Den fjerne klang

It can be hard to see the wood for the trees. Both when it comes to art and love. The composer Fritz learns this the hard way. The artist's all-consuming pursuit of perfection is at the heart of Franz Schreker's lavishly orchestrated opera. Here we meet the young composer Fritz, who desperately tries to recreate 'the distant sound' he once heard so clearly. The project develops into an obsession that makes him give up everything - including his beloved Grete - and travel out into the world in search of the sound, which only seems to grow fainter and fainter the further away he gets. For Fritz does not understand that the sound springs from the love of his beloved. And the question is whether he will realise it before it is too late. Schreker wrote both text and music for Den fjerne klang, and it became an instant success, heralding a new golden age for German-language opera at the start of the 20th century. It was a regular part of the repertoire for 20 years, but when the Nazis came to power, Schreker's music was branded degenerate and banned, because he was Jewish. Schreker's operas are full of colourful and sensuous music, and now, fortunately, they are on their way back to the world's opera stages. The acclaimed director Christof Loy has staged it, and the chief conductor of Det Kongelige Kapel, Marie Jacquot, leads a large team of soloists with last season's critically acclaimed Apollon in Orest, Thomas Blondelle, in the leading role as Fritz. Den fjerne klang is sung in German with Danish and English surtitles. In collaboration with Kungliga Operan, Stockholm Photo: Kungliga Operan/Monika Rittershaus Recommended from age 12

• Dirigent: Marie Jacquot
• Steffen Bruun (Gamle Graumann/En politimand)
• Francine Vis (Graumanns kone/En gammel kone/En spansk danserinde)
• Maria Bengtsson (Grete/Greta/Tini)
• Thomas Blondelle (Fritz)
• William Pedersen (Kroværten/Anden korsanger)
• Andreas Landin (En skuespiller)
• Stephen Milling (Dr. Vigilius/Baronen)
• Ava Line Shokooh (Mary)
• Mathilda Sidén Silfver (Milli)
• Linnea Nordenback (Mizzi)
• Jens Søndergaard (Den unge greve/Rudolf)
• Jens Christian Tvilum (Chevallieren/Et tvivlsomt individ)
• Christian Damsgaard-Madsen (Første korsanger)