Details
Hiroya Miura premieres his new opera 4711 – Intercourse of Ghosts at the Bohemian National Hall on March 29.
Between 1920 and 1923, Franz Kafka exchanged over 120 letters with Czech journalist Milena Jesenská. While her responses have been lost to history, their correspondence deeply shaped Kafka’s writing. Hiroya Miura's 4711 – Intercourse of Ghosts interweaves fragments of their letters with reflections on solitude, cultural identity, and Kafka’s struggle with the act of writing, all within the backdrop of post-World War I Europe.
The libretto unfolds in multiple languages—German, Czech, English, and Japanese—drawing the audience into an immersive and thought-provoking experience. The music incorporates the distinctive sounds of shakuhachi and shamisen, instruments historically tied to marginalized Japanese communities, alongside recordings of carrion crows, evoking the presence of non-human communication. The opera also acknowledges Jesenská’s tragic end: arrested by the Gestapo, she was deported to Ravensbrück concentration camp, where she was marked with the number 4714. Fellow prisoners gave her the nickname “4711,” a reference to the well-known German cologne, 4711 Echt Kölnisch Wasser.
Presented by 1014 and the Czech Center New York, this world premiere of Hiroya Miura’s opera features performances by Hidejiro Honjoh, Akihito Obama, and Annabelle Plum. The evening also includes an intimate song cycle by Carl Bettendorf, inspired by Kafka’s original letters.
Bohemian National Hall
321 E 73rd St.
New York, NY 10021
Saturday, March 29, 2025
7:00 PM — 8:30 PM
67929b9a09e296f50ad7674a_6792996c0dc3f4ddccf14908_hiroya_2520miura.jpeg
67929b9a09e296f50ad7674d_679299ed3fbd4d73b906d3d7_annanbelle_2520plum.jpeg
67929b9a09e296f50ad76746_679299a1602f243a8ce6d4a6_hidejiro_2520honjoh.jpeg
67c73bd2bcb911ea88ddb2f0_kafka-milena.jpg
67929b9a09e296f50ad7673e_679299b7f79d185bf1cfa13b_akihito_2520obama.jpeg
67929b9a09e296f50ad76741_6792997ad139c473ac147ab4_carl_2520c__2520bettendorf.jpeg