Press Reviews
A selection of press reviews on Der Fremde / L’étranger, the chamber opera by Cecilia Arditto Delsoglio and Annette Müller based on original texts by Albert Camus, premiered at Nationaltheater Mannheim in June 2024.
“The Stranger” by Albert Camus: Intense premiere at the Nationaltheater Mannheim
This review presents the opera as an intense and oppressive 90-minute chamber work whose sound world fits Camus closely. It stresses the minimal staging, the pressure of the score, the use of everyday objects such as fans, water buckets, metal and cutlery, and the restrained presence of the singers. The article also reads the production as a clear homage to musique concrète and praises the way the opera turns heat, noise and psychological tension into sound.
A detailed review focused on the intimacy of the Studio Werkhaus, the meditative pace of the production, and the precision of its scenic and musical design. It describes the score as “minimalism full of things”, with fans, water, sand, copper rods, cups and cutlery all becoming part of a rich sonic field rather than mere effect. The review places strong emphasis on the integration of objects, projected text, stillness, and the performers’ quiet but exact physical presence.
Meursault on the opera stage in Mannheim: A sensual intellectual pleasure
This review describes the production as a rare “sensual intellectual pleasure” and values its closeness to the sensory dimension of Camus’ novel. It praises the refusal of psychological over-explanation, the dense interplay of text, sound and image, and the way music and stage action interlock without one simply illustrating the other. The critic also admires the vocal performances, while raising thoughtful questions about specific cuts and dramaturgical choices in relation to the novel.
Mannheim’s Summer is in the Garden
Within a broader festival review, this article characterises L’étranger as a chamber opera with a sharply defined and introverted sonic language. It highlights the intimate shared space between singers, instrumentalists and audience, the use of projected text, and the integration of objects such as fans, water, metal bars, glasses and cutlery into a static and repetitive sound mosaic. The article also praises Pierre-Alain Monot’s precision and the expressive strength of the four singers.
“The Stranger” in Mannheim – Nobody is to blame
This review sees the production as a highly intense and compact reworking of Camus in which word, action and sound are tightly interwoven. It notes the near-concert setting of the Studio Werkhaus, but emphasises that the result is not static: musicians move through the action, subtle noises remain active beneath the surface, and the entire evening carries a deep, uncanny vitality. The article also praises the singers and the precision of the overall concept.
This article presents the premiere as both moving and unsettling music theatre, built around Camus’ themes of indifference, guilt and the absurdity of life. It describes the score as flowing quietly at times, then shifting into noises and sound surfaces, with only part of the text sung while the rest appears in speech or surtitles. The review insists that the opera’s objects and sound effects are never decorative, but part of a consistent intellectual and musical reading of the novel.
“The Stranger” at Studio Werkhaus: A sensual drama of sounds
This review frames the production above all as a work shaped by sound and atmosphere. The emphasis, already present in the title, is on the sensory force of the score and on the way the chamber format allows sound, text and mood to remain closely interwoven. The article belongs to the cluster of strongly positive early responses that read the premiere as a concentrated, sonically driven staging of Camus.
Successful premiere and an inward look
This article combines a positive response to the premiere with a brief portrait of the composer after the Mannheim Summer. It presents the production as a clear success and shifts the focus from the event itself to a moment of pause, describing a creative break after the opera’s strong reception. In that sense, the piece works as both review and short post-premiere profile.
Extras