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<h1 class="entry-title"><small>About the project</small></h1>
<p>The Klingon are known as passionate opera-lovers.</p>
<p>However very little is known about their highly evolved form of
musical expression here on earth.</p>
<p>Floris Schönfeld has managed to lay his hands on some fragments
of a masterpiece of the batlh jachlut or Honorable Battle opera.</p>
<p>Its title is ‘u’, which can be translated as ‘universe’ or
‘universal’. It will be the basis for the opera ‘u’, the first
complete, authentic Klingon opera here on earth.</p>
<p>Klingon opera uses the principle of musical combat. Beauty in
Klingon music comes from the impact of two opposing forces. To
quote a well known Klingon proverb qa’ wIje ‘meH masuv or ‘We
fight to enrich the spirit.’ The Klingon orchestra is made up of
various indigenous Klingon instruments, some that have never been
heard on earth before. The Terran Klingon Research Ensemble has
been set up further develop a coherent Klingon musical practice
amongst human musicians.</p>
<p>The libretto of ‘u’ is based on the epos of Kahless the
unforgettable. Betrayed by his brother and witness to his father’s
brutal slaying, Kahless is pitted against his bitter enemy the
mighty tyrant Molor. To regain his honor he must travel into the
underworld, create the first Bat’leth, be united with his true
love the lady Lukara and fight many epic battles. Through this awe
inspiring adventure Kahless redefines what it is to be truly
Klingon. With the help of Marc Okrand, the worlds leading Klingon
language expert, we have managed to piece together the stories in
their original epic-poetic form for the first time.</p>
<p>The project ‘u’ has been running for about two years now. In this
time the KTRE and Floris Schönfeld have given numerous
performances and lecture in The Hague, Rotterdam and Amsterdam, as
well as being invited to the artist-in-residence program of Robert
Wilson’s Watermill Center in New York. The premiere of the opera
is planned for September this year on the location of the
Celestial Vault, a land art piece by James Turrell in Kijkduin.</p>
<p>‘u’ is a <strong>Zeebelt</strong> production.</p>
<p>‘u’ was developed in part at the <strong>Watermill Center</strong>
for the Performing Arts in Watermill NY</p>
<p>‘u’ is made possible by: <strong>NFPK, Gemeente Den Haag, VSB
Fonds, SNS Reaal Fonds, Fonds BKVB, Stroom Den Haag</strong></p>
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<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.u-theopera.org/about-2">http://www.u-theopera.org/about-2</a><br>
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--<br>
Dr. Dave Sayers<br>
Honorary Research Fellow<br>
School of the Environment and Society<br>
Swansea University<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:dave.sayers@cantab.net">dave.sayers@cantab.net</a><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://swansea.academia.edu/DaveSayers">http://swansea.academia.edu/DaveSayers</a><br>
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