This most anticipated premiere features Anna Netrebko and Piotr Beczala in their first ever Wagnerian roles as Elsa and Lohengrin under the baton of Christian Thielemann, doubtlessly today’s foremost conductor of this repertoire. Outstanding Wagnerians Evelyn Herlitzius and Tomasz Konieczny are starring as the opponents Ortrud and Friedrich von Telramund and Georg Zeppenfeld is Heinrich der Vogler at the prestigious Semperoper Dresden, with the Staatskapelle Dresden in the pit. The production with its psychologic depth, timeless setting and stunning costumes is staged after the original production by Christine Mielitz, the internationally acclaimed director, who is affiliated with the Semperoper since her beginnings alongside Harry Kupfer. “Netrebko and Beczala are Wagner Stars (New York Times)”; “Pure bliss! Never ending applause! (FAZ)”
Halka
At Theater an der Wien Stanislaw Moniuszko’s Polish national opera Halka is performed by a superb cast including Corinne Winters (“devotedly”), Piotr Beczala (“vocally outstanding”) and Tomasz Konieczny (“his acting is piercing”) (Der Standard). The Polish leading team, above all director Mariusz Trelinski, puts the plot into a supercooled crime aesthetic. The ORF Radio Symphonie Orchester Wien under the baton of Lukasz Borowicz plays with perceptible delight. “A gripping opera evening” (Wiener Zeitung).
150th Anniversary Wiener Staatsoper – Open Air Gala
The Vienna State Opera celebrates its 150th birthday with a glamorous open-air gala, gathering an extraordinary summit of operatic superstars like Bulgarian soprano Sonya Yoncheva, Swedish soprano Nina Stemme, French tenor Roberto Alagna, Uruguayan baritone Erwin Schrott or Italian bass Feruccio Furlanetto to name only a few. Together with soloists of the new generation of the house like sopranos Valentina Nafornita or Olga Bezsmertna – “a triumph for the ensemble” (Die Presse) – they present a firework of famous opera arias, accompanied by the Orchestra and Choir of the Wiener Staatsoper under the rousing baton of Maestro Marco Armiliato, a regular and appreciated guest at the Vienna State Opera. Nestled in the beautiful city centre, the State Opera is one of the most prestigous opera houses in the world with a long and significant history, a Mecca for international opera fans. Praised by critics as “mega event”, about 10,000 spectators came to witness this jubilee concert and celebrate musical passion in a fantastic atmosphere,
a feast for the ears and for the eyes.
Halka
At Theater an der Wien Stanislaw Moniuszko’s Polish national opera Halka is performed by a superb cast including Corinne Winters (“devotedly”), Piotr Beczala (“vocally outstanding”) and Tomasz Konieczny (“his acting is piercing”) (Der Standard). The Polish leading team, above all director Mariusz Trelinski, puts the plot into a supercooled crime aesthetic. The ORF Radio Symphonie-Orchester Wien under the baton of Lukasz Borowicz plays with perceptible delight. “A gripping opera evening” (Wiener Zeitung).
Fidelio
The Salzburg Festival presents Ludwig van Beethoven’s one and only opera, his masterpiece: Fidelio, in a new production staged by Claus Guth, conducted by Franz Welser-Möst and starring Jonas Kaufmann as Florestan. The casting is remarkable in this beautiful new production by the Salzburg Festival. Adrianne Pieczonka embodies the faithful Leonore and Jonas Kaufmann, more tragic than ever, lends his voice to Florestan. The Wiener Philharmoniker and the Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsopernchor conducted by Franz Welser-Möst join them in this remarkable performance.
Salzburg Festival 2016: Die Liebe der Danae
A work narrowly linked to the Festival’s rich history, Richard Strauss’ Die Liebe der Danae (The Love of Danae) surely ranks among the highlights of this year’s Salzburg Festival. Krassimira Stoyanova, regular fixture at the Salzburg Festival, is heading a truly supreme cast and emerges as the “one in a thousand, the true Strauss lyric-dramatic soprano who can soar and swoop, working miracles on phrases that never stop coming” (The Artsdesk). Bass-Baritone Tomasz Konieczny, “sings this Jupiter almost unsurpassably” (FAZ). Alvis Hermanis’ colourful production brings oriental flair to the Salzach, his “staging was spectacular above all else” (Opera Today). Labelled as “too beautiful to be true”, the score presents a retrospect of Strauss’ lifework.
Puccini, La fanciulla del West
A celebrated new production of Puccini’s La fanciulla del West from the Vienna State opera featuring Jonas Kaufmann and Nina Stemme. Stage by Marco Arturo Marelli, who sets it in a modern-day mining village. ‘Nina Stemme and Jonas Kaufmann are the opera’s must-see couple for a generation’ (Financal Times). ‘Excellent singing from top to bottom, tight orchestral playing, beautiful lighting, and a decisive lack of cowboys, saloons and other “Wild West” clichés.’ (Bachtrack.com)
Arabella
A “lyric comedy” is what Richard Strauss and Hugo von Hofmannsthal called their last joint work, written between 1927 and 1929. In this acclaimed performance at the Vienna State Opera, director Sven-Eric Bechtolf shifts the action from 1860, when the work was written, to the 1920s, both eras that witnessed a massive economic crisis. Emily Magee debuted to great acclaim in the title role. Genia Kühmeier as her little sister Zdenka transfigures the role with her lyrically expressive soprano voice. She is ably supported by the splendidly radiant tenor voice of Michael Schade as the young officer Matteo. Conductor Franz Welser-Möst lends the brilliant tone colours of Strauss’s music a decidedly Viennese character with the result that the audience enjoys a production that is one of the brightest gems in Strauss’s opera oeuvre and an experience perhaps only to be encountered in Vienna.
Salzburg Festival 2012: Die Soldaten
Bernd Alois Zimmermann’s opera Die Soldaten (The Soldiers), the “highlight of the festival season” (Süddeutsche Zeitung), breaks all records! The style and structure of an opera, acknowledged as one of the 20th century’s key works, its musical and dramatic collage technique take it to the limits of what is playable. Now, in Salzburg’s Felsenreitschule, the opera has found the ideal performance venue and, with the Vienna Philharmonic under Ingo Metzmacher together with a top-flight cast of singers, ist ideal performers too.
Bayreuth Festival 2022: Die Walküre
This new production of Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen at the Bayreuth Festival was the opera event of the 2022 festival season. Young director Valentin Schwarz reimagines the mythical story in the present day and tells a gripping family saga in the world of the rich and powerful. The musical direction is in the hands of Cornelius Meister. In the second part of the tetralogy, Schwarz delves in particular into the relationship between Wotan, the father of the gods, and his “favorite daughter” Brünnhilde, showing it as especially unhappy and traumatic. Lise Davidsen and Klaus Florian Vogt prove themselves audience favourites for their portrayal of the siblings and lovers Sieglinde and Siegmund.