The final ‘day’ of Le Balcon’s complete production of Licht, which began in 2018: Wednesday is the day of cooperation and the unity of the three archangels – Michael, Eve and Lucifer. Five performances are scheduled at the Deutsche Oper Berlin in September 2026.
Karlheinz Stockhausen
Mittwoch aus Licht, opera in a salute, four scenes and a farewell
Commissions
Welt-Parlament: SWR Stuttgart
Orchester-Finalisten: Jan van Vlijmen, Holland Festival
Helikopter Streichquartett: Hans Landesmann, Salzburger Festspiele
Michaelion: Udo Zimmermann, Bayerischen Rundfunks
Composition: 1995-1997
Full-length stage premiere: August 22, 2012, Argyle Works, London 2012 Festival, Birmingham Opera Company, under the musical direction of Kathinka Pasveer.
Publisher: Stockhausen Verlag.
Mittwoch aus Licht is the opera of cooperation, reconciliation and alliance between the three protagonists of Licht. Its element is air, and this has a particular influence on the writing of the four scenes: they are not linked by a narrative plot, but have a common relationship to the idea of unification, which manifests itself in the music itself. The music of Mittwoch, taken as a whole, proposes an opening: the concert hall opens up, spaces are multiplied for the same musical time, and the vision of “flying” music, produced by musicians lifted into the air, is realized.
Complete premiere of this production on September 19, 2026 at the Deutsche Oper, Berlin.
Structure
Opera in one salute, four scenes and a farewell for 9 soloists (flute, basset-horn, trumpet, trombone, string quartet, bass with short-wave receiver), chorus with singing conductor, orchestra (13 instrumentalists-actors), synthesizer player, 2 dancer-mimes, electronic music (tape), sound projection.
Mittwochs-Gruss (Wednesday Salute)
First scene
Welt-Parlament (World Parliament)
Second scene
Orchester-Finalisten (Orchestra Finalists)
Third scene
Helikopter-Streichquartett (Helicopter String Quartet)
Fourth scene
Michaelion
Mittwochs-Abschied (Wednesday Farewell)
Musical Director Maxime Pascal
Directed for the stage by Susanne Kennedy
Set Design Markus Selg
Costumes Andra Dumitrascu
Lighting Marcel Weber
Sound Florent Derex, assisted by Nicolas Widmer
Musical Electronics Augustin Muller
Video Markus Selg, Warja Rybakova
Dramaturgy Beate Breidenbach
Welt-Parlament
The Caretaker Jörg Schörner
Chorus of the Deutsche Oper Berlin
Chorus Direction for Welt-Parlament Jeremy Bines
Orchester-Finalisten
Oboe Ye Chang Jung
Cello Clotilde Lacroix
Clarinet Ghislain Roffat
Bassoon Julien Abbes
Violin Michelle Ross
Tuba Maxime Morel
Flute Charlotte Bletton
Trombone Mathieu Adam
Viola Grégoire Simon
Trumpet Henri Deléger
Double Bass Kévin Garçon
Horn Joël Lasry
Helikopter-Streichquartett
String Quartet of the Deutsche Oper Berlin Orchestra
Anna Matz, Monia Rizkallah, Kirsikka de Leval Jezierski, Arne-Christian Pelz
Michaelion
Operator Robin Adams
Flute Julie Brunet-Jailly
Basset Horn Mélanie Haas
Trumpet Henri Deléger
Trombone Mathieu Adam
Chorus Le Balcon
Singing Coachs Alphonse Cemin, Alain Muller
Program
