NSFW: Bernard Lang's new Der Golem with barihunk duo

A scene from Der Golem & Raymond Ayers

The world premiere of Bernhard Lang's new opera Der Golem took place at the Nationaltheater Mannheim on April 16, 2016 with barihunks Steven Scheschareg and Raymond Ayers joined by the sexy countertenor Alin Deleanu. The opera, which features nudity, is breaking traditional norms of the genre, with experimental film (or video libretto) taking the place of a written libretto. Lang didn't want the piece defined by literary parameters, but by optical mechanisms.

The opera is punctuated by two nude men in cone shaped hats and a nude character who crawls out of the prompter's box. Along the way, the 80-minute opera deals with dissociative identity disorder and mirroring, artificial intelligence and reincarnation. The piece is written for soloists, chorus, jazz trio and orchestra.

The video libretto by Peter Missotten for Bernhard Lang's Der Golem

In Gustav Meyrink's fantastic novel, the Golem is a kind of Doppelgänger of the people and completely derails the life of the Jewish jeweler Athanasius Pernath, sung by Raymond Ayers. Almost all of the soloists perform multiple roles (except for Ayers and soprano Marie-Belle Sandis as Miriam).

Countertenor Alin Deleanu

Nicolae Bretan, John Casken and Eugen d'Albert have also written operatic versions of the Golem legend. There is also a German silent film called Der Golem, wie er in die Welt kam (The Golem: How He Came into the World), which is worth watching.

There are additional performances on April 21 and 28.Tickets and additional information is available online.