Composer Detlev Glanert compares opera to complicated architecture and is committed to artistic collaboration on an equal footing. "I'm a team player, I can't imagine opera any other way," the 63-year-old told the German Press Agency in Dresden. Opera is a composite art of words, images, music and sometimes dance. "It's a wonderful invention that relies on teamwork. I like working with others and incorporating good ideas from others." "Dictators" among directors and conductors have long since fallen out of fashion. "You get a lot further when you practice teamwork."
The multi-award-winning Glanert is one of the most renowned opera composers of our time. On February 10, he will present his twelfth opera, "Die Jüdin von Toledo", at the Semperoper in Dresden. Musical theater remains a special challenge for him: "Opera requires precise construction work, precise pre-planning. It's like the architecture of a very complicated building. You have to precisely balance the load-bearing capacity, the statics. The scenario is the decisive factor: Where are the highlights, who appears when, who meets whom. Where are the exciting, where are the lyrical elements?" As a rule, he composes his pieces one work at a time. However, he can also take a break during an opera, take a deep breath and perhaps write a short viola sonata in between.
