Venus und Adonis
# Venus und Adonis

Venus und Adonis is a one-act opera by Hans Werner Henze with a German libretto by Hans-Ulrich Treichel, after the poem by William Shakespeare. The work uses singers and dancers.

It was first performed by the Bavarian State Opera in Munich on 11 January 1997 (Chōki 1997, 18). The American première was at the Santa Fe Opera in August 2000, staged by Alfred Kirchner, and the same production was used for the Canadian première, which took place in Toronto in 2001 (Brockmeier 2003). The Japanese premiere was given in concert form in Tokyo on 11 January 2001 (Schott n.d.).

## Roles

Roles, voice types, premiere cast :

| Role | Voice type | Premiere cast, 11 January 1997 (Conductor: Markus Stenz) |
| - | - | - |
| Clemente | tenor | Chris Merritt |
| Heldendarsteller | baritone | Ekkehard Wlaschiha |
| Primadonna | soprano | Nadine Secunde |
| Madrigalist | baritone | |

Source: (Casaglia 2005)

