New Opera ‘Natasha’ A Thought-Provoking Journey to Modern Hells; Work Is a Fruitful Collaboration between Toshio Hosokawa, Yoko Tawada

By Yukiko Kishinami / Japan News Staff Writer

14:10 JST, August 28, 2025

Toshio Hosokawa’s new opera “Natasha” takes the audience on a metaphysical journey through seven contemporary hells, like a thought-provokingly modern version of Dante’s “Inferno.”

The world premiere of the one-act opera with a libretto by novelist Yoko Tawada took place at the New National Theater Tokyo (NNTT) in Shibuya Ward, Tokyo, on Aug. 11. The NNTT commissioned the opera from Hosokawa through the theater’s artistic director for opera, Kazushi Ono. Ono also conducted the premiere, which under his guidance was blessed with superb singing. Christian Rath ably directed this insightful work of theater.

Expectations ran high for the collaboration between Hosokawa and Tawada, both highly acclaimed artists in their respective realms. And they delivered.

The opera starts with the sounds of deep breaths that evolve into voices whispering words meaning “sea” in more than 30 languages. The orchestra joins them and slowly forms a diminished fifth chord. Diminished fifth and seventh chords frequently recur in this opera, in which they evoke a sense of insecurity and an unfathomed abyss.

In the first scene, people, presumably refugees, are lying on what appears to be the sea floor. They wake up one by one, and Arato, a Japanese boy, meets a Ukrainian girl named Natasha, who says she is a shaman with the ability to understand the language of the sea.

In this multilingual opera, Arato sings in Japanese, and Natasha sings in Ukrainian and German. They manage to tell each other their names and start developing a friendship. Both have fled a catastrophe in their respective countries — apparently the nuclear disasters in Fukushima and Chernobyl. Then a man who claims to be the grandson of Mephistopheles, the devil from Goethe’s “Faust,” begins guiding them through seven contemporary hells, where they are tested like Pamina and Tamino in Mozart’s opera “The Magic Flute.” Later on, a rift appears in their relationship, but following their visit to the bleak drought hell, a huge, upside-down pyramid — an overturned Tower of Babel — looms on stage, and it is there that Natasha and Arato reconnect with each other.

The hells all represent real issues, such as deforestation, plastic pollution, futile protests and drought. The business hell shows people systematically toiling for money under the greedy eyes of a Chinese corporate tycoon. The pleasure hell features musicians dressed in plastic.

The mellow and decadent aria sung by two sopranos in the pleasure hell scene is in C minor, and another C-minor song, a duet by Natasha and Arato, appears in the second half of the opera. Since Hosokawa’s previous compositions have all been atonal, the news that his new opera would include songs with tonality surprised hardcore music fans and experts alike before the premiere. Yet neither feels out of place, likely due to how the diminished chords in earlier scenes could be said to foreshadow them.

“Natasha” is the eighth opera by Hosokawa, who is based in Germany. There are many firsts for him in the opera, from the songs with tonality to the use of an electric guitar and electronic sounds. Those new elements are not just for the sake of novelty — they serve the opera’s dramatic purposes well.

Tawada is an award-winning writer in both Japan and Germany. She writes novels in both Japanese and German, but this is the first time that she has written a single work in more than one language — another first for the opera.

According to Hosokawa, Ono asked him to write a new opera in July 2019. Tawada, who also lives in Germany, was appointed as the librettist in April 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic, and completed the libretto in March 2023. Hosokawa started the composition in January 2024.

Ono scrupulously conducted the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra with the right amount of bursting energy when needed. Rath, who also designed the sets with Daniel Unger, made effective use of the entirety of the stage and the space above, to convey each hell’s magnitude, helped by Clemens Walter’s evocative videos, as well as Rick Fisher’s lighting, which nicely complements the scenery and action. Sumihisa Arima did a great job in providing electronic sound design, such as the multilingual whispers heard from multiple speakers specially installed in the auditorium. These subtly include the voices of Hosokawa, Ono and others.

Belgian soprano Ilse Eerens, who also starred in Hosokawa’s opera “Matsukaze,” sang Natasha beautifully. It was a joy to listen to the effortless singing of Japanese mezzo-soprano Hiroka Yamashita, who made her debut at the NNTT as Arato. Mephisto’s crafty grandson was sung with finesse by German baritone Christian Miedl. The opera also had the luxury of casting two star sopranos, Mari Moriya and Akiko Tomihira, as the singers in the pleasure hell. The New National Theatre Chorus gave good musical and theatrical support to the production. Dancers stylishly choreographed by Catherine Galasso added to the magical atmosphere.