Adapting a short story of the same title by the Norwegian writer Jon Fosse, Hungarian conductor-composer Péter Eötvös, one of the most influential figures in contemporary music, wrote Sleepless on commission. He and librettist Mari Mezei interweave snapshots of the existential search for belonging, crime as a response to human indifference and the struggle with a sense of being out of place, generating a somewhat suggestive, operatic stream of consciousness. The world premiere also marks the Staatsoper Unter den Linden debut of the Hungarian film, theatre and opera director Kornél Mundruczó, well-known for cinematically realistic works that often address contemporary social themes.
La Traviata
Fondly known as “La Traviata of the Mirrors”, this iconic production returns to the familiar Macerata Opera Festival. The exeptional staging designed by Josef Svoboda allows the audience to experience a masterpiece through the gaze of giant mirrors. This production with new costumes stirs emotions and engulfs you in the tragedy that is Violetta Valéry’s predicament. Soprano Claudia Pavone brings the famous courtesan to life. The Sferisterio Opera Festival in Macerata, central Italy, has become a true gem whose performances are enthusiastically acclaimed by audiences of genuine opera lovers from far and wide. The open-air stadium (Sphaeristerium) was constructed 1820-29 and is one of the most renowned neo-classical buildings in Italy.
Il signor Bruschino
“A wonderful, turbulent comedy about a girl willing to marry, but whose guardian causes problems, rivalties, financial debts, false identities and more. The directing duo – André Barbe and Renaud Doucet – made their debut with this production in Pesaro. They brought Rossini’s wit in music and plot to the point in a very entertaining manner.” This is how the Deutschlandfunk describes Rossini’s Il signor Bruschino at the Rossini Festival in Pesaro. Jack Swanson’s and Marina Monzó’s beautiful voices are particularly inspiring with technique and elegance in the colourful, pittoresque and lovingly designed set.
Aida
The 2021 edition of the Macerata Opera Festival was inaugurated with the same opera chosen in 1921 by Count Pier Alberto Conti. At that time, the Sferisterio, formerly a stadium for an ancient ball game, was turned into a venue for opera performances. 2021 was actually a double celebration: Aida, one of the most loved operas, premiered in Cairo in 1871, so this marks its 150th anniversary. Teatro. “A completely singular reading of Verdi’s score, supported by an undisputed musicality.” Connessi all’opera
Capriccio
Capriccio by Richard Strauss is an opera about opera as an art form: it describes the creation of a musical drama with wise cheerfulness and full knowledge of this genre of theatre. The “conversation piece with music” is Strauss’s last complete stage work, his farewell as an opera composer, the cultivated conclusion of a well-considered life’s work. The composer worked closely with the Semperoper Dresden for six decades, and nine of his operas were premiered on the Elbe. To this day, the house and its orchestra, the Staatskapelle Dresden, celebrated worldwide as the “Strauss Orchestra”, cultivate his work with a unique intensity and quality. The celebrated Strauss interpreter and principal conductor of the Staatskapelle Dresden, Christian Thielemann, leads a top-class ensemble with star soprano Camilla Nylund as the Countess, Georg Zeppenfeld as La Roche, Daniel Behle as Flamand, Nikolay Borchev as Olivier, Christa Mayer as Clairon and Christoph Pohl as the Count. In Jens-Daniel Herzog’s new production, the plot unfolds in full poetic power and impressive imagery.
The Fiery Angel
Prokofiev’s Fiery Angel is one of the outstanding operas of the 20th century. Director Andrea Breth transfers the story of Renata, who is plagued by visions, to a clinic. The atmosphere is characterised by agonising hopelessness, but at the same time heightened by the emotional excesses of the inmates. This monochrome approach, which dispenses with any historical embellishment, is legitimised by the careful elaboration of the characters. Aušrine Stundyte, one of the outstanding singing actors of our time, and the congenial Bo Skovhus play out the consequences of traumatisation with merciless precision in Breth’s interpretation. “Musically gripping, scenically intense.” (Wiener Zeitung) / “A scenic sensation.” (Kurier) / “Aušrine Stundyte succeeds in her singing balancing act between eruptive power and vulnerability.” (Die Presse)
Parsifal
Russian stage director Kirill Serebrennikov’s fearlessness, which one can almost physically feel in his productions, fascinates some as much as it confuses others. His radical reading of Wagner’s last magnificent opera at Wiener Staatsoper considers Parsifal as an opera of liberation, namely as a liberation from oneself through the realisation that the path to freedom can only be tackled by oneself. One central idea of this production is the doubled Parsifal, who drags his old ego of the past around with himself in order to leave it behind at the end. Opposite the wavering Parsifal figures stands a powerful Kundry. The whole cast excels, especially the central pairing of Jonas Kaufmann as Parsifal and Elina Garanca in her role debut as Kundry: two icons in prime vocal form and immersed in their roles to a degree that transcends the hype that surrounds them. Philippe Jordan conducting the Orchester der Wiener Staatsoper opts for a bright, fast Wagner. “A luxury cast for Wagner’s wonder sounds” Salzburger Nachrichten / “Serebrennikov conjures up worlds of images that never let you go.” FAZ
Simon Boccanegra
Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra is regarded by connoisseurs as an insider tip of oppressive topicality: men make history and women are the victims. A gloomy atmosphere, political power struggles, family dramas – live from the Vienna State Opera in the production of grandmaster Peter Stein with an excellent cast, starring Thomas Hampson in the title role, Francesco Meli as Gabriele Adorno and Marina Rebeka as the all-outshining Amelia. In the orchestra pit: Evelino Pidò.
Falstaff
The love-crazed, fat, old Falstaff becomes the laughing stock of a women’s intrigue. In Giuseppe Verdi’s comic opera – opulently staged by director David McVicar – Carlos Álvarez shines in the role of a vocally grandiose and stunningly funny Sir John. Impressive also the rest of the ensemble – above all, Vienna’s favorite Simon Keenlyside as Ford.
Le nozze di Figaro
Set designer Aurélie Maestre and costume designer Clémence Pernoud have moved the action of this Staatsoper Berlin production into the 80s, imbuing it with a retro ambiance that adds to the natural comedy of the opera. Throughout this adaptation of Le nozze di Figaro, stage director Vincent Huguet has an eye for more than just entertainment: the extraordinary singing and acting talent of the soloists, including the stellar Elsa Dreisig, Nadine Sierra and Emily D’Angelo, also allow him the leeway for nuanced reflections on human behavior. This already fantastic bill is topped off by the world-class Staatskapelle Berlin with the Daniel Barenboim at its helm: a sheer delight for eyes, ears, and mind! “Quirky action comedy à la Almodóvar.” Tagesspiegel