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Prince Tamino is being pursued by a wild serpent. At the last minute, he is saved by three mysterious ladies who have been sent by the queen of the night. When the bird catcher Papageno appears and boasts about the heroic deed they punish him. In contrast, they give the prince a portrait of Pamina, the daughter of the queen who is being held captive by the ruler of the temple of the sun, Sarastro. Tamino falls in love with her. The queen appears in person and orders him to rescue Pamina together with Papageno. A magic flute will protect him from any danger whilst a reluctant Papageno is given magic bells. Guided by three young boys, they set off on their way to Sarastro’s temple. Whilst the temple guards tell Tamino that Sarastro is not the evil tyrant that the queen has depicted, Papageno finds Pamino and tries to flee with her. With the help of the chimes, he is able to distract her guard Monostatos although his efforts are scuppered by the appearance of Sarastro. Papageno, Pamina and Tamino have to stay in Sarastro’s kingdom as Sarastro has something greater planned for Tamino: just as he has taken Pamina into his kingdom to protect her from her mother, he plans to get Tamino into his circle of insiders of the sun temple and, in this way, prepare him for future tasks.

Is the world a disc? What if it tilts? Is life just a balancing act? What happens to our society when we lose our equilibrium? Extreme situations affect the whole world, are a challenge to humanity and lead to the most diverse reactions. Kinsun Chan and Martin Zimmermann explore such situations in abstract form, examining how individuals deal with these while depicting how change, both external and internal, leads to constant struggle. The dancers perform on an unstable stage floor that can tilt with every movement. This is the precarious platform on which the performers are exposed, risking life and limb in the process. Tirelessly, they try to make connections with others, and in so doing face the challenge of losing their balance and even the ground beneath their feet. The situations shift from controlled, abstract moments to uncontrolled, surreal chaos and, finally, to redemptive liberation.

A shared flat in Paris’s bohemian world of artists and students: The lives of the poet Rodolfo and his friends are filled with talk of freedom, independence, art, as well as financial hardship. When Rodolfo falls in love with his neighbour Mimì, everything seems to have taken a turn for the better, but poverty and Mimì’s illness overshadow the relationship. The young couple become closely attached. Later they separate, only rediscovering their love when it is already too late. At the time of its premiere in 1896, Puccini’s best-known work broke new ground in Italian opera through its prosaic scenery and everyday subject matter. This staging by Christine Mielitz of Puccini’s fourth opera is one of the most popular productions at the Semperoper.

Can the past be denied and memories erased? After a mass shooting at an international school, pupils, parents and teachers are left horrified and traumatised. The teenage perpetrator is committed to a psychiatric ward. Ten years later, Stela is celebrating her wedding to Tuomas, who she met in her home country of Romania, together with his parents and a priest. She is so happy that she doesn’t ask why there are so few guests. But the waitress hints that there is something Stela doesn’t know – that her groom has another brother.

The wedding of the servant couple Figaro and Susanna is imminent, and everything could be so wonderful, if it weren’t for the lecherous Count Almaviva, who has been stalking Susanna for some time, as well as the vengeful Doctor Bartolo and his housekeeper Marcellina, who all wish to prevent the wedding. After numerous twists and turns, Figaro and Susanna, with the help of the Countess and thanks to an ingenious plan of revenge, finally succeed in thwarting Almaviva using his own art of seduction so that, in the end, all couples are reunited. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s „The Marriage of Figaro“, which premiered at Vienna’s Hoftheater in 1786, is the first of the three Mozart-da Ponte operas. Despite its quick-fire comedic action, the work foreshadows some of the radical ideas of the French Revolution. In his staging, director Johannes Erath takes the audience on a journey through the different epochs of theatrical history from Commedia dell’arte to the modern age.

From an alternative dance scene to established institutions, from experimental performances to musicals and ballet evenings: Dresden is a hugely innovative centre of dance. The aim of DRESDANCE is to place a spotlight on this astonishing diversity.

Richard Wagner’s »Lohengrin«, which premiered in Weimar in 1850, is closely associated with Dresden: Inspired by the charming landscape around the nearby village of Graupa, Wagner began the opera in 1846 when employed as Kapellmeister to the royal court, completing the work in the Saxon capital in 1849. Since its first performance in Dresden ten years later, the work has been heard over 850 times at the Semperoper. This production from 1983 is a true classic, thrilling audiences year after year. Retaining the work’s roots in both the 19th century and the Middle Ages, director Christine Mielitz tells the story of Elsa, unlawfully accused of murder and at the mercy of her adversaries in the duchy of Brabant, who is rescued by the mysterious Swan Knight. This is a tragic tale of a woman fighting for recognition but also for knowledge. At the end comes the bitter realization that her justifiable wish to know the name of the person to whom she owes her happiness will result in his downfall.

200 years and 200 dancers: that’s no April Fool’s joke! Celebrate with us the 200th anniversary of the founding of a permanent ballet ensemble which, in its modern incarnation as the Semperoper Ballett, enjoys enormous international acclaim.

It is no coincidence that the Ukrainian-Russian conductor Anna Rakitina is focusing on music by the Finn Jean Sibelius in this concert. His last symphony, written in 1924, overcomes the idea of ​​the national school, to which Sibelius was also once committed. The Seventh consists of just one movement, develops organically and combines traditional formal elements seamlessly. It is considered a masterpiece of reduction. The concert begins with a no less interesting premiere: in his overture "GerMania", the young composer Florian Frannek combines elements of new music with traditional influences and experimental sounds.

How is the Semperoper Ballett celebrating its 200th anniversary? Not at all in classical style but with a tag team match in Semper Zwei. Here there are no winners or losers; instead, there’s a special challenge, a creative competition involving innovative joy in movement, fun and a common goal: to look back over the 200-year history of the Semperoper Ballett as well as to peer into the future.