A major new operatic work by Peter Gilbert has made its international debut
A major new operatic work by University of New Mexico Department of Music Professor Peter Gilbert has made its international debut at the renowned Schwetzingen Festspiele. Malina, composed by Gilbert with his wife Karola Obermüller (a former UNM faculty member), premiered April 24 and 25, bringing to life a bold and psychologically rich adaptation of Ingeborg Bachmann’s landmark 1971 novel.
The production features an internationally distinguished cast, including countertenor Valer Sabadus and soprano Larisa Akbari, alongside the orchestra of Theater Aachen under the direction of conductor Chanmin Chung. Directed by Franziska Angerer, the staging incorporates video and live electronics, immersing audiences in the fragmented inner world of the opera’s central figure, “Ich.”
Performances will continue at Theater Aachen through the summer and will be broadcast by SWR, extending the reach of the premiere to a wide international audience.
Drawing on Bachmann’s experimental novel, Malina resists traditional narrative structure, instead unfolding as a shifting psychological landscape. The opera explores multiple layers of identity and perception—moving between everyday life, artistic creation, memory, and dream—while probing the boundaries between reality and imagination.
“Bachmann’s novel is, for us, not so much a story as it is an experience,” said Peter Gilbert. “One moves seamlessly through humor, tragedy, memory, and imagination—these fragments flicker across consciousness and create a present that feels unstable but deeply human. Our goal in the opera was to capture that sense of fluid perception and allow the audience to inhabit Ich’s inner world.”
Gilbert explained that the score mirrors the rapid, often disorienting motion of thought itself. Musical textures shift from the bustle of Vienna to moments of stillness, from lyrical intimacy to overwhelming sonic intensity. In the opera’s second act, recurring imagery of water evolves into a storm, while voices from the past—embodied by the chorus—surround Ich as memory and myth collide.
For the Department of Music at UNM, the premiere represents a moment of pride and inspiration.
“Dr. Gilbert is an extraordinary artist whose work challenges, provokes, and ultimately expands how we think about music and storytelling,” said Michael Hix, Chair of the Department of Music. “Just as important, he brings that same imagination and rigor into the classroom. Our students are deeply fortunate to learn from a composer who is actively shaping the future of the art form at the highest international level.”
The opera has received rave reviews
“One would scarcely deem it possible, yet Obermüller and her partner Gilbert have indeed succeeded in transforming Ingeborg Bachmann’s novel ‘Malina’ into an opera. An impressive opening at the Rococo Theatre.”
— Jan Brachmann, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
“I find it to be a richly diverse music … always well written for voices.”
— Michael Struck-Schloen, Deutschlandfunk – Musikjournal
With its ambitious fusion of music, theater, and technology, Malina stands as a powerful testament to the vitality of contemporary opera—and to the global impact of UNM’s creative faculty.