FULL ALCHEMY – CHEMISTRY IS OPERA (Oliver Peter Graber) World Premiere Basel 2022 Stephanie McGuire, Ensemble Prinz Ip

Information on the Performance

• Work Title: ALCHEMY – CHEMISTRY IS OPERA   
• Composer: Graber Oliver Peter   
• Libretto: Roald Hoffmann    Libretto Text, Libretto Index
• Venue & Opera Company: Gare du Nord, Basel, Switzerland  
• Recorded: 2022
• Type: Staged Opera Live
• Singers: Stephanie McGuire, Ensemble Prinz Ip
• Conductor: Oliver Peter Graber  
• Orchestra: Oliver Peter Graber, PIANO  
• Stage Director:   
• Costume Designer:   
• Lighting Designer: Mario Henkel  

Information about the Recording

• Published by: artofmolecule  
• Date Published: 2026  
• Format: Streaming
• Quality Video: 4 Audio:4
• Subtitles: yessubs, ensubs, gensubs  

• ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIS PERFORMANCE

  What happens when chemical data become music, molecules become an orchestra and a Nobel Laureate in Chemistry writes an opera? In 2022, Art of Molecule and the NCCR Molecular Systems Engineering presented the world première of Alchemy at Gare du Nord in Basel. Alchemy is a melodrama/opera with a libretto by Nobel Laureate in Chemistry Roald Hoffmann and music by Austrian composer Oliver Peter Graber. At its heart lies the idea of transformation — a concept that connects chemistry, art and human ambition.

  The story introduces an ambitious young chemist, her friend, a futuristic painter, and an experienced maker of molecules. All are determined to change the world, while a supercomputer guards humanity — and is itself transformed in the process. The music of Alchemy brings science directly into the composition. Chemical data are transformed into sound and musical structures, creating an “orchestra of atoms” supported by strings, piano and electronics.

  The world première featured mezzo-soprano Stephanie McGuire, the young Basel acting company Prinz Ip, and composer Oliver Peter Graber on piano and electronics. Following the performance, artists and scientists met with the audience for a conversation about chemistry, music, creativity and our desire to transform the world. Alchemy brings together the scientific and artistic work of Roald Hoffmann and Oliver Peter Graber in a unique encounter between chemistry, music, literature and philosophy. Matter changes. Science creates. It’s all about art.

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