The monumental city of Babylon becomes the scene of a civilizational upheaval at the moment when two cultures collide: while the Babylonians still practice human sacrifice, the Jews, who are stuck here in exile, have already abolished it. The opera follows this conflict about the love of the exile Tammu for the Babylonian Inanna, priestess in the temple of free love. When the gods unleash chaos in space, the days on earth also become confused, meteorite hails threaten people, the Euphrates leaves its bed, the deluge occurs. The priest-king promises peace and order between heaven and earth through a human sacrifice, which the Babylonians celebrate in an intoxicating festival. But Inanna descends into the underworld to bring the sacrificed Tammu back to life and to unite with him. In the end, love triumphs and reconciliation between heaven and man replaces the old sacrifice. A contractual agreement establishes a new world order in which we still find ourselves today: the 7-day week based on Orderly Return.

The composer Jörg Widmann had the idea of an opera about Babylon in his head for a long time. His original fascination was awakened by the completely different concept of love in ancient Mesopotamia, which we can hardly describe. The love between Tammu and Inanna goes back to one of the most legendary mythological lovers of Babylonian antiquity, who already inspired Mozart’s Magic Flute poet Schikaneder: between the hero Tammuzi and Inanna, goddess of love and war.

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Modern Opera

BABYLON (Widmann) Munich 2012 Claron McFadden, Anna Prohaska, Jussi Myllys, Willard White, Gabriele Schnaut

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