All performances of Circus Days and Nights, the new opera by legendary composer Philip Glass and circus company Cirkus Cirkör, will be live streamed. World premiere set for May 29 at Malmö Opera.

All performances of Circus Days and Nights, the new opera by legendary composer Philip Glass and circus company Cirkus Cirkör, will be live streamed. World premiere set for May 29 at Malmö Opera.

For press tickets to the live stream, interviews with team or cast or additional information, please contact Torgny Nilsson, press manager at Malmö Opera, +46(0)703 55 81 80 or Henrik Sundin, press manager at Cirkus Cirkör, +46(0)70 356 20 58. 

Circus Days and Nights, a new opera by legendary composer Philip Glass and librettists David Henry Hwang and circus director Tilde Björfors, is based on a collection of poems by American poet Robert Lax. Co-produced by Cirkus Cirkör and Malmö Opera, the collaboration will feature a unique, never before seen fusion of circus and opera.

Circus Days and Nights will be sung in English, with English or Swedish surtitles optional. 

Philip Glass
The American composer Philip Glass born Jan 31 1937, is one of the most influential in contemporary music. He has written operas, symphonies and chamber music as well as music for film, theatre and television. Arguably, he is most famous for his ”Portrait trilogy” - the three operas ”Einstein on the beach”, ”Satyagraha” and ”Akhnaten”. His influence on contemporary classical music is difficult to overestimate. He is often described as a minimalist, but prefers to call his work "music with repetitive structures".

”I have had the rights to the poem for about ten years, but I couldn’t write the piece because I hadn’t found my circus. When I saw Tilde’s staging of Satyagraha it struck me: Here’s my circus”, states Philip Glass.

Cast
The cast will include soprano Elin Rombo, well known for her depiction of Eritea in Cavallis Eliogabalo at the Opéra National de Paris and as Queen of the Night in Mozarts The Magic Flute at Staatsoper Berlin. Last fall she sang the title role in Rufus Wainwrights Callas-inspired Prima Donna at The Royal Opera in Stockholm.

A complete cast list can be found below. 

Corona limitations

Due to the spread of the Corona virus and the subsequent limitations in audience numbers, Malmö Opera and Circus Cirkör will most likely not be able to offer press tickets to physical attend the premiere of Circus Days and Nights.

Additional information and tickets:
https://www.malmoopera.se/forestallningar/circus-days-and-nights-in-english

Circus Days and Nights
An opera by Philip Glass
Libretto: David Henry Hwang, Tilde Björfors
Based on the poems by Robert Lax
Director and concept: Tilde Björfors
World premiere May 29, 2021, at Malmö Opera.
Circus Days and Nights is a co-production between Cirkus Cirkör and Malmö Opera

Team
Conductor: Minna Weurlander
Director & concept: Tilde Björfors
Set & costume design: Magdalena Åberg
Lighting design: Ellen Ruge & Robert Hvenström
Sound design: Avgoustos Psillas
Choreography: Methinee Wongtrakoon & Simon Wiborn
Creative rigger: Saar Rombout

Artists
Lax F, the poet as a young man: Elin Rombo / Margaux De Valensart
Lax M, the old poet: Jakob Högström / Anton Ljungqvist
Ringmaster, father of the Cristiani family: Simon Wiborn
Ringmasters's wife: Karolina Blixt
Mogador, eldest son of the Cristianis: Nikolas Pulka
Second son of the Cristianis: Aaron Hakala
Youngest son of the Cristianis: Andreas De Ryck
Julia Pastrana: Susanna Stern
Bruno, the old circus artist: Lars Johansson Brissman
The lion tamer: Methinee Wongtrakoon
Enrico Rastelli: Peter Åberg
Penelope: Beatriz Pantojo
La Louisa: Pierre Heault

Musicians
Minna Weurlander, accordion
Viktor Nordliden, cello
Inga Zeppezauer, violin
Blagoj Lamnjov, clarinet
Oscar Fransson, trumpet
Martin Jönsson, bass trombone
Sigvald Fersum, percussion 

Malmö Opera chorus

Circus riggers
Mathieu Grégoire
Saar Rombout