“Reinhard Keiser’s Störtebecker and Jödge Michaels“ is a remake of a lost Baroque opera by Reinhard Keiser

Music: Boris Kosak
Libretto: Hotter
Language: German

Duration: part I: ca. 85 min.; part II: ca. 70 min.
Orchestra: 2 oboes, bassoon, 2 trumpets, timpani, cembalo (basso continuo), strings
Choir: several episodes are written for a choir but they can be also performed by the soloists
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Creation story:

In 1701 in Hamburg, the premiere of the opera “Störtebecker and Jödge Michaels” written by the famous Hamburg composer and at the time the opera director Reinhard Keiser took place. Unfortunately, after a huge success, the score of the opera was lost but its libretto was completely preserved. At the beginning of 2019 it was rediscoverd by Boris Kosak, a composer living in Hamburg, who was so much inspired by the concept that he decided to bring the opera back to life, reconstructing the score and actually writing a completely new composition, stylistically very close to the Baroque original of Reinhard Keiser.

The result is an opus that could have been written at the very begining of the 18th century and is capable of bringing the listener virtually back into the distant past due to the careful reconstruction of the great opera tradition of the Baroque time that hasn’t lost its glance till nowadays.

The pirat topic of the libretto, the Barock style of music, and the numerous catchy arias of the opera make it suitable for a large audience and capable of inspiring also a young listener. In the same time, the chamber set of the orchestra makes the necessary financial expenses for a staging clear and concise.

Dramatis personae:

Adolph (also Kunigunda) a young Hollsteinian count – CONTRATENOR
Wendela a noble Frisian lady – SOPRANO
Brigitta a noble Saxonian lady – SOPRANO
Woldemar a Frisian count, Wendela’s father – BARITON
Carolomannus a Hollsteinian warlord, a Saxon – BARITON
Störtebecker | 2 Frisian captains – BARITON
Jodge Michaels | afterward cruel pirates – BARITON
Springinsfeld Störtebecker’s servant – TENOR
Rosenfeld Chief of an arrest commando – TENOR
Simon Mayor of Hamburg – BASS
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All musical material of the opera exists in a virtual orchestra version as a playlist. Each scene has a separted track. Here are some audio examples:

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