The ballet “Nureyev,” choreographed by Yuri Possokhov and composed by Ilya Demutsky, premiered in December 2017 at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. This production, staged by Kirill Serebrennikov, combines ballet, opera, and drama to honor Rudolf Nureyev, a pivotal figure in 20th-century dance known for his artistic genius and defiance of social and political constraints. The narrative is set against the backdrop of a lavish auction of Nureyev’s possessions and explores significant moments in his life, including his career in the Soviet Union, his dramatic defection to the West, and his influence on Western ballet. The story also addresses Nureyev’s relationships and his open expression of homosexuality. Possokhov’s choreography features a rich blend of classical and contemporary styles, requiring exceptional skill from the dancers. Despite its acclaim, the ballet was recently removed from the Bolshoi’s repertoire due to Russia’s tightened LGBTQ laws. The Staatsballett Berlin’s staging offers a unique opportunity to celebrate the legacy of an artist who epitomized freedom and self-expression in the arts. “Absolutely sensational” (Die Zeit)
Hayato Sumino at Rheingau Musik Festival
He is currently revolutioning the classical music world with his brilliant playing and progressive, cross-genre approach to music: as a phenomenon at the piano, Hayato Sumino has been appointed as 2026 Artist in Residence Rheingau Musik Festival. He kicks off his residency as a soloist in Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto, performing in the impressive Friedrich von Thiersch Hall of the Wiesbaden Kurhaus. Joining him on stage will be the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra and its principal conductor Alain Altinoglu. In addition to Rachmaninoff, the programme also includes Borodin’s spirited Polovtsian Dances and Elgar’s mysterious Enigma Variations, which transport the audience to a late Romantic era full of sumptuous melodies and orchestral passion. PROGRAM Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No 2; Elgar: Enigma Variations; Borodin: Polovtsian Dances
The Free Spirit – Carl Maria von Weber
A tireless innovator: Carl Maria von Weber was defined by curiosity, musical expressiveness and an insatiable artistic energy. Soprano Regula Mühlemann, baritone Äneas Humm, composer Jörg Widmann, film composer Rachel Portman and others discuss an artist whose influence extends far beyond the famous Freischütz. Carl Maria von Weber saw the orchestra as a narrative force; he experimented boldly and opened up new musical horizons, the influence of which extends into the modern era and film music. At the same time, his life was marked by upheavals, shaped by illness, financial strain, tireless work and the search for his own artistic language beyond established traditions. “The Free Spirit – Carl Maria von Weber” takes us into the world of a composer who, until his untimely death at the age of 39, worked tirelessly to renew the sound of his time and to give music its own language of expression, thereby opening up a new way of listening for his audience.
Norma
In this intimate staging of Bellini’s masterpiece opera, Asmik Grigorian’s highly anticipated debut as Norma is “one of the best things to happen to Vienna’s opera stages in a long time” (FAZ). Set in a dictatorship of the 20th century, Grigorian’s Norma is the forewoman of a clay foundry. Vasily Barkhatov’s “convincingly concentrated, intimate staging” (Kronenzeitung) underscores the drama of the love triangle between the three central characters. Grigorian masters the notoriously difficult role with bravura: “Grigorian is a true Callas successor because every gesture and facial expression merges with her musical expression” (Kleine Zeitung). In Aigul Akhmetshina as Adalgisa, “she found a counterpart who has one of the richest mezzo voices of our time” (Die Presse). Freddie De Tommaso as Pollione completes the three-way conflict with his “clean and beautifully sounding” tenor (Oper News). Rounding out the evening musically are the “magnificent in every respect” Arnold Schoenberg Chor (Salzburger Nachrichten). “All in all, a breathtakingly thrilling evening with a perfect interlocking of stage and pit” (Van Magazin).
Don Carlo
“vocal luxury was the order of the day”(Die Deutsche Bühne) In this new production of Verdi’s Don Carlo, director Kirill Serebrennikov sets the opera in a historic costume research institute, blending history with the present. Silent actors in historic costumes symbolize self-aggrandizement and emotional confinement. Conductor Philippe Jordan is praised for his sensitivity. Joshua Guerrero effectively portrays Don Carlo, while Etienne Dupuis’s Posa is a charming freedom fighter. Roberto Tagliavini stands out as Filippo II, and Eve-Maud Hubeaux impresses alongside Asmik Grigorian, who shines in her role debut as Elisabetta, delivering a powerful performance that resonates deeply with the audience.
Götterdämmerung
Wagner’s immense imagination reveals itself in the composer’s 16-hour Ring cycle, being able to fully captivate worldwide audiences since its complete performance in 1876 in Bayreuth. Christian Thielemann’s conducting of “Velvety sound of unmatched beauty” (The Guardian) leads an extremely sophisticated production, with Tcherniakov’s stage that meets the highest technical standards, evolved in ever new, impressive spaces. “Götterdämmerung” is the concluding chapter of Wagner’s monumental four-part opus, which he conceived in the light of the revolution of 1848/49 and completed in 1874 after numerous attempts and a long interruption. In many ways, the thematic and musical threads are intertwined in a highly artistic and complex manner. “Tcherniakov, as usual, manages details on a level rarely seen in opera.” (The New York Times)
Siegfried
Thielemann/Tcherniakov Ring from Berlin’s Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin was a project of truly Wagnerian scale and ambition – one that captured the attention of the opera world and set new standards: “Musically, this ‘Ring’ blew away everything that had gone before – and we are talking about a performance history of more than one hundred years.” (Die Welt) In the third part of his Ring tetralogy, Wagner incorporates fairy-tale motifs into his epic mythological story. The well-known tale of “The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn Fear” is echoed in ”Siegfried” as well as episodes from the medieval “Nibelungenlied”. “One wishes for such a “Ring” all over the world.” (Kurier)
Die Walküre
Raising the curtain on a work of superlatives: the Staatsoper Unter den Linden represents the ultimate challenge for any opera house, Wagner’s “Der Ring des Nibelungen”. Christian Thielemann conducts the Ring tetralogy, and Dmitri Tcherniakov, highly praised for his psychologically sophisticated productions, led the playful all-star ensemble coherently through the panorama of characters, situations and events that unfolded like a universe and consistently interpreted the sheer vastness and the manifold twists and turns of the Ring cosmos. With the “Walküre” score, composed in the mid-1850s, Wagner reached new heights with his music, giving the orchestra remarkable communicative powers, layers of meaning were thus developed and incorporated into the work. “Enchanting magic of sound” (Die Zeit) / “A triumph for the Staatsoper” (Neue Zürcher Zeitung)
Das Rheingold
“Michael Volle’s Wotan […] is an event, […] Rolando Villazón plays a fabulous Loge.” (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung) A myth, a heroic epic, a family saga – perhaps all of these together – make up Richard Wagner’s Ring tetralogy. This epic production of the Staatsoper Unter den Linden sees a remarkable collaboration between Christian Thielemann , one of the most distinguished Wagner conductors of our time, and Dmitri Tcherniakov, one of the great, internationally celebrated opera directors of our time. The result is “A glittering feast of voices, sounds, ideas and precise direction of characters. Wagner at his best.” (BR Klassik) The Rheingold gives the background to the events that drive the main dramas of the whole Ring cycle. “In this Rheingold, Thielemann mastered the art of nuance and varied interpretation like no other, and without having to bank on exaggeration.” (Bachtrack.com)
Turandot
Philipp Stölzl, known as award-winning cinema director (The Physician), always finds time for opera despite his many TV and cinema projects – and each time it is a very special production. He now turned to Giacomo Puccini’s last opera Turandot, which remained unfinished, because the composer could not find a twist for the final love scene that convinced him. Stölzl came up with a “a particularly intelligent perspective” (Süddeutsche Zeitung), which fascinates as much as his massive puppet moved by string, the splendid cast, or the Staatskapelle Berlin in the pit conducted by the great Zubin Mehta.