Mixed-Composer Ballet / Dance Work
Momo**
A two-act ballet by Tim Plegge after Michael Ende’s novel, created for the Badisches Staatsballett and premiered at the Staatstheater Karlsruhe, using a mixed-composer score including music by Lera Auerbach.
World Premiere
Premiered on 21 April 2012 at the Staatstheater Karlsruhe. The production was created for the Badisches Staatsballett / Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe.
Literary Source
After Michael Ende’s novel Momo. The ballet follows Momo’s confrontation with the time-thieves and her journey toward the origin of time.
Music
A mixed-composer score including Lera Auerbach. Auerbach’s selected music consists of ten violin preludes and an excerpt from Fragile Solitudes.
Creative Team
- Choreography and Libretto Tim Plegge.
- After Michael Ende’s novel Momo.
- Company Badisches Staatsballett / Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe.
- Set Design Sebastian Hannak.
- Costumes Judith Adam.
- Lighting Stefan Woinke.
- Dramaturgy Esther Dreesen-Schaback.
- Performers Soloists and ballet ensemble of the Badisches Staatsballett Karlsruhe.
Work Information
Auerbach Music Used
- Ten Violin Preludes Selected from Lera Auerbach’s violin prelude cycle.
- Fragile Solitudes An excerpt from Fragile Solitudes.
Composer Collage
- Music by Lera Auerbach, Pēteris Vasks, Alfred Schnittke, Philip Glass, Arvo Pärt, Bernd Alois Zimmermann, Sebastian Currier, Lepo Sumera, Dmitri Shostakovich, and Max Richter.
- Catalogue Marker The double asterisk identifies this as a mixed-composer ballet / dance work including music by Lera Auerbach.
Roles Identified in Reports
- Momo Blythe Newman was identified in a premiere report; Larissa Mota was identified in a later Hannover performance report.
- Beppo Flavio Salamanka.
- Gigi Zhi Le Xu.
- Cassiopeia Shiri Shai, identified in a later performance report.
- Hora Bruna Andrade and Admil Kuyler, identified in a later performance report.
2012 Performances
- 21 April 2012 World premiere.
- Additional Dates 24 April, 13 May, 23 May, 28 May, 3 June, 6 June, 8 July, and 14 July 2012.
- Later Performance Trace The production later appeared at the Oster-Tanz-Tage in the Hannover Opernhaus.
The Work
Momo is Tim Plegge’s two-act ballet after Michael Ende’s novel about a child who listens, a city losing its time, and the grey figures who convert human life into measurable, stolen units. Created for the Badisches Staatsballett, the work transforms Ende’s philosophical fable into a full-evening narrative ballet in six scenes.
The ballet follows Momo’s confrontation with the time-thieves and her journey with Cassiopeia toward the origin of time. The dramatic world turns on a central paradox: time cannot be possessed without being lost. Against the grey economy of efficiency and accumulation, Momo represents attention, presence, friendship, and the capacity to listen.
Plegge’s musical structure is a broad collage, bringing together Lera Auerbach, Pēteris Vasks, Alfred Schnittke, Philip Glass, Arvo Pärt, Bernd Alois Zimmermann, Sebastian Currier, Lepo Sumera, Dmitri Shostakovich, and Max Richter. Within this field, Auerbach’s music gives the ballet a concentrated, intimate line: brief forms charged with memory, urgency, fragility, and inward dramatic pressure.
The Auerbach materials identified for the production include ten violin preludes and an excerpt from Fragile Solitudes. These works place Momo’s world in contact with compressed emotional states: miniature forms that open into larger psychological and theatrical spaces.
The visual and theatrical frame was created by set designer Sebastian Hannak, costume designer Judith Adam, lighting designer Stefan Woinke, and dramaturg Esther Dreesen-Schaback. The production’s abstract stage world, geometric surfaces, and figures such as Cassiopeia and Hora translate Ende’s story into a landscape where time becomes visible, stolen, recovered, and finally returned.
** Catalogue marker: mixed-composer ballet / dance work including music by Lera Auerbach.
Online Materials
References and Production Sources
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PreviewPreview Not Yet Available Status
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ProductionUraufführung: Momo Theaterkompass
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Publisher ListingBoosey Performance Calendar Boosey & Hawkes
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ReviewMomo im Glück Die Deutsche Bühne
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Performance ReportBadisches Staatsballett tanzt Momo WLZ / Hannover Report
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Premiere ReportMomo Ballet — 21 April 2012 Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe Blog
Materials and Rights
This is a mixed-composer ballet including music by Lera Auerbach. Auerbach’s identified music consists of ten violin preludes and an excerpt from Fragile Solitudes. For future staging, archival video, production images, and performance materials, consult Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe, Badisches Staatsballett, Tim Plegge, and the relevant music publishers and rights holders.
