Composer

Undines, female water creatures, can only obtain an immortal soul by marrying an earthly man. But what price must be paid for this? What constitutes a soul? The…

Undine

Oper Leipzig

Guest performance in Weißenfels »On the Hunt«

Weißenfels Cultural Center

Guest performance in Arnstadt »On the Hunt«

Theater in the castle garden

EPSG:4326

Coffee Concert № 1 »On the Hunt«

Volkshaus Jena

A Russian tsar, a small-town mayor, a shipyard worker, and three foreign diplomats meet in the time of Peter I. In the middle of it all, Marie fights with heart and mind for her groom. Like many of Lortzing's other operas, Zar und Zimmermann premiered in Leipzig. One of the Musical Comedy's artistic goals is to cultivate Lortzing's works, in order to keep the composer alive and well in the musical city of Leipzig.

Tsar and Carpenter

Musikalische Komödie

The State Theatre is turning 200 – and we're celebrating! Under the musical direction of our General Music Director, Per-Otto Johansson, a diverse program will be performed at Christ Church in Detmold.

Symphony Concert 1

Kurpark Bad Oeynhausen

Two things must be known about Undines, aquatic beings in feminine form; first, they can only attain an immortal soul by marrying an earthly man. Second, if Undine's love is betrayed, she must kill the unfaithful man. When the knight Hugo falls in love with Undine, it seems that happiness is perfect at last, the wedding bells ring, the village rejoices and celebrates. But then Bertalda appears and the lake's water level ominously begins to rise.

Few works have slipped from the programmes of German-language opera houses to the extent experienced by the operas of Albert Lortzing. Where works such as THE POACHER, THE ARMOURER and UNDINE were still fixtures in the repertoire only thirty years ago, they have now all but vanished from the calendars of theatre venues. Not even Lortzing’s greatest triumph, his comedy of errors CSAR AND CARPENTER (1837), has escaped the neglect – and this despite old chestnuts like the “Clog Dance” and the aria “Lebe wohl, mein flandrisch Mädchen.” Doubly surprising if you consider that this tale of Tsar Peter the Great, who strikes up a friendship with an army deserter with the exact same name while acquiring the skills of a carpenter incognito in a Dutch shipyard, was arguably one of the best musical comedies of its time, with Lortzing’s protagonists retaining all their relatable flaws and yearnings in the face of all their ups and downs. The young deserter, who just wants a quiet life, the feisty Marie, who’s determined to decide her own path, the Tsar with his thinly veiled leanings to violent domination, and van Bett as the mayor and a loveable caricature of a German bigwig… all these characters confer a timeless humanity on the comedy.

Composer

Albert Lortzing

Events

Upcoming events

Mar 20 - May 1, 2026

Tsar and Carpenter · Oper Leipzig

Apr 12, 2026

Symphony Concert 1 · Landestheater Detmold

Apr 30, 2026

Undine · Oper Leipzig

Jun 20 - Jul 11, 2026

Csar and Carpenter · Deutsche Oper Berlin

Past events

18 - 23 May, 2025

Undine · Gewandhausorchester

Sep 29, 2024

Guest performance in Weißenfels »On the Hunt« · Jenaer Philharmonie

About

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