Studio Dan

On September 17, 2026, The Sailmaker’s Wife celebrated its world premiere at MuTh as part of Musiktheatertage Wien. Based on the Japanese folk tale Tsuru no Ongaeshi (“The Crane Repays a Favor”), the work unfolds as a moving, chamber-music-style drama exploring the relentless mechanisms of greed, capitalism, and ecological destruction.

This hybrid opera weaves together tradition and technology on various levels. For this work, Kristin Norderval developed the EVII (Expanded Vocal Improvising Instrument), which enables the real-time recording and processing of the Crane Woman’s voice. Soprano Kaoko Amano extracts fragments of her own voice, improvises with them, and weaves these digital samples layer by layer into the organic web of sound. Her counterpart, the Sail Weaver (Steven Scheschareg), rescues the wondrous creature, only to soon force it to create three magical sails. A fateful decision that leads to overfishing, industrial exploitation, and the irrevocable end of love.

Dávid Gajdos in Die Presse:

[...]In terms of staging and dramaturgy, director Theresa Jarczyk brought the play to life with minimal resources. She made do with a few projections of environmental pollution and heavy industry onto hanging cloths, which also served as sails. The simplicity of the set and the plot was one of the evening’s strengths; the second was the music: Norderval isn’t afraid of pure harmonies, yet the piece doesn’t feel the least bit outdated. Five musicians from Studio Dan also took part in the acting on stage and interpreted Norderval’s flowing, often rhythmically pulsating music with infectious passion. [...]

https://www.diepresse.com/41274479/wiens-unbekanntes-opernfestival-ist-in-topform