Adriana Hölszky - Bremer Freiheit (1992)

Avant-garde opera today, from Adriana Hölszky (b. 1953 in Bucharest; has lived in Germany since 1976).  Bremer Freiheit, completed in 1987, recounts the story of Gesche (or Geesche) Gottfried (1785-1831).  Whether motivated by abuse she suffered, Munchausen by proxy, or just plain ol' murderousness, Gottfried poisoned 15 people, and became the last publicly-executed convict in Bremen's history.

The libretto, taken from Rainer Werner Fassbender's 1971 theatrical setting of the Gottfried story, is naturally all in German, but there's a useful summary of the main plot points here.  Musically, it's a wild, disorienting hour of fragmented orchestral thuds and squeals, blaring brass, subtle electronics, and the declaimed vocals of the cast plus a shrieking chorus.  Absolutely exhilarating music to dive into and enjoy the instrumental drama driving the story forward, even if following the language is out of your reach as it is mine.

link
pw: sgtg