Lighting Designer

“Have you tortured me enough?”
Floria Tosca lives entirely for music and her love for the artist Mario Cavaradossi. When Cavaradossi is sentenced to death for his political activism against an inhumane regime, the singer too is on the brink. The jealous Baron Scarpia tries to blackmail Tosca: If she wants to save her lover from execution, she must give herself to Scarpia. Tosca pretends to accept the deal – and stabs Scarpia. But the path to freedom is deceptive. Scarpia's power extends beyond death.
In hardly any other opera are personal passion and political arbitrariness so closely intertwined and yet so cruelly exposed as in Giacomo Puccini's Tosca from 1900. The relentless reckoning with abuse of power and machinations, coupled with a deeply moving love story, continues to electrify audiences today, with a score that combines gripping drama and nerve-wracking tension with moments of enchanting beauty. Arias like Tosca's "Vissi d'arte" and Cavaradossi's "É lucevan le stelle" are not without reason considered icons of Italian vocal art.

Tosca

Staatstheater Hannover

The Republic of Genoa is split into two camps headed by their respective arch rivals, Simon Boccanegra and Fiesco, who have been at loggerheads for decades. Yet the two men are connected by a long-dead woman – Fiesco’s daughter, the lover of Simon – who bore Simon a daughter named Amelia, who in turn vanished into care as an infant. When Amelia reappears 25 years later, she becomes a pawn in a power struggle that eventually claims Simon. The original version of SIMON BOCCANEGRA, which premiered in 1857, is one of Verdi’s explorations into the dichotomy between public actions and private urges. Here, the stark differences between the two old men, Simon and Fiesco, set the stage for suspicion, conspiracy and assassination – with little prospect of a happy end. And not even the victory of one side can guarantee a lasting peace.

Simon Boccanegra

Deutsche Oper Berlin

The will to resist the Roman occupiers is growing among the Galls, and Norma should finally give the sign for an uprising against the oppressor in the name of the god of war. But she hesitates due to a conflict of conscience: despite her vow of chastity, Norma has two children, hidden from the public, fathered by the Roman Pollione. When she finds out that Pollione loves the novice Adalgisa and wants to run away with her, her situation seems hopeless. If she reveals her double life, she risks not only her own standing, but that of her children as well.

Norma

Bebelplatz

The "Flying Dutchman" is different from the men who populate Senta's provincial world. An outsider like them, he is also shrouded in a dark doom. The Dutchman once cursed God; as punishment, he must sail the oceans in his ghost ship until a loving woman redeems him from his curse. Senta is destined to turn the legendary sailor's fate around... Director Vasily Barkhatov tells the story of Senta's quest for romantic self-assertion with cinematic intensity.

Der flie­gen­de Hol­län­der

German Oper am Rhein

In his riveting Russian Hamlet (2019), the audacious choreographer Boris Eifman conjures the intrigues and passions of the notorious House of Romanov through electrifying imagery, bold theatricality, and opulent costumes. In this recently revamped production, Eifman reimagines Shakespeare’s play in the context of Russian history, focusing the action on the tragic figure of Tzar Paul I as he grapples with a hostile world built on violence, treachery, and lies. The lavish staging and sensuous choreography are set to music by Beethoven and Mahler. “The Eifman image is always provocative, frequently outlandish and always daring. It is relevant, never dull” (The New York Times).

EPSG:4326

Eifman Ballet

University of California, Berkeley

The will to resist the Roman is growing among the Galls, and Norma should finally give the sign for an uprising against the oppressor in the name of the god of war. But she hesitates due to a conflict of conscience: despite her vow of chastity, Norma has two children, hidden from the public, fathered by the Roman Pollione. When she finds out that Pollione loves the novice Adalgisa and wants to run away with her, her situation seems hopeless. If she reveals her double life, she risks not only her own standing, but that of her children as well.

Lighting Designer

Alexander Sivaev

Events

Upcoming events

1 - 13 May, 2026

Norma · Staatsoper Berlin

5 - 15 Jul, 2026

Turandot · Teatro di San Carlo

Past events

Dec 13, 2025 - Jan 9, 2026

Tosca · Staatstheater Hannover

7 - 26 Nov, 2025

Simon Boccanegra · Deutsche Oper Berlin

About

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