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In body | În trup
chamber opera
Client
// Diana Rotaru
// Event poster
'In Body' ('În Trup'), based on an original libretto by Ciprian Măceşaru, is a poetic-surrealist meditation on identity and ambiguity: are we our bodies, or are we our thoughts? To what extent does gender define us? These themes are explored through the lens of the ill-fated Hamlet-Ophelia couple, each held captive within the other’s body. Hamlet’s masculinity is represented by antlers (symbolizing royal aggression), while Ophelia’s femininity is evoked through flowers—a reference to her iconic death scene. The timeless, magical setting is rich in symbolism (the stag, the forest, the lake, and the dichotomy of light and darkness). At the heart of the performance lies an 'opera-within-an-opera' (a Shakespearean allusion) that critiques the social labeling of Man and Woman in the contemporary world.
Diana Rotaru’s music (performed by the SonoMania Ensemble) transposes the text's polysemy into a postmodern sonic language that shifts through oneiric, ritualistic, humorous, and dramatic narrative colors. One of the most prominent young Romanian composers and an active advocate for new music, Rotaru (b. 1981) has written over 50 works, ranging from chamber and orchestral music to chamber opera, multimedia performances, and film soundtracks.
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