Opera

V01CES//B0D1EZ

Hans Werner Henze on his 100th birthday

»V01CES//B0D1EZ«
Musical theatre based on Hans Werner Henze’s »Voices«
and Piyawat Louilarpprasert’s »R3SIST4NC3 B0D1EZ«

Hans Werner Henze & Piyawat Louilarpprasert Composition
Amy Stebbins Staging
Christian Wiehle Stage & Costume
Lea Vaterlaus & Fanny Karos Dramaturgy

Rusnė Tušlaitė & Beatriz Maia Soprano
Madeleine Wulff Mezzo-soprano
Henrique Lencastre, Mose Lee, Haozhou Hu Tenor

Münchener Kammerorchester
Marc Hajjar Musical direction

Dear Festival Audience,

Unfortunately, the two scheduled performances of V01CES//B0D1EZ on Thursday, July 30, 2026, must be canceled due to production-related reasons. All attendees who have already purchased tickets will receive a full refund of the ticket price. We will contact those affected as soon as possible.

We deeply regret the cancellation and any inconvenience this may cause, and we ask for your understanding.

Thank you very much.

»Composing is so chaotic, wild, and hard, a struggle that often pushes you to the limits of what is physically and psychologically bearable«, is how Hans Werner Henze, who died in 2012, once described his artistic craft. He would have turned 100 in 2026. Part of his groundbreaking and politically motivated work was the founding of the Munich Biennale, a festival for world premieres of new music theatre. In 2026, the festival will not only celebrate the 100th birthday of its founding father but also the 20th edition of the Munich Biennale, marking this double celebration with the music theatre piece »V01CES//B0D1EZ«, a composition and libretto commissioned by the City of Munich. Based on excerpts from Hans Werner Henze’s 1973 song cycle »Voices«, Thai composer Piyawat Louilarpprasert reflects in »R3SIST4NC3 B0D1EZ« on the invisible mechanisms of performance, production and repetition. »V01CES//B0D1EZ« explores the question: How are artistic processes and craftsmanship, resistance and exhaustion, breath and machine related? The musical encounter between the two composers results in a suspenseful musical theatre portrait about political and physical labour, ritualised activities and ongoing resistance.

Co-production of the Munich Biennale and the Bavarian Theater Academy August Everding
In cooperation with the Munich Chamber Orchestra and the Ludwigsburg Festival
Composition and libretto commissioned by the City of Munich for the Munich Biennale