The anti-opera The Bald Soprano was created in 2012, based on the anti-play of the same name by Eugène Ionesco. It is conceived as a vocal-instrumental stage work, yet it reverses the traditional roles of instrumentalists and singers. The protagonists on stage are wind and brass players, while the singers take on a supporting role, similar to that of the orchestra in classical opera. The anti-opera follows the literary work and, like the original, is divided into eleven scenes. The soloists appearing on stage are:
• Mr. Smith – trumpet
• Mrs. Smith – oboe
• Mr. Martin – trombone
• Mrs. Martin – horn (all couples wear inconspicuous evening attire)
• Maid Mary – flute/piccolo (wears an apron and a robe with pockets)
• Fire Chief – clarinet (wears a uniform and a shiny fire helmet)

These performers are assigned not only musical parts but also acting roles and move about the stage during the performance, as singers do in traditional opera. The mixed choir sits inconspicuously in a semicircle along the edges of the stage, surrounding the soloists.

The story revolves around two average petit bourgeois families, reflecting impersonality, repetitive life patterns and mental routines, individual alienation, and the emptiness of modern life. The narrative thus addresses the issues of contemporary musical aesthetics and parodies all forms of clichéd and commercialized music. At the same time, it touches on the tragedy of musical invention that, through rational construction, strives at all costs to find new paths in the cultural marketplace.

The musical composition incorporates numerous melodic and harmonic clichés, as well as minimalist, mechanical, and predictable musical material. The soloists’ melodic patterns are repeated, suggesting the replaceability of generically composed material, which reflects the language and personality of the non-individualistic (anti-) dramatic protagonists. Comedy and tragedy shift back and forth between consonant third-based systems and atonal dissonant spheres.

The accompanying choir only vocalizes the music and does not use the literary text. At times, it complements the soloists aleatorically.

The stage setting remains the same throughout. Four armchairs are arranged in a semicircle around a low table. A grandfather clock with a pendulum stands in the background (it does not function; its chimes are occasionally imitated by two choir members). Along the edges of the stage, the choir is seated, each singer with a music stand. They wear dark clothing to blend visually with the dark backdrop.

The score includes basic stage directions, which align with the original structure of Ionesco’s play. The metatext or “hypertext” of the theatrical work is set to music and assigned to the protagonists of the anti-opera—the wind and brass players—who are free in their movement and acting expression, “breathing” through their instruments. At certain moments, the choir steps out of its supporting role and takes on a leading function, exchanging roles with the soloists.