INDEX
3 - 4 Biography Irmin Schmidt (English)
5 - 7 Introduction by Irmin Schmidt (English)
8 Synopsis (English)
9 -10 Characters (English)
11 Casting and production requirements (English)
12 - 14 Info to previous productions in Wuppertal, Gelsenkirchen, Saarbrücken and Luxembourg
15 - 16 Projektbeschreibung von Irmin Schmidt (Deutsch)
17 Synopsis (Deutsch)
18 - 19 Charaktere (Deutsch)
20 Info zu Bestetzung und Aufführungsmaterial (Deutsch)
21 - 28 Photos
29 - 36 Press IRMIN SCHMIDT BIOGRAPHY
Irmin Schmidt, born in May 1937, received a formal musical education. Between 1957 and 1967 he studied conducting (u.o. with Istvan Kertesz), compositon (u.o. with Stockhausen and Ligeti) and piano (u.o. with Detlef Kraus).
Between 1962 and 1969 he conducted numerous orchestras including Wiener Sinfoniker, Bochumer Sinfoniker, Radio-Sinfonie-Orchester Norddeutscher Rundfunk Hannover and the Dortmunder Ensemble für Neue Musik, which he founded.
Schmidt also worked as a musical director at the Stadttheater Aachen and taught Musicals and Chanson at the Bochum stage school. Schmidt also gave numerous piano recitals focusing on new music and was amongst the first German pianists to interpret the work of John Cage. His composition "Hexapussy" was premiered in Frankfurt in 1967 and shown on television by WDR. "Ilgom" was premiered by Radio Stuttgart in 1968. During this period he also composed music for various film and theatre productions.
His classical career was put on hold after a trip to New York in 1966 which exposed him to emerging musical forms and ideas that led to him forming CAN in 1968. As the band's keyboard player, Schmidt’s contribution to their groundbreaking career and the evolution of electronic music in general is formidable. When CAN was dissolved in 1978, Schmidt relocated to the south of France where he established a studio and continued to compose and record over 100 film and television scores, a craft he had already become familiar with both before and during his work with CAN. This work is documented on CAN’s “Soundtracks” LP (1970) and on his own solo soundtrack compilations (Vol. 1 to 6)
In 1981 he worked with Bruno Spoerri and released his first solo album "Toy Planet" followed by "Musk at Dusk" in 1987. Schmidt rejoined his former CAN colleagues for the reunion album "Rite Time" (1989) and followed this with another solo album, "Impossible Holidays" (1991).
In 1993 Schmidt was commissioned to write a fantasy opera based on Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast trilogy. The three act opera, with a libretto by Duncan Fallowell, was premiered at Wuppertal Opera House on November 15th 1998 and also shown in 1999 at Gelsenkirchen Musiktheater (30 performances). Excerpts of the opera were released as a CD on Spoon/Mute in 2000. During work on Gormenghast, Irmin Schmidt met british composer Jono Podmore (a.k.a. Kumo). Podmore is also a sound engineer, producer and specialist in rhythm programming and Schmidt immediately saw the potential for improvisational collaboration. They formed the duo Irmin Schmidt & Kumo, released two albums “Masters of Confusion” (2001) and "Axolotl Eyes" (2008) and performed worldwide over an extensive period. They also composed the sound installation "Flies, Guys and Choirs" (commissioned by the Barbican Centre in 2001) and together with Jaki Liebezeit from CAN and Burnt Friedman released the EP "Cyclopean" (2012)
In 2003 Can received the Echo award for live achievement in Germany.
June 2004 saw a new production of Schmidt's Gormenghast opera staged at Völklinger Hütte in Saarbrücken, Germany, a colossal steelworks that is now a UNESCO world heritage site. This was followed by performances at the Grand Théatre Luxembourg.
In 2008 Schmidt composed the music for full orchestra to the ballet by Yury Vàmos, "La Fermosa", commissioned by the Deutsche Oper am Rhein.
Two years later the prestigious Festival in Germany, Ludwigsburger Festpiele, held a gala event to honour Schmidt's career and work, in particular as a film composer. For the event, Irmin conducted the orcherstra of the Schlossfestspiele with a selection of his work orchestrated for the occasion (including extracts from Palermo Shooting by Wim Wenders, Snowland by Hans W. Geißendörfers amongst others).
In 2012 Spoon Records / Mute released "CAN - The Lost Tapes", a 3 CD box set curated by Irmin Schmidt who listened to over 50 hours of Can archive material and chose the released selection. Only a year later he released the compilation "Villa Wunderbar", a 2CD set with a selection of his solo- and film work.
In 2013 Irmin Schmidt received the award for best film score by the German Academy Of Television for his score for "Mord in Eberswalde" by Stephan Wagner.
Currently Irmin Schmidt is working on a book about CAN commissioned by Faber & Faber and his next release: a luxury CD box containing all of his solo work and score releases. präsentiert von Stefan Vinzberg, der die Tonleitern in einer Art "Bruststimmen-Falsett" hinaufkletterte und tapfer trotz einer Beinverletzung bei den Proben die Premiere bestritt.