The Lighthouse
text & music: Peter Maxwell Davies

Set & Costumes........Conor Murphy
Light design........Norbert Chmel
Conductor........Walter Kobéra

première: 25 July 2001 Semperdepot, Vienna, Austria
company: Klangbogen Wien / Neue Oper Wien

Reviews

Caught in the fog, horror and death
--- actually, no composer since Britten has managed to capture the sea with more unforgiving, magnificent and unsentimental tones. Neither since Britten ( in "Turn of the Screw") has there been a composer who has known how to convey horror, psychological entanglements and extreme situations more suggestively.
The staging by Carlos Wagner
Thus "The Lighthouse" becomes an opera, which is indestructible. Nevertheless, precisely because of its multi-layered ness, few stagings are entirely successful. On the whole directors try to define too much. But it is precisely the ambiguity which Carlos Wagner risks in his production for 'Neue Oper Wien', which make it a triumph: With filmic precision the horror-trip is heightened without becoming concrete. With the knowledge that the worst horrors take place in the mind, Wagner predominantly suggests, instead of forcing ideas onto the audience. He finds support in Conor Murphy's stark, simply ideal design of the space, and the imaginative lighting of Norbert Chmel. This production offers Erik Årman, Steven Scheschareg and Steven Gallop the basis for their oppressive and subtly nuanced characterisation of the lighthouse keepers and the three officers --- Of all the six productions of "The Lighthouse" that I know, this one - despite the somewhat bumpy German translation - is by far the best: Nail biting, modern music theatre.

Wiener Zeitung

Chamber-opera Thriller
For the opera-thriller "The Lighthouse" the team has taken perfect advantage of the towering backdrop that the  Semperdepot offers. But also in the depths it is eerie
(responsible for the sinister, but appropriate design Conor Murphy, for the impressive lighting Norbert Chmel) --- Carlos Wagner is well matched to this thrilling psycho-drama: In the prologue he succeeded in portraying the officers as plotting conspirators. A balance of naturalism and careful stylisation prevailed --- Sandy's lascivious ballad was the climax of the action, where the Semperdepot with its height of over 30 meters offered an imposing backdrop, with ladder, turning light and further apparitions in the upper storeys.

Der Standard

Gripping thriller in the tower
--- this year: Peter Maxwell Davies' "The Lighthouse". When one is in possession of such a high, tower-like space, a short opera like "The Lighthouse" almost begs to be staged in it --- The blinding flashes are not only portrayed in the set (Conor Murphy) but also in the rearing up of Maxwell Davies' score. The three lighthouse keepers portrayed by Erik Årman, Steven Scheschareg, and Steven Gallop, are well drawn by the director Carlos Wagner. They also vocally offer performances to match the space. Equally genuine: The Amadeus Ensemble under the conductor Walter Kobéra. In a word: a recommendable evening.

Neue Kronen Zeitung