Philip Venables: WE ARE THE LUCKY ONES

Musical Direction: Bassem Akiki
Direction and Set Design: Ted Huffman
Costumes: Ted Huffman
Costumes: Sonoko Kamimura
Choreography: Pim Veulings
Lighting: Bertrand Couderc
Video: Nadja Sofie Eller
Video: Tobias Staab
Dramaturgy: Nina Segal
Dramaturgy: Laura Roling
One: Claron McFadden
Three: Nina van Essen
Four: Helena Rasker
Six: Frederick Ballentine
Seven: Germán Olvera
Eight: Alex Rosen
Orchestra of the Tiroler Festspiele Erl

Based on interviews with over seventy people born in Western Europe towards the end of the Second World War, the new opera We Are The Lucky Ones by composer Philip Venables and librettists Ted Huffman and Nina Segal portrays a generation that started with little, experienced growing prosperity, and now leaves behind a world that seems unable to bear any more growth. In 100 minutes, music and language, experiences, dreams and memories blend in 60 scenes with reflections on the relationship between the private and the political, the impact of personal decisions, and what really counts in the face of pessimistic forecasts about the future of our world. The opera premiered with great success at the Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam on 14 March 2025 and now experiences its Austrian premiere in Erl.

Team

Bassem Akiki Musical Direction

Der libanesisch-polnische Dirigent und Komponist Bassem Akiki wurde 1983 geboren. Er studierte in Beirut, Krakau und Breslau. Sein Dirigierdebüt gab er im Alter von 24 Jahren mit La traviata an der Oper Breslau, wo er bis 2013 tätig war. Er hat sich ein umfangreiches Repertoire aufgebaut, das von Mozart bis zur Gegenwart reicht. Renommierte Opernhäuser und Festivals haben ihn eingeladen, u. a. die Königlich Dänische Oper in Kopenhagen, die Finnische Nationaloper in Helsinki, die Staatsoper Stuttgart, die Opéra de Lille, die Opéra de Lyon, die Opéra National du Rhin, das Théâtre du Châtelet und das Festival d’Aix-en-Provence. Im März 2026 debütiert er mit The Turn of the Screw am Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London. Er leitete zahlreiche Uraufführungen musikalisch, darunter mehrere am Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brüssel, sowie Philip Venables’ We Are the Lucky Ones und Alexander Raskatovs Animal Farm an der Niederländischen Nationaloper in Amsterdam.

Ted Huffman Direction and Set Design

Ted Huffman Costumes

Sonoko Kamimura Costumes

Pim Veulings Choreography

Bertrand Couderc Lighting

Nadja Sofie Eller Video

Tobias Staab Video

Nina Segal Dramaturgy

Laura Roling Dramaturgy

Claron McFadden One

Nina van Essen Three

Helena Rasker Four

Frederick Ballentine Six

Germán Olvera Seven

Alex Rosen Eight

Orchestra of the Tiroler Festspiele Erl

The music springs from the enthusiasm of a motivated and exceptionally well-prepared ensemble that has grown together over the years. The Tyrolean Festival Erl Orchestra was first formed in the summer of 1999—and today, musicians from 20 nations play together. Already in its first year, the ensemble achieved unprecedented success, which would go on to bring international recognition to the Tyrolean Festival Erl. Top young talents, musicians from major international orchestras, chamber music specialists, and lecturers come together annually in summer and winter—and since 2017, also in fall and spring—as part of the Tyrolean Festival Erl. Under the direction of festival founder Gustav Kuhn, the orchestra garnered rave reviews from international critics and cemented its reputation as one of the world’s finest Wagner orchestras. With the start of Jonas Kaufmann’s tenure as artistic director in September 2024, Asher Fisch—a conductor in high demand internationally in both opera and concert settings—has taken over the helm of the orchestra.

In addition to Richard Wagner’s ten major music dramas and operas by Strauss, Mozart, Beethoven, Verdi, and Rossini, the orchestra’s repertoire includes Beethoven’s symphonies and many other key works from the concert repertoire spanning the Baroque and Romantic periods, as well as contemporary works and world premieres.