Sun, Apr. 19, 2026, 3.00 pm - 5.00 pm | opera stabile
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Karlheinz Stockhausen
Stockhausen for children: Michael's journey
A FANTASTIC JOURNEY AROUND THE WORLD FOR PEOPLE FROM 6 TO 110 YEARS OLD
Karlheinz Stockhausen's seven-part cycle Licht, composed between 1977 and 2005, which contains an opera for each day of the week, is a radical magnum opus. With a total duration of 29 hours, it has never before been staged in its entirety. Elisabeth Stöppler's production of Stockhausen for children: Michaels Reise, a reduced version of Act 2 Michaels Reise um die Erde from the opera Donnerstag aus Licht, in the opera stabile provides children and adults alike with sensory access to this central work of the younger musical avant-garde. In contrast to other parts of Licht, Michael's journey is a purely instrumental piece. Michael, played by a solo trumpet, travels around the world and arrives at seven different stations. And the audience is allowed to join him on his journey in this production, diving deep into the infinite vastness of space and into rarely heard sounds, produced by Kathinka Pasveer - Stockhausen's long-time accompanist - and students from the Hamburg University of Music and Theatre, among others.
Sound direction: Kathinka Pasveer
Production: Elisabeth Stöppler
Stage and costumes: Valentin Köhler
Costume collaboration: Winnie Janke
Video: Vincent Stefan Vincent Stefan
Dramaturgy: Laura Schmid
Soloist version of Michaels Reise vom Donnerstag aus Licht for a trumpeter, 9 players and sound director (1978/84)
Support from the Hapag-Lloyd Foundation and the Foundation for the Promotion of the Hamburg State Opera Cooperation with the Hamburg University of Music and Theatre in partnership with the Stockhausen Foundation for Music
