''Proces Kafka'' (Kafka's Trial) is an opera by

Poul Ruders Poul Ruders (born 27 March 1949) is a Danish composer. Life Born in Ringsted, Ruders trained as an organist, and studied orchestration with Karl Aage Rasmussen. Ruders's first compositions date from the mid-1960s. Ruders regards his own compos ...

to a libretto by

Paul Bentley Paul Richard Bentley (born 25 July 1942) is a British stage, film and television actor, perhaps best known for playing the High Septon in the television series ''Game of Thrones''. He is also a writer. Early life Bentley was born in Sheffiel ...

which premiered on March 12 2005 at the

Copenhagen Opera House The Copenhagen Opera House (in Danish usually called Operaen, literally ''The opera'') is the national opera house of Denmark, and among the most modern opera houses in the world. It is also one of the most expensive opera houses ever built at a ...

in Denmark. It was commissioned by the opera house as the opening to their 2005 season. A Danish-language translation of the libretto was done by Karen Hoffmann.

Plot

The plot and libretto were based on scenes from

Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a German-speaking Bohemian novelist and short-story writer, widely regarded as one of the major figures of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of realism and the fantastic. It typ ...

's unfinished 1925 novel ''

The Trial ''The Trial'' (german: Der Process, link=no, previously , and ) is a novel written by Franz Kafka in 1914 and 1915 and published posthumously on 26 April 1925. One of his best known works, it tells the story of Josef K., a man arrested and p ...

,'' with additional letters from Kafka's own life telling his relationships with

Felice Bauer Felice Bauer (18 November 1887 – 15 October 1960) was a fiancée of Franz Kafka, whose letters to her were published as ''Letters to Felice''. Early life Felice Bauer was born in Neustadt in Upper Silesia (today Prudnik), into a Jewish f ...

and

Grete Bloch Margarete Bloch (21 March 1892 – Precise date unknown, 1944, Auschwitz concentration camp) was a friend of Felice Bauer and a pen-friend of Franz Kafka. Grete Bloch was born in Berlin, a daughter of the sales representative Louis Bloch and Je ...

Reviews

The reception of Ruders' opera was incredibly praiseworthy according to public reviews. Eva White of Christian Daily (

Kristeligt Dagblad ''Kristeligt Dagblad'' is a Danish newspaper in Copenhagen, Denmark. History and profile ''Kristeligt Dagblad'' was established in 1896. It was an initiative of the Lutheran Inner Mission created to oppose radicalism and atheism. The paper is o ...

) called the opera a "tough nut to crack" but praised Bentley and Ruders for their work, although calling the singer's Danish pronunciation "lousy."

Anthony Tommasini Anthony Carl Tommasini (born April 14, 1948) is an American music critic and author who specializes in classical music. Described as "a discerning critic, whose taste, knowledge and judgment have made him a must-read", Tommasini was the chief ...

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

called the performance, "''a brilliant achievement: a grotesquely comic, bitterly satirical and, ultimately, deeply moving work that hooks you for two onrushing and uninterrupted hours.''" Andrew Clements of The Guardian was less praiseworthy, ''"Above all, it's a fine company showcase for the new theatre; the trouble is, there should be more to it than that."''

Roles

Recording

*''Kafka's Trial'' Johnny van Hal, Gisela Stille, Marianne Rørholm & Gert Henning Jensen The Royal Danish Orchestra and Opera Choir, Thomas Søndergård 2CD

References

{{reflist Operas Operas by Poul Ruders 2005 operas Adaptations of works by Franz Kafka