Dramaturge

Opéra-fantastique in five acts by Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880)
Libretto by Jules Paul Barbier after the drame fantastique of the same name
by Barbier and Michel Florentin Carré

EPSG:4326

Les Contes d’Hoffmann

Opernhaus Zürich

Opera in three acts by Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897–1957)
Libretto by Paul Schott (Julius and Erich Wolfgang Korngold) after the novel
«Bruges la morte» by Georges Rodenbach

Die tote Stadt

Director Adele Thomas’ production interprets this rich story of desire and an all-consuming curse. 

Il trovatore

Royal Opera House

Music theater for children from age 7 by Samuel Penderbayne (*1989)
Libretto by Christian Schönfelder after Christine Nöstlinger
Commissioned by the Opernhaus Zürich

Wir pfeifen auf den Gurkenkönig

As a punishment for lacking compassion, the writer «Ich» (or «I») is forced to take in an idiot at home. This seems like an easy task: «Ich» sets out to choose his idiot and is quite pleased with himself and his willingness to host a «holy fool». The idiot seems to fit obediently into the lives of «Ich» and his wife, except for the fact that he barely speaks—aside from an occasional «Äch!», he doesn't say a word. But when the idiot suddenly, and without warning, defecates on the carpet one day, an uncontrollable spiral of violence, sex, and anarchy begins. Alfred Schnittke's opera Leben mit einem Idioten premiered in Amsterdam in 1992. The titular idiot was quickly interpreted as a caricature of Lenin, and the absurd, grotesque story as a biting parody of everyday life in the Soviet Union. However, the composer himself pointed out that his opera is 'by no means solely about Communism' but more broadly about a condition in which «the irrational dominates the rational». Thus, director Kirill Serebrennikov will bring the piece to the stage as the dystopian, contemporary story of a couple whose idiot becomes the catalyst for their already toxic relationship—a catalyst that brings the darkest, most destructive urges of human nature to the surface, along with an inclination for aggression and violence. Schnittke’s music, which combines quotes from Bach’s Matthäus-Passion, the Communist Internationale, a folk song about a birch tree, a tango from the 1930s, and further echoes of Chopin, Mahler, Shostakovich, and others in a polystylistic collage technique, has great potential for wit and irony, which will unfold under the direction of Jonathan Stockhammer with the Philharmonia Zurich. Susanne Elmark, Bo Skovhus, and the Zurich Opera Chorus, who will be on stage throughout the evening, take on the enormous challenges of their roles.

Leben mit einem Idioten

The depths of love are the subject of almost all of Mozart's operas – but none as exclusively as in "Così fan tutte." Ferrando and Guglielmo are convinced that their fiancées, Dorabella and Fiordiligi, are faithful to them. The men enter into a bet with Don Alfonso, who intends to prove them wrong with an experiment. But what begins as a harmless game turns into a cruel open-heart experiment... Kirill Serebrennikov's production is radically contemporary; Roberto González-Monjas, chief conductor of the Musikkollegium Winterthur, guides the audience through Mozart's brilliant yet ambiguous score.

Dramaturge

Beate Breidenbach

Events

Upcoming events

3 - 12 Jul, 2026

That's what they all do · Opernhaus Zürich

Past events

Jun 28 - Jul 12, 2025

Les Contes d’Hoffmann · Opernhaus Zürich

Apr 21 - Jun 1, 2025

Die tote Stadt · Opernhaus Zürich

About

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