MTTW 2015 - 2023
Since 2015, MUSIKTHEATERTAGE WIEN have been held annually* in September for 10-12 days. The diverse festival programme with Austrian and international productions invites audiences to experience musical theatre off the beaten track.
As an open space for new encounters of an artistic, discursive and personal nature.
In this archive we look back on 8 years of MTTW.
* From 2020-2021 the festival was cancelled due to Covid-19.
From 13 to 23 September 2023, MUSIKTHEATERTAGE WIEN presented the latest contemporary music theatre productions with over 30 performances at established and unconventional venues in the city. The focus of the 2023 festival was on permeability and encounters of all kinds. 9 Austrian and international music theatre productions made their way to the Odeon Theatre, the WUK, brut nordwest, the Hofburgkapelle Vienna and public venues in the city, inviting visitors to participate in the music theatre process in a variety of ways.
PROGRAMME
> HEILIGER ZORN/ detuned | Thomas Cornelius Desi (AT)
> PASSAGIEREN | Michael Tiefenbacher / Anna Knapp / Georg Steker / Studio Dan (AT)
> VON GLÄSERNEN HIMMELSSCHERBEN | Tanja Elisa Glinsner / Barbara Maria Neu / Azelia Opak (AT)
> HoME - House. Music. Europe | HoME Collective (HU/RS/AT/ES) / Black Page Orchestra (AT)
> GHOST | Asa Horvitz (USA/NL)
> PANDORA | Matthias Kranebitter (AT) / Christopher Sturmer (AT) / Michael Höppner (DE) / Patrik Lechner (AT) / BLACK PAGE ORCHESTRA (AT)
> KOLLAPSOLOGIE II: FEUERS WENDE | Thomas Cornelius Desi (AT)
> GAME OF AMBIVALENCE | MUSIC*SCAPES (AT)
> CLUB MOSAIK | Georg Steker (AT)
MTTW 2022: WHAT KIND OF WORLD DO WE WANT?
From 14 to 24 September 2022, MUSIKTHEATERTAGE WIEN presented the latest works of music theatre at the WUK and other venues in Vienna - from headphone theatre and bicycle opera to dystopian music theatre. This was flanked by a broad educational programme and performances by local creators.
PROGRAMME
> WALKING DOWN THE ROCK | Georg Nussbaumer (AT)
> CHORNOBYLDORF | Roman Grygoriv, Ilia Razumeiko / Opera Aperta (UKR)
> LATE NIGHT breakfast schaab | Clara Frühstück / Samuel Schaab (AT)
> R¡NGD!NG | Thomas Cornelius Desi / Martina Schmidt (AT)
> KASSANDRA | Huihui Cheng (CHN) , Anna Korsun (UKR), Katharina Roth (DE)
> European Kitchen Encounters: VR-BANIA | Manuel Zwerger (IT) / Carmen C. Kruse (DE/AT) / Civic Opera Creations (AT)
> GEISELOPER | Samu Gryllus (HU) / MuPATh (AT)
> NO DISTANCE LEFT to SOUND | Alexander Chernyshkov (RU/AT), Philipp Lossau (DE) / Errortheater (AT)
> IM WEIßEN RÖSSL at CENTRAL PARK | Philine Rinnert / Johannes Müller (DE)
> LA BOHÈME SUPERGROUP | glanz&krawall (DE)
> ARTIFICIAL SNOW (COLLAPSOLOGY I) | Thomas Cornelius Desi / Peter Koger (AT)
> MITRA | Eva Reiter (AT) / Jorge León (BE) / Muziektheater Transparant (BE)
> LATE LATE NIGHT formenti | Marino Formenti (IT) / Georg Steker (AT)
MTTW 2019: MYTH OF CIVILISATION
From 12 to 21 September 2019, Vienna's WUK hosted a total of nine national and international music theatre productions as well as concerts, theme talks, artist talks and the Austrian Music Theatre Day. Renowned ensembles such as the Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart met local stars of contemporary music, e.g. Ensemble Phace. The festival also presented international guest performances such as GAZ - opera dystopia from Ukraine, the headphone-only piece MYRIAM from the Netherlands and the addiction prevention opera TRINKERPARK by the Berlin ensemble glanz&krawall.
PROGRAMME
> SOUND CLOUD I. | Peter Jakober (AT)
> OPERA of TIME | Jorge Sánchez-Chiong (VEN) / Thomas Jelinek (nomad theatre, AT)
> THE BEGINNING of THE END | Damian Rebgetz (AUS) / Paul Hankinson (AUS)
> LIES of CIVILIZATION | Yiran Zhao (CN) / Malte Giesen (DE) / Øyvind Mæland (NO) Natalia Domínguez Rangel (CO)
> UTOPERAN 19 | Bertl Mütter (AT)
> HOW IS YOUR BIRD? | Studio Dan (AT)
> GAZ | Roman Grygoriv (UKR) / Illia Razumeiko (UKR)
> TRINKERPARK | glanz&krawall (DE)
> MYRIAM | NYX / Dyane Donck (NL)
> DE*CIVLIZE ME! | Angélica Castelló (MEX) / Anna Knapp (AT)
> HUMBUG | Bernhard Lang (AT) / Opera Lab Berlin (DE)
> INTERVENTIONS (music theatre miniatures) | Frieda Schneider / Dominik Grünbühel /Georg Steker (AT) / Students of the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna and the Music and Arts Private University Vienna
MTTW 2018: OPER and TABU
Under the motto "Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must sing", MUSIKTHEATERTAGE WIEN 2018 addressed the close connection between opera and taboo. The diverse programme of more than ten international productions focused on the thematic tension between "enlightenment" and "privacy".
PROGRAMME
> TABU KOLLEKCIÓ | Fruzsina Nagy / Dóra Halas / Soharóza (HU)
> LITTLE WIRE GIRL | Marjan Nećak / MMT (MK)
> LOS CABALLEROS DE LA MESA REDONDA | Christoph Hein / Freddys Nuñez Esténoz / Teatro del Viento (CU)
> GRASLAND | Usine à Neige / Letizia Renzini / Tjyying Liu (BE/IT)
> SONG FROM THE UPROAR | Missy Mazzoli / Eutopia Ensemble (USA/IT)
> COMEDÌA (INFERNO) | Et in Arcadia Ego / Giuseppe Sigismondi de Risio / Gabriele Duma (IT)
> THE NUDE FRAME / FOR REN HANG | Hang Su (CN/DE)
> TRASCRIZIONE DI UN ERRORE | Alexander Chernyshkov (AT/IT/RU)
> VARIOUS MATERIAL | Thomas Desi / Argonauten / Kugel (AT)
MTTW 2017: A KIND OF FUTURE
From 23 June to 2 June 2017, MUSIKTHEATERTAGE WIEN took place for the third time at WERK X in Vienna, with the festival exploring the topic of the future from a wide variety of angles. For example, the music theatre "Tanzcafé Schweigepflicht" by Thomas Desi was premiered, while productions in free formats ("MTTW_shorts", "Lebenslinien") and guest performances from Tallinn and Graz were also shown.
PROGRAMME
> TANZCAFÉ SCHWEIGEPFLICHT | Thomas Desi / Jörg Ulrich Krah (AT)
> MTTW_shorts (music lecture performances) | Georg Steker (AT)
> SMARTOPER reloaded | Thomas Desi / Peter Koger (AT)
> SPACE=WOW (BUT I STILL MISS YOU, EARTH)... | Belma Bešlić-Gál (BA)
> AUDIENCE ORCHESTRA | Ensemble U (EE)
> LIFELINES |Christian Malin (AT)
MTTW 2016: AN ART WORLD escape
A kind of opera: fantasy, art, theatre: the world escape of our choice. Theatre is a shelter for all those fleeing the everyday world. The festival programme is intended to facilitate such a world escape, to which MUSIKTHEATERTAGE WIEN 2016 invited. With seven productions, the festival opened doors to escape from everyday life at Werk X Wien from 30 August to 11 September 2016 - from opera, an interdisciplinary market and instrumental theatre to a smartphone project.
PROGRAMME
> OPERA of ENTROPY | Thomas Jelinek (AT) / Jorge Sánchez-Chiong (VEN)
> THE BUTT | Susannah Self (GB)
> OPERAN! About escape | Bertl Mütter (AT)
> H/A/U/T | Rose Breuss (AT) / Jagoda Szmytka (PL) / Ensemble PHACE (AT)
> SMARTOPER | Thomas Desi / Peter Koger (AT)
> GREAT SOUND IN THE RUSH |László Sáry (HU)
> POLAR NIGHT | Stijn Grupping / Liesbet Grupping / Frederik Meulyzer / Ine Van Baelen / Lucas Van Haesbroeck (BE)
MTTW 2015: A KIND OF OPERA
From 27 August to 12 September 2015, Werk X im Kabelwerk hosted the first MUSIKTHEATERTAGE WIEN festival - Vienna's first internationally oriented festival for contemporary music theatre in all its many facets. The festival opened with PIZZERIA ANARCHIA, an international co-production with the Neuköllner Oper Berlin, Teatro della Tosse and Balletto Civile. The plays disPLACE, co-produced with Operá de Butxaca Barcelona, and RE-VOLT ATHENS also revolve around the theme of gentrification. The in-house production UJAMAA PARADISE addresses the current refugee plight and an African alternative to the European socialism we have learnt, which is increasingly reaching its limits.
PROGRAMME
> PIZZERIA ANARCHIA | Thomas Desi (AT) / Bernhard Glocksin (DE)
> disPLACE | Helena Tornero / Raquel García-Tomás / Joan Magrané Figuera (ES)
> UJAMAA PARADISE | Thomas Desi (AT)
> STILL WATERS | Iris ter Schiphorst (DE) / Helga Utz (AT)
> RE-VOLT ATHENS | ODC Ensemble/ Vyrsodepseio (GR)
> WHAT PREVENTS ME FROM WRITING AN OPERA | Klaus Karlbauer (AT)
> OEDIPUS LOST | Helga Utz / OPER UNTERWEGS (AT)