Montag aus Licht on stage

Between its premiere in 1988 at La Scala Milan and the recent Le Balcon revival at Paris Philharmonie in 2025, Karlheinz Stockhausen’s three act opera Montag aus Licht has had no other complete staged performances. It should be mentioned that the original cast also performed all three acts at Theatre Des Champs-Elysee as part of the Paris Autumn Festival on 23rd September 1988 but that performance was a ‘concert version’ without staging.

In addition during the ambitious Aus Licht cycle in Amsterdam (Dutch National Opéra and Holland Festival) several scenes of Montag aus Licht were repeated on three separate days in May/June 2019 with costume and in a theatrical but rather abstract presentation devised by Pierre Audi. This consisted of MONTAGS-Gruss (electronic music), MÄDCHENPROZESSION (from Act II) then EVAs LIED (from Act II) and DER KINDERFÄNGER und ENTFÜHRUNG (from Act III).

Evas Lied: - Aus Licht 2019 (Amsterdam)

Silvia Costa’s new production for the Autumn Festival in Paris was previewed in part with Act II scene II Eva’s Lied and all of Act III at Lille Opera in January 2025.

Therefore the only fully staged performances of the whole opera to date have been at La Scala Milan 1988 (seven performances) and Paris Philharmonie 2025 (one performance).

Both staged productions were preceded and followed by the tape compositions Montags Gruss and Montags Abshied. It should be noted that Stockhausen’s own expectation that statues of the costumed basset horn player (for the Gruss) and the piccolo player (for the Abshied) have never been realised in the foyer of an opera house. In the scores for the opera the composer notes that for the premiere this was because the sculptures “were not ready in time”. Photographs of the instrumentalists in various playing poses were used in Milan instead. In Paris 2025 there were no such images or statues in the foyer of la Grande Salle: Pierre Boulez, added to which the corridor-like foyer spaces and ceiling mounted PA system there again proved very inadequate for electronic foyer music. (The spectacular traditional foyer at Opera Lille served far better for the Gruss and Abshied of Freitag aus Licht).

The hall itself at the Paris Philharmonie has been excellent for the projection of electronic Music in a large space, during the main scenes of Licht given there.

Michael Bogdanov’s staging at La Scala and Silvia Costa’s for Le Balcon in Lille and Paris were contrasting, both with strengths and weaknesses as any other opera production. CGI creations such as for the Eva-Burg in act III have at last made possible the vision of Eva’s Figure gradually springing forth with rivers, plants and life at the drama’s apotheosis. Traditional theatre lighting at La Scala and for the recent scenes shown in Lille is more sophisticated and accurate than that set up in a concert hall

I found both full productions of Montag aus Licht achieved the theatrical ceremony and magical atmosphere required to realise this dreamlike and moving opera in the manner the composer intended .

Filming:

The archives of La Scala are assumed to preserve a static camera film of the original staging, which typically is reserved for the Theatre’s own record of its production design; without any mechanical rights for distribution. Short video excerpts from stage rehearsals at La Scala have however been incorporated into two documentaries about the production.

David Daurier and Cinema Lucida are producing a film of the Le Balcon of Montag aus Licht, and this will be first shown on the Paris Philharmonie Live streaming website until distributed elsewhere probably on the Medici service. Most likely this film will become available in late 2026.

A film of the Montag aus Licht scenes staged in Amsterdam 2019 as part of Pierre Audi’s Dutch National Opera: Aus Licht is being made along with the rest of that extensive production, but the eventual publication date is unknown.