Ou bien le débarquement désastreux
Oder die glücklose LandungOr the hapless landing
1993
based upon texts by Joseph Conrad, Heiner Mueller, Francis Ponge
Conception & Direction Heiner Goebbels
Stage design Magdalena Jetelova
Light design Jean Kalman
Costume design Alexandra Pitz
With André Wilms, Boubakar Djebate and Sira Djebate, Xavier Garcia, Alexandre Mayer, Yves Robert
Music Theatre for actor, kora, singing, trombone, guitar, daxophon and keyboards
premiere: Theatre des Amandiers, Nanterre/Paris, 1993; 75'
since its premiere it has been performed in the complete stage version in Frankfurt, Berlin, Munich, Vienna, Brussels, Lyon
and in the concert version (semi-stage) in London, Tokyo, Turin, Freiburg, Frankfurt/Main,
all together more than 80 performances
Produced by ATEM, Théatre des Amandiers Paris-Nanterre, Theater am Turm Frankfurt, Hebbel-Theater Berlin
a theater piece staged by Goebbels and using texts by Joseph Conrad, his regular collaborator, the late German playwright Heiner Muller, and Francis Ponge. The Conrad excerpts are from his Congo Diary, and the music is fittingly centered around the beautiful kora playing of Boubakar Djebate. His delightful, traditional sound is the stem from which the text is read (in French), and around which various "interruptions" entwine. Harsh electric guitar riffs, trombone squeals, and sampled sounds, perhaps representing Western culture's impingement on Central Africa, explode with regularity, only to be ignored as the kora, along with sympathetic singing from Sira Djebate, proceeds along its way.
Texts
Ou Bien Le Débarquement Désastreux - Oder die glücklose Landung (Article, de)
2002, Mareile Gilles
Die Preußen im Urwald (Review, de)
Heiner Goebbels' szenisches Konzert im Mousonturm
17 May 2000, Achim Heidenreich, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
Die Autonomie des Anderen (Review, de)
Heiner Goebbels' "Oder die glücklose Landung"
17 May 2000, Tim Gorbauch, Frankfurter Rundschau
Wer das Hörspiel nicht ehrt (Review, de)
Heiner Goebbels richtet an: "Oder die glücklose Landung"
12 February 2000, Christian Deutschmann, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
Forest Fire on a continental divide (Review, en)
Or the Hapless Landing, Almeida
5 July 1996, Rodney Milnes, The Times
Vers le territoire du spectateur (Article, fr)
Etude de Ou bien le débarquement désastreux, spectacle de Heiner Goebbels
June 1996, Julie Cortella, (unpublished)
Vers le territoire du spectateur (Interview, fr)
Etude de Ou bien le débarquement désastreux, spectacle de Heiner Goebbels
June 1996, Julie Cortella
Ou bien le débarquement désastreux (Interview, de)
28 January 1996, Max Nyffeler
Suggestives Gedicht vom Fremdsein (Review, de)
Komponist Heiner Goebbels' 'Glücklose Landung' im Marstall
31 January 1994, Gerd Gliewe, Abendzeitung München
Die Nacht in den Bühnen-Wäldern (Review, de)
Heiner Goebbels' tönende Landschaftsbeschreibung "Oder glücklose Landung im Frankfurter TAT
1 June 1993, Manuel Brug, Opernwelt
Der Wald im Zeittunnel (Review, de)
'Glücklose Landung' von Heiner Goebbels im TAT
17 April 1993, Gerhard Rohd, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
MUSIQUES LE DESORDRE NOUVEAU DE HEINER GOEBBELS (Review, fr)
L'art des assemblages éloquents, la confirmation d'un jeune compositeur allemand OU BIEN LE DEBARQUEMENT DESASTREUX au Théâtre des Amandiers à Nanterre
27 March 1993, Le Monde
Le désordre nouveau de Heiner Goebbels (Review, fr)
L'art des assemblages éloquents, la confirmation d'un jeune compositeur allemand
27 March 1993, Anne Rey, Le Monde
Über die Lesbarkeit der Wälder (Review, de)
"Oder die glücklose Landung" in Paris uraufgeführt/ Das Musikalische Texttheater des Heiner Goebbels
23 March 1993, Peter Kemper, Faz
Über die Lesbarkeit der Wälder (Review, de)
'Oder die Glücklose Landung' in Paris uraufgeführt / Das musikalische Texttheater des Heiner Goebbels
23 March 1993, Peter Kemper, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
Heiner Goebbels, explorateur acoustique (Review, fr)
Objet fait de mots, de sons et de lumière, "Ou le débarquement désastreux" sert le text par l'environnement musical. Suprenant mais réussi.
19 March 1993, Christian Leblé, La Liberation
Past Dates
November 2000
Mousonturm, Frankfurt am Main (Germany)
February 2000
World Premiere
Hörspieltage, Freiburg (Germany)
November 1997
Saitama Arts Centre, Tokyo (Japan)
March 1997
Théâtre National Populaire Villeurbanne, Lyon (France)
November 1996
Wiener Festwochen, Vienna (Austria)
September 1996
Settembre Musica Festival, Torino (Italy)
July 1996
Almeida Opera, London (Great Britain)
May 1995
Kunstenfestival Brussels, Brussels (Belgium)
December 1994
Marstall (Bayrisches Staatsschauspiel), Munich (Germany)
March 1994
Theatre des Amandiers, Nanterres, Paris (France)
January 1994
Hebbeltheater (now Hebbel am Ufer), Berlin (Germany)
April 1993
TAT, Frankfurt am Main (Germany)
March 1993
Theatre des Amandiers, Nanterres, Paris (France)
Related Works
Ou bien le débarquement désastreux
Excerpts from the Music Theatre piece, 1993
DVD
Ou bien le débarquement désastreux
Heiner Goebbels, 1995
CD
Oder die glücklose Landung
Live Audio Play, 2000
Audio Play
Ou bien Sunyatta
for Kora, Vocal and Big Orchestra, 2004
Composition for Orchestra
The Up-river book
with words by Joseph Conrad, 2012
Composition (Miscellaneous)