Stage Director

In his »erotic mystery/enigma« Otto Borngräber envisaged the first people driven out of paradise as a nuclear family left to their own devices: Chawa longs for her husband to want her as he used to, but Adahm’s more concerned about eking out an existence. Their pubescent son Kajin charges around in the wilderness looking for a woman, while his brother Chabel seeks redemption by praying to a God. When Kajin catches his mother and Chabel in ecstatic union, he kills his brother, then sees the »future blood of future mankind« in a terrifying vision.

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The First People

Oper Frankfurt

Every piece, every cast and every artistic intervention in this inaugural concert - presented by Ina Müller - tells us something about the artistic minds of the three sections of the Hamburg State Opera. Works by Georg Friedrich Haas, Olga Neuwirth, Claudio Monteverdi and even Udo Jürgens are played, danced and sung by unexpected artists in even more unusual line-ups. The Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra is the musical protagonist of the evening, which is far from over after the last note: afterwards, the corks will pop for the first time and all levels of the front building will be transformed into a place of experience until late into the night, with lots of entertainment on numerous stages.

House Warming Concert

Staatsoper Hamburg

Audiences exiting the theatre after the world premiere of Richard Strauss’s eighth opera INTERMEZZO felt wrong-footed and out-of-sorts. Instead of drawing on classical material or mythology, the composer had served up a straight story with him and his wife as characters, showing contempt for the boundary between private life and literary work. What they hadn’t realised was that Strauss had once again demonstrated that he was not only hip to musical-theatre trends but could also make them his own: for INTERMEZZO is Strauss’s response to 1920s audiences’ desire for “modern” opera subjects and can be seen as part of a line of avant-garde works by the likes of Arnold Schönberg (VON HEUTE AUF MORGEN) and Paul Hindemith (NEUES VOM TAGE). Unlike them, however, Strauss remains true to his classical sound and creates another of his famous soprano roles, shimmering with cantilenas, in the form of the main character, Christine, the fictional composer’s wife.

Interlude

Deutsche Oper Berlin

Vienna, circa 1860. The financially strapped Count Waldner is lodging with his family in a Viennese hotel. His only path to solvency is for him to secure an advantageous marriage for one of his two daughters – and the family can only afford to present Arabella, the eldest, in the upper circles of society. To conceal the family’s indigence, the parents have raised Zdenka as a boy, dressing her accordingly. Arabella is not short of suitors but has resolved to wait for ‘Mr Right’. When Mandryka, an aristocrat from a distant region, arrives, he and Arabella are instantly smitten. Arabella only asks to be able to bid farewell to her friends and suitors at the Fasching ball that evening.

Arabella

According to Hugo von Hofmannsthal in a 1911 letter to Richard Strauss, in which he set out his idea for another collaboration between the two men, their next opera would be to THE MAGIC FLUTE what THE KNIGHT OF THE ROSE had been to FIGARO. And the work that premiered a full eight years later did indeed have strong echoes of Mozart’s »grand opéra«: there is the clash of different social classes, the fairytale-like, highly symbolic storyline and above all the strong feeling that ground-breaking change is underway which is challenging accepted orthodoxy and forcing issues of human interaction and values to the top of the political agenda. And in both cases enlightenment is gained only through ordeal and adversity. Here the shadow has a pivotal function as a metaphor for female fertility: the barren Empress and her nurse bargain with the dyer’s wife for her shadow. Only when the Empress rebels against achieving marital happiness and maternal contentment at someone else’s expense does a path to social harmony open up.

The Woman Without a Shadow

It’s Princess Donna Clara’s 18th birthday and she’s getting showered with presents from all sides, but one gift in particular, from the Turkish Sultan, stands out from the crowd: a real-life dwarf! Amidst all the splendour and beauty the misshapen man attracts her special attention, charming her with his singing and fascinating her all the more for seeming to be blissfully unaware of his physical appearance. The dwarf falls madly in love with the princess and is blind to the coquettish game that she is playing. But then he comes face-to-face with his reflection for the first time in his life. Realising the truth of his situation, he falls down dead. Alexander Zemlinsky’s THE DWARF is based on Oscar Wilde’s fairy tale “The Birthday of the Infanta” and received its world premiere in 1922. Following Zemlinsky’s death in 1942 in American exile the work quickly slipped from public awareness, not to be rediscovered until the 1970s. Since then it has been drawing crowds as a subtle, vibrant seismogram of a highly complex and psychological constellation.

Der Zwerg (The Dwarf)

„Was Sie schon immer über unsere Oper wissen wollten…“ – frei nach diesem Motto werden sich in dieser neuen Reihe jeweils zwei Persönlichkeiten aus dem „Kosmos Staatsoper“ zu einem Gespräch in der Rheingoldbar treffen. Die Moderatorin Teresa Vogl wird dabei die Gesprächsführung übernehmen.

Unter 6 Augen

Rheingold bar-bistro

A young woman embarks on a daring mission to rescue her husband.

Fidelio

Royal Opera House

Musical theater on the current state of affairs: As avatars of themselves, the exceptional artists Olga Neuwirth and Elfriede Jelinek send two "vampires" on a journey around the world and observe the decline of humanity. But what kind of world is this, one that can only be saved by a monster named Gorgonzilla? Tobias Kratzer stages this brand-new political grotesque as a contemporary Grand Guignol.

Monster’s Paradise

Hamburg State Opera

Olga Neuwirth is one of the outstanding composers of our time. Together with Nobel Prize winner Elfriede Jelinek, she is writing a new piece of music theater. They send two «vampires» – really avatars of themselves – on a journey around the world. They observe the decline of humanity while a tyrannical king and a self-conjuring sea monster fight for power.

Monster's Paradise

Zurich Opera House

Three masterpieces – two centuries – one narrative. There is Schumann's song cycle "Frauenliebe und -leben ," in which the feelings of the nameless protagonist revolve around the needs of a man. There is Duke Bluebeard's Castle , in which two mysterious strangers are magically attracted to each other. And there is the bourgeois, liberal marriage construct of Oscar Wilde's Florentine Tragedy . These raise the question: Do people desire the same throughout all ages?

Women's Love and Death

Richard Wagner wrote Die Walküre as the second of four parts of the powerful musical theatre epic, Der Ring des Nibelungen, which is based on the Medieval Nibelungenlied and old Norse god sagas. Wotan, the highest god, has fathered twins with a mortal woman – Siegmund and Sieglinde. These two in turn have a child, in which Wotan sees his dominion consolidated. His wife Fricka defies his plans and, as protector of the traditional marriage rites, demands Siegmund’s death. Wotan reluctantly agrees, although it will cause a split with his favourite daughter.

Stage Director

Tobias Kratzer

Events

Upcoming events

Nov 16 - Dec 12, 2025

The First People · Oper Frankfurt

1 - 19 Feb, 2026

Monster’s Paradise · Staatsoper Hamburg

Mar 8 - Apr 12, 2026

Monster's Paradise · Opernhaus Zürich

Apr 12 - May 22, 2026

Women's Love and Death · Staatsoper Hamburg

Jun 25 - Jul 8, 2026

Die Walküre · Bayerische Staatsoper

Past events

Nov 16 - Dec 12, 2025

The First People · Oper Frankfurt

Sep 26, 2025

House Warming Concert · Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg

About

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