Kapitan Nemos Biblothek (aka Captain Nemo’s Library) is an experimental/ modern opera for five soloists and a chamber ensemble. Spread over two CDs, the work shifts between darting & choppy modern classic tones, off-kilter/ seesawing composition, onto guitar-edged dynamics and atmospherics.

The double CD set comes presented in a fold-out six-panel digipak, with a glossy thirty-one-page booklet, featuring English and German texts regarding the composer, the players, and the opera’s themes/ plot, as well as a few colour stills from a live performance of the opera. The release appears on the always worthy Kairos Music.

The twenty-three-track/eleven-act opera is written/ conducted by Cologne-born Johannes Kalitzke. He’s been active since the early 1980s, with around forty releases to his name, though many of these are collections/compilations.  His work moves from early dabbling in electronic composition to works for piano and several operas.

Playing the work, we have the Ensemble Modern- taking in Jaan Bossier- clarinet/ bass clarinet/ double bass. Andrew Digby-Trombone. Rainer Romer- Sampler/ celesta. Rainer Romer-percussion. Simon Klavzar-percussion. Steffen Ahrens- electric guitar. Stefan Hussong- accordion/ toy piano.  Megumi Kasakawa- Viola/ Stroh violin. Eva Bocker- cello, and Pierre Dekker-double bass.

The opera was inspired by both Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and Per Olov Enquist’s novel. It explores the intertwined fates of two boys in a Swedish village, their imaginary refuge aboard the Nautilus and the trials of their friendship. With the live performances adding in puppetry, with the live players/singers.

The first disc features eleven tracks, and a runtime of fifty-one minutes, and it’s certainly an eventful and shifting ride. We go “I.1” with its lumbering horn work, snapping shut till ring, darting string simmers/ light forks, a blend of both male and female opera, and coldly tolling guitar atmospheres. There’s “I-5” with its simmering/ slight serrated string embellishment, spoken male vocal, wavering/ felt female singing, and more flighty horn performances.  And with “II-3” we find stark descending and ascending horn piping’s, warbling female vocals, bombastic percussion, and daring string darts.

Moving onto disc two, we get another thirteen tracks, with a playtime of forty-six minutes. We move from “III.2” with its clip-clopping/ popping percussion, warbling to swooning female vocals, moments of graceful string hover, and more manic vibe, horn, and vocal runs. There’s the creaking & baying bass tones, backwards tone shifts, eerily electro altered male spoken word, moments of cold guitar pick, and wavering female vocal of  “III-6”.  We have the approaching string simmer & faint vocal hover of “IV-3”, with later elements of horn mystery & cold tolling guitar tones.

As a whole, modern/experimental opera, Kapitan Nemos Biblothek, is a rewarding and varied ride. With Ensemble Modern giving a great, dynamic & versatile performance, as well as moody & darting vocal performances from the five vocalists.