composition: Jake Heggie
libretto: Gene Scheer

Alexander Oliver - Gad
Bryan Jolly - Manfred (2017)
Agris Hartmanis - Manfred (2018)
Stage Director- Wim Trompert

Musical Ensemble:
Maurice Lammerts van Bueren - piano,
Ilona Kolthof - flute,
Levan Tskhadadze - clarinet,
Mick Stirling - cello,
Maria-Paula Majoor - violin.

Alexander Oliver as Gad and
Bryan Jollie as Manfred
photo: Tonnie van Gessel

 

photo: Tonnie van Gessel

P

Alexander Oliver
as Gad
photo: Tonnie van Gessel

Alexander Oliver gets under your skin in For a Look or a Touch

This striking production, sober but gripping, by Wim Trompert works on multiple, effective levels. Its star is the Scottish-Dutch tenor Alexander Oliver, who exhibits uncommon communicative power in his role as Gad Beck. It fits him like a glove - every one of his lines is credible and every phrase gets under your skin. The American baritone Bryan Jolly convincingly portrays the 19-year-old Manfred, singing this demanding part both expressively and clearly. Finally, the instrumental ensemble - a quintet - is energetic and intense and contributes much to bringing the story of For a Look and a Touch to live.

Mark Duijnstee in Opera Nederland

 

The Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam in 2017 decided to follow up on the Theater na de Dam festival by staging For a Look and a Touch. They invited Wim Trompert as its producer.

For a Look and a Touch is based on the life stories of seven men and one woman who were arrested during World War II because of their homosexuality, and who survived their imprisonment. They shared their story, in some cases for the first time,  in the documentary film Paragraph 175 (2000) by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman.

Jake Heggie combined the stories from the documentary into a music-theatrical dialogue between the 80-year-old Gad and the ghost of his lover Manfred, who died in the camps at the age of nineteen. 

Translations: Writech, Remco Nieuwenhuis