L’officina de l’amore | About the opera

On this page you find a compact summary of the opera.
For more detail please read THE PLOT.
At MUSIC DEMOS you find excellent studio recordings of musical numbers from the opera and a couple of videos from the reading at MuTh Theater, Vienna.
Klick CONTACT INFO to get in touch with the creators and/or the publishers.

L’officina de l’amore

(“The Garage of Love”)
Opera buffa in three acts
Italian with (English) subtitles
Book by Giovanni Remonato and Johannes Glück
Lyrics by Giovanni Remonato
Music by Johannes Glück

Cast

4 female singers (alto, soprano, dramatic soprano, mezzo)
4 male singers (baritone, bass, tenor, bass-baritone)
Choir (min. 8: S1, S2, A1, A2, T1, T2, B1, B2)

Orchestra

1 Fl, 1 Cl, 1 Ob, 1 Bsn, 2 Hrn, 1 Trp, 1 Tbn, Timp/Perc, Cemb, Strings (min. 4-3-2-2-1)

Duration

Playing time approx. 105 minutes. Performance may be with or without intermission

Vienna-Ottakring, 2015

Car repair shop Debeljković. Car mechanic Adem (31) has given up on love. His gay fellow workers Lolek (26) and Soli (29) try to convince him otherwise but the object of his desire remains the classic Alfa Romeo Giulietta belonging to his customer – and romantic admirer – Isabella (64). In order to get hold of the car Adem pretends to be interested in marrying Isabella. Adem‘s boss Drago (62) is annoyed. He has a soft spot for Isabella but she‘s always been ignoring him. During a rain shower, student Julia (25) enters the repair shop with her broken bicycle. Adem and Julia make love and fall in love. Adem‘s mother Fatima (49) and a bunch of Turkish relatives drop in. They want to wed him to his cousin Cennet (23). Adem refuses. He introduces Isabella as his bride and agrees to marry her. Julia meets Cennet and learns about the marriage swindle. The two young women fall in love with each other. Adem tries to get Julia back but fails. Eventually, Isabella finds out about Adem being a con artist and dies broken-hearted. Drago reanimates her with a car battery. They decide to enjoy their sunset years together in France. Isabella gifts Adem with Giulietta. Adem won the car but lost love.

The best of two worlds

is merged in “L’officina de l’amore“: A classic opera as compact, entertaining and full of melodies as a musical. The characters in our funny, fast moving plot use a lot of contemporary colloquial speech – exclusively in Italian, the most beautiful and singable language in the world, making even words for swearing and car repair tools sound poetic. Subtitles on stage provide entertaining translations. The score is through-composed including recitativi and strumentati, no spoken dialog.

Opera lovers

and music connaisseurs of all ages are going to enjoy “L‘officina de l‘amore“. But our contemporary characters, the entertaining story and the catchy score will also win new audiences for opera.

Johannes Glück

Johannes Glück(*1975) is an alumnus of the Vienna Conservatory, the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop and Celler Schule. The first show he scored for full orchestra was “Das Dingsbums das man Liebe nennt“, an operetta produced in 1996. He composed the songs for „Das Greingold“ (2002) and wrote book, music and lyrics for the hit musical „Krawutzi Kaputzi!“ (2007). Johannes lives and works in Vienna. See www.johannesglueck.com for more info.

Giovanni Remonato

Giovanni Remonatowas born 1982 in Italy. He studied German philology at the universities of Undine and Klagenfurt. In 2015 he graduated from the University of Verona with a doctoral thesis on the Holocaust in comics. Giovanni is an active researcher, literary critic and freelance translator and works for a film production company.

Interview with the creators

Otto Jankovich, producer of the reading at the Vienna MuTh Theater talks with Johannes Glück und Giovanni Remonato about “L’officina de l’amore”.
(German with English subtitles)