Schlagt sie tot! is an opera about radical change and religious fanaticism . It paints a multifaceted portrait of a complex figure who transformed the worldworld, namely the controversial catalyst of the Reformation, Martin Luther. He was a charismatic, uncompromising artistic personality, at times hateful and in constant struggle with his inner demons. Five-hundred-year-old events, not unlike the politics of our own age, are broughtto life in Bo Holten’s and Eva S. Holten’s music drama, which reflects human emotion in a society set ablaze by the fire of change.

Schlagt sie tot! is an opera centred on the front figureof the Reformation, Martin Luther, but equally about the world today. The dynamics of the Reformation draw strikingly evident parallels to themes of our present times.

Schlagt sie tot! offers an image of Luther shaped by a strong mix of good and evil, as is so often the case with great and defining figures of history who truly sought change.

Bo Holten is Denmark’s most prolific composer of lyric theatre and an internationally renowned conductor. Eva S. Holten has worked as a librettist with Bo Holten on several operas, with a great ability to put the story into a wider historical and ideological perspective.

The backbone of the music is formed by Luther’s own hymns.

The album is a world-premiere recording.

Cast:
- Martin Luther: Dietrich Henschel
- Philip Melanchton: Thomas Volle
- Georg Spalatin: Jakob Högström
- Lucas Cranach: Reinhard Hagen
- Barbara Cranach: Inger Dam-Jensen
- Frederic the Wise, Elector of Saxony: Bengt Krantz
- Landgrave Philip of Hesse: Conny Thimander
- Erasmus of Rotterdam: Stefan Dahlberg
- Andreas Karlstadt: Magnus Loftsson
- Katharina von Bora: Emma Lyrén
- Huldrych Zwingli: Stefan Dahlberg
- Martin Bucer: Jakob Högström
- Johannes Oecolampadius: Bengt Krantz