Music - New opera festival at the "Saarpolygon" almost sold out
Approximately one and a half months before the start of the first opera festivals at the "Saarpolygon" in Ensdorf (Saarlouis district), there are barely any tickets left. "The pre-sales have been running very well. We are almost sold out," said festival director Joachim Arnold to the German Press Agency regarding the eight performances. Only a "handful of tickets" are left. Thus, approximately 14,000 people will be in the audience.
The "Saarpolygon" is a roughly 30-meter-high steel sculpture that was erected there as the central monument marking the end of mining in Saarland. From August 16 to 25, Mozart's "The Magic Flute" will be staged in this impressive setting. Over 100 artists and collaborators are involved.
Rehearsals were scheduled to begin on July 22: The rehearsal stage is the colliery building at Grube Duhamel Ensdorf, said Arnold. Then, the technical setup will begin. And starting August 7, they plan to "probe on the Polygon stage." The premiere of this two-and-a-half-hour production is planned for August 15.
The orchestra will now play in the colliery building at the foot of the landfill, according to the new plan. The stage will be transmitted to the conductor via video, and the performers can also see the conductor live. The initial plan to place the orchestra on the bridge of the "Saarpolygon" in roughly 30 meters of height has been abandoned for safety reasons.
The stage under the sculpture is roughly 300 square meters in size and ends with a six-meter-high ramp for the performers. The audience will sit in front of the "distorted triangle" in the parkett and on "an antique-looking tiered seating section" in a semicircle, said the festival director.
There will also be lighting projections and video. Stefano Poda is the choreographer and director, and Marcus Bosch will conduct the music. The budget for the festivals is roughly 1.5 million Euro, of which 400,000 Euro comes from the Saarland Economic Ministry.
The opera festivals are planned to be continued in the coming years: The "Magic Flute" will also be performed then. Arnold, who has been working on the idea of the opera festivals since 2018, is a trained pianist and conductor. He has produced numerous operas and musicals, and in 1999 he founded the Musik und Theater Saar GmbH. He has also worked at various opera and theater houses in Germany and abroad.
- The German Press Agency reported that Joachim Arnold, the festival director, mentioned the high demand for tickets for Mozart's "The Magic Flute" opera festival at the "Saarpolygon" in EnSDorf, with barely any tickets left for the eight performances.
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera "The Magic Flute" will be staged at the "Saarpolygon" in Saarlouis district, involving over 100 artists and collaborators from August 16 to 22.
- The rehearsals for "The Magic Flute" will take place at the colliery building at Grube Duhamel Ensdorf, with the technical setup beginning on July 22, and the premiere scheduled for August 15 in the steel sculpture "Saarpolygon" in Saarland.
- Due to safety concerns, the orchestra will now be positioned at the foot of the landfill, with the stage transmitted to the conductor via video, and performers able to see the conductor live, rather than on the bridge of the "Saarpolygon" at a height of approximately 30 meters.
- The opera festival in Saarlouis district will continue in the coming years, with plans to perform "The Magic Flute" again, as Joachim Arnold, a trained pianist and conductor who has been working on the idea of the opera festivals since 2018, seeks to continue promoting culture and music in Saarland.
