Singer

Operetta has always been an escape from everyday life into a dream world. But what if what is happening in the world is so terrible that it can no longer be forgotten? In the first months of 1938, current political life intrudes into the Volksoper during rehearsals for the operetta Gruß und Kuss aus der Wachau. What do intolerance, discrimination and fascism do to the staff of the Volksoper?

In the course of rehearsals, the seizure of power by the National Socialists brings about serious changes for the Volksoper: dismissals follow at all levels of the house. A captivating look into the mirror of the past can also mean a confrontation with a painful period in the history of the Volksoper. We don't want to avoid that. By telling the story of the Volksoper staff, we preserve the memory of ALL victims. At the same time, we do not lose sight of the actions of the perpetrators, which could happen again at any time, but we also remember the countless people who did not raise their voices.

Let 's forget the world - Volksoper 1938

Volksoper Wien

“Love stays away, you wait and wait; when least expected, there it is!” 
She is said to seduce all the men with her free-spiritedness and her Spanish folklore, as she sings “Love is a rebellious bird”… Until she is killed by one of the men.

“Is Carmen really the free, independent woman we think she is, or is she rather the prisoner of the very myth of the free, independent woman? Isn’t it precisely the men who attribute this free-spiritedness to her, so that their conquest of her is all the more rewarding? Carmen tries to make decisions that go in an unexpected, unconventional direction. But is that the definition of freedom? Isn’t the consistent decision to go against convention also a kind of straitjacket?” (Lotte de Beer)

Carmen

Vespasianus that prompted the legendary lyricist Pietro Metastasio to choose this historical figure as the title character of an opera libretto. With "La Clemenza di Tito", the former "Poeta Cesareo" of the Viennese imperial court achieved a literary and theatrical coup that enjoyed great popularity, especially in aristocratic circles, as a "mirror for princes". The libretto was to become the basis of over 50 operas in the course of music history and inspired composers such as Antonio Caldara, Johann Adolph Hasse, Giuseppe Domenico Scarlatti and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to create new musical settings. Christoph Willibald Gluck, who made a name for himself in 1762 with his reform opera "Orfeo ed Euridice", had already devoted himself to this historical subject of Titus Vespasianus ten years earlier. What fascinated Gluck about Metastasio's work was the philosophical question of whether "good people" or "good rule" could even exist. Compositionally, "La clemenza di Tito" already shows some of the elements of Gluck's later "reform operas"; the virtuoso coloraturas and musical contrasts in the casting of the vocal parts are also impressive.

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Maria Hegele

Events

Upcoming events

Oct 19, 2025 - Feb 24, 2026

Let 's forget the world - Volksoper 1938 · Volksoper Wien

Past events

Oct 19, 2025 - Feb 24, 2026

Let 's forget the world - Volksoper 1938 · Volksoper Wien

Oct 4, 2025

Carmen · Volksoper Wien

Future and recently performed repertoire

Mercedes in Carmen by Bizet

Volksoper Wien

Olga Zelenka (Resi) in Let 's forget the world by Kagarlitsky

Volksoper Wien

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