Aquella Muchacha (Sarah Aristidou) and Ayo, the other shaman (Ruben Drole), are fiendishly demanding as well, even if the performers are not on the stage the entire time.
Co-directors Tatjana Gürbaca and Vivien Hohnholz illustrate the chilling parallels to current political developments and contemporary life without overstating the obvious. Eisejuaz finds himself in a world out of balance, represented by a giant tilted rotating disc, and dominated by lying pied pipers such as Paqui, hypocrites such as the missionary Reverendo (Hugo Paulsson Stove) and brutes such as Selim (Christoph Brunner). The protagonist has lost, or is made to lose, his connection with nature and is forced to rely on fake news. The timeless contemporary-style costumes (Silke Willrett) are of eerie simplicity. They distinguish between the creatures and spirits of nature in brown/green tones and the colonists in grey blue, adding to the unease hovering in the atmosphere. The setting requires open senses and perception of detail, the sort of attention it would benefit us all to bring to the world.
With Das Grosse Feuer Zurich opera extends an invitation to take a rare auditory, visual and sensory ride. I would urge anyone who can to accept it and performances run until 11 April.
Michael Fischer
Production:
Director – Tatjana Gürbaca
Co-Director – Vivien Hohnholz
Set – Henrik Ahr
Costumes – Silke Willrett
Lighting – Stefan Bolliger
Vocal ensemble conductor – Cordula Bürgi
Dramaturgy – Claus Spahn
Cast:
Eisejuaz – Leigh Melrose
Paqui – Andrew Moore
The old Chahuanca 1 – Cornelia Sonnleithner
The old Chahuanca 2 – Helena Sorokina
The old Chahuanca 3 – Piroska Nyffenegger
Aquella Muchacha – Sarah Aristidou
Selim – Christoph Brunner
Lucia 1 – Friederike Kühl
Lucia 2 – Patricia Auchterlonie
Mauricia – Elina Viluma-Helling
Reverendo – Hugo Paulsson Stove
Ayó – Ruben Drole
Gomez – Piotr Pieron
Pocho Zavalla / Yadi – Ferdinand Junghänel
A woman / Voice of a nurse – Filippa Möres Busch
A Hunter / The Bus driver – David de Winter
Limping Old Man – Bernd Lambauer