Dejima - Siebold's Love
about the life of Philipp Franz Von Siebold
Official Site: http://dejima-opera.com
Libretto: Maaik Krijgsman, Rijndert van Woudenberg, Shunsuke Kawamura
Composition: Rijndert van Woudenberg
Ensemble NOMAD (Japan)
Dutch and Japanese Cast
Featuring soloists on Japanese traditional instruments
Preview Concert Tokyo Opera City October 25, 2018
Japanese and European tour 2020- 2023
Impresario: Buerau Barel/Fay Boyer
The Opera: This opera portrays the life of Philipp Franz von Siebold (1796-1866), a German physician who lived on Dejima. While no foreigners were allowed on the mainland of Japan, his ability to treat old Japanese people with cataract allowed him to enter the mainland where, secretly, he collected (like Darwin) plants and animals from Japan. He discovered the land which was cut off from the rest of the world. Because of a shipping disaster, all that Von Siebold had collected was discovered by the Japanese government, for which, he was questioned for a month by the Japanese authorities, but he never admitted. Von Siebold offered to stay for the rest of his life in Japan, but he was banned from Japan for 33 years. His half Japanese daughter became the first female Japanese medic. The opera Dejima focuses on the Moment of Truth when Von Siebold is forced to leave his beloved Japan to return to Holland. And the dramatic highlight of this tragic departure is when from the mist a small boat shows up with in it his dear wife Kusumoto Taki and 3-year old daughter O-ine who wish to bid adieu to the most important man in their life. In a series of impressionist ‘eye-witness’-accounts of this very moment, every time a new light is shed on the person of Von Siebold and on his love for Japan. The finale of the opera reveils a visionary promise of their reunion some day in the future...
Behind the scenes, our artistic team is working intensively on the complete version of this opera. But due to the Corona crisis, we are currently unable to give concert dates of the tours that will take place in the future. But almost...
List of Partners: Ensemble NOMAD (Tokyo, Japan) Via Nobel Foundation (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) The Netherlands LUSTR BV The Hague Embassy (Tokyo, Japan) City of Amsterdam (The Netherlands), City of Leiden (The Netherlands), City of Nagasaki, Nagasaki Prefecture, Von Siebold Memorial Museum Nagasaki, Nagasaki Museum of History and Culture, Dejima Museum Nagasaki, Von Sieboldhuis (Leiden, the Netherlands) Kris Schiermeier - Director Von Sieboldhuis. Stadsschouwburg (Leiden, the Netherlands) Scheepvaartmuseum (Amsterdam, the Netherlands). DUJAT (Dutch & Japanese Trade Federation, Amsterdam, the Netherlands) International Von Siebold Congress (Nagasaki, Japan) University Leiden (Leiden, the Netherlands) Wakako Hanada - Manager, Ensemble NOMAD (Tokyo, Japan) Stichting Via Nobel (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) Dorien Grötzinger - Planning and Production Amsterdam, the Netherlands) Lucas Hendricks – Project Leader Entrepreneurial Framework Conditions bij Topteam Creative Industries (Amsterdam)
