Stručné dejiny vesmíru (A brief history of the Universe)
It is easy to explain scientific theories of Stephen Hawking to astrophysics students, but not to a child. And who else should tell the history of the universe to children if not their peers? These were the challenges that the Slovak composer Marek Piaček and librettist Martin Ondriška addressed in their opera “Stručné dejiny vesmíru” (A Brief History of the Universe).
28. May 2015
The opera for a child, narrator, children choir, and instrumental accompaniment made its debut on 14 March at the festival Radio_Head Awards. Marek Piaček compares it to musical theatre, where spoken interpretation is combined with orchestral accompaniment. The opera contains folklore parts such as weeping songs, chants, rhymes, riddles, childrenʼs games, and also serious encounters between reason and superstition. The main character is Nelli, who clearly explains the Big Bang to her peers, as well as the formation of galaxies and stars, solar system, and the evolution of mankind and civilizations. The work also presents the theories of the ancient Greeks, modern period physicists such as Newton, Galileo, Giordano Bruno, and modern scientists, such as Einstein and Hawking. The opera offers many musical quotations: “The Blue Danube”, “Thus spoke Zarathustra”, Bowieʼs pop culture “Space Oddity”, “Out of Space” by Prodigy, and references to universe themed film music such as Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Kin-dza-dza. A brief history of the universe will be presented “in the middle of our universe” by the conductor Adrián Kokoš, Barbora Tallová (Nelli), Štefan Bučko (narrator), the Children and girl choir ensemble of the Slovak Radio, and the Ensemble of the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra.