The opera Marnie by Nico Muhly, with a libretto by Nicholas Wright, receives its German premiere at the Theater Freiburg on January 14. The philharmonic orchestra and the choir Freiburg are conducted by André de Ridder. The opera is directed by Peter Carp, and Kaspar Zwimpfer is responsible for the set design.
Marnie is based on the novel by Winston Graham, by special arrangement with Universal Pictures. The story was already brought to the screen by Hitchcock in 1964. In his opera, Muhly examines the cost of freedom, the limitations of forgiveness and the impossibility of escaping the past.
A young woman, Marnie, lives in England in the late 1950s and makes her way through life by embezzling from her employers, before she moves on and changes her identity. Caught red-handed by her boss Mark Rutland, he blackmails her into an initially loveless marriage. She is left with no choice but to confront the hidden trauma from her past of which her damaged life has been the result.
Marnie was commissioned by The Metropolitan Opera and had its debut in November 2017 at the English National Opera.
The premiere is followed by five performances taking place on: January 19, February 3, April 6, April 23 and May 20. For more information, see the website of Theater Freiburg.
