The Chamber Opera Heartland I composed it when I was 24. I wanted to show, at various points in time, how the relationship between Paul Celan and his wife Gisèle Celan-Lestrange developed and how it fell apart, despite their deep love and closeness. My aim was not to showcase Paul Celan and his wife as people, but rather to show a conflict. The relationship ultimately falls apart because of history, which is over, past but not over, but which is painfully current again and again. The mass murder of the Jews, to which Celan's parents also fell victim, remained the focus of his literary work throughout his life. German was Celan's mother tongue, as well as the language of his mother's murderers. He found his primary readership in Germany, but he also had to face anti-Semitism there again and again. Judaism was always present in Celan's life, but in the constant conflict between "wanting to believe" and "not being able to believe."
The Jewish themes were also meant to be significant for the music, as I often referred to traditional Jewish music - liturgical as well as folk music. These spheres are almost always present in some way in the overall form, in the melody, rhythm and harmony. I was also attracted to the idea of a "klezmer band" being lost in an orchestra pit. I associated this with Paul Celan, who is so often described as lost, uprooted and homeless.
Sarah Nemtsov: Heartland is on the program of the JCOM concert Paul Celan on March 22, 2023 in the Munich Kammerspiele, further information about the concert here.