Anja Silja
“ Tobias Hoheisels Bühnenbilder sind nicht nur äußerst inspirierend durch ihre starke Aussagekraft, sondern beflügeln auch die Phantasie von uns auf der Bühne, geben Denkanstöße und Spielraum. Unvergessen die maßtabsetzenden Bühnenbilder fuer L. Janaceks Opern Kat'a Kabanova, Jenufa und Die Sache Makropulos in Glyndebourne, bei denen seine innovativen Ideen einen ganz entscheidenden Beitrag zu dem grossen, internationalen Erfolg leisteten.”
‘"Tobias Hoheisel’s strong, meaningful sets are not only inspiring for the audiences, they also fuel the imagination for all of us on stage; they are thought provoking and provide space for us to perform. His sets for Glyndebourne’s productions of Janaceck’s operas Kat'a Kabanova, Jenufa and The Makropulos Case were definitive; his innovative ideas were certainly amongst the reasons for their huge international success.”
A Personal View from Glyndebourne
Tobias Hoheisel has designed five operas for Glyndebourne in the years 1988 to 1999; three Janacek works, Britten’s Death in Venice and Smetana’s Bartered Bride. But it's the Janacek operas directed by Nikolaus Lehnhoff and designed by Hoheisel which above all stick firmly and most memorable in the mind. The staging of Katya Kabanova, the first of the team’s productions in Glyndebourne’s recent Janacek cycle, went to the heart of this opera (based on Ostrovsky’s play The Storm) with a simplicity of design in primal colours which totally captured the Slavic content and spirt of this masterpiece – a deeply distressing tragedy. The staging of Jenufa, the next in the cycle, similarly – through the economy of Lehnhoff’s production and Hoheisel’s penetratingly atmospheric designs and lighting – caught the essence of this heart rending piece. Audiences were simply left drained of the huge crecscendo of emotion generated by Lehnhoff’s, Hoheisel’s – and the singers’ – work. The production of Jenufa also had the special merit of designs which created perfect acoustic effect for the performers on stage and which paid punctilious attention to sightlines for maximum benefit of the audience – aspects of design which are woefully absent in the work of most designers. And finally the production of The Makropulos Case, the last of the cycle in designs of simple elegance (as against the rustic nature of the other two operas) struck upon the ingenious device to reflect the passage of time relating to the huge age (albeit ageless beauty) of Emilia Marty, the protagonist, by imperceptibly causing the scenery to move from stage left to stage right in each scene – a deus ex machina which held audiences in thrall. These three productions had enormous impact on and elicited correspondina encomia from audience and critics alike. Janacek is one of the greatest composers of any era – a composer whose music uniquely derived from no particular influence and germinated no perceptible school of followers. Hoheisel and Lehnhoff created for Glyndebourne three productions as definitive in quality as Janacek’s music is distinctive in the history of opera.
Sir George Christie January 2010
Clive Barda
The prospect of photographing a show designed by Tobias Hoheisel always fills me with eager anticipation. He is a designer whose vision is always original and only predictable in that you can be sure you will be surprised and delighted. He seems to dig deep into his imagination, inspired by the music to which he is so sensitive, and produce design ideas that are exciting, challenging and which reveal yet another aspect of his highly creative mind.
Die Aussicht eine Aufführung, deren Ausstattung von T.H. entworfen ist, zu fotografieren erfüllt mich immer mit großer Erwartung. Er ist ein Bühnenbildner dessen Vision immer originel & nur insofern vohersehbar ist als daß sie einen überraschen & entzücken wird. Er scheint dabei tief in seine Vorstellungswelt einzudringen, inspiriert von der Musik, für die er eine besondere Sensibilität besitzt, um dann Ideen zu visualisieren die, aufregend & herausfordernd sind & immer wieder eine andere Seite seiner außergewöhnlichen Kreativität zu zeigen.
TIM ALBERY
“I love working with Tobias. He is extraordinarily knowledgeable about every area of culture that is involved in bringing an opera or a play to the stage: the visual arts, literature, philosophy, music. He brings a very precise and refined aesthetic to each project, while being involved in real collaboration with his director. As long as you are prepared to have your own relative ignorance laid bare, the design process is most invigorating and fulfilling!”
"Ich arbeite sehr gerne mit Tobias. Seine Kentnisse, jeden Aspekt betreffend, der notwendig ist eine Oper oder ein Theaterstück auf die Bühne zu bringen, sind außerordentlich: sei es bildende Kunst, Literatur, Philosophie oder Musik. Er steuert eine spezifische und verfeinerte Ästhetik zu jedem Projekt bei und ist außerdem ein wirklicher Mitarbeiter des Regisseurs. Wenn man also bereit ist seine eigne, relative Unwissenheit einzugestehen, ist die Zusammenarbeit außerordentlich belebend und erfüllend!"