Violinist

Heroic sounds and heartfelt dramas – this is opera at its finest! Immerse yourself in the realm of otherworldly sounds and enjoy the unique sonic magic of the French composer Georges Bizet – 2025 marks the 150th anniversary of his death! Georges Bizet occupies a central position in opera history as a pioneer of musical realism. With his opera "Carmen," in particular, he created a work distinguished by its innovative compositional techniques, dramatic coherence, and psychological depth. In "Carmen," Bizet combined elements of the French opéra comique with a new kind of dramatic intensity, breaking down traditional structures and using musical leitmotifs to deepen the characters' personalities and the plot. The folkloristic elements – especially the Spanish musical language – served less to exoticize the work, but were primarily embedded as a stylistic device within the dramatic plot. Bizet's orchestration has always impressed with its colorfulness and expressiveness, while the vocal parts displayed a previously unusual combination of lyrical melodies and realistic declamation.

GREAT OPERA GALA – Homage to Georges Bizet

State Theatre Eisenach

Heroic sounds and heartfelt dramas – this is opera at its finest! Immerse yourself in the realm of otherworldly sounds and enjoy the unique sonic magic of the French composer Georges Bizet – 2025 marks the 150th anniversary of his death! Georges Bizet occupies a central position in opera history as a pioneer of musical realism. With his opera "Carmen," in particular, he created a work distinguished by its innovative compositional techniques, dramatic coherence, and psychological depth. In "Carmen," Bizet combined elements of the French opéra comique with a new kind of dramatic intensity, breaking down traditional structures and using musical leitmotifs to deepen the characters' personalities and the plot.

B1 GREAT OPERA GALA – Homage to Georges Bizet

Gotha Cultural Center

Composition during the "Baroque" period was characterized by enormous artistic diversity, virtuoso ornamentation, and deep emotional spirituality – in hardly any region and era is this more evident than in Thuringia in the 17th and 18th centuries, which boasted a cornucopia of musical excellence. Thuringian Baroque music developed in a landscape rich in cultural influences, ecclesiastical power, and a strong bourgeois spirit. The "small states" provided the ideal stage for musical exchange: the ducal courts and royal residences, above all Gotha, Eisenach, and Weimar, were in lively competition with one another; they pushed their court composers to ever greater heights and demanded avant-garde excellence from them.

Baroque Impulse with Midori Seiler – Bach Festival Eisenach

St. George's Church Eisenach

Baroque Impulse with Midori Seiler

Ekhof Theater Gotha

Viva España! The Thuringia Philharmonic celebrates its final night at Friedenstein Castle! A summer evening full of music, elegance, and Mediterranean lightness. A feast of Spanish sounds awaits you in the atmospheric courtyard of Friedenstein Castle, Gotha – multifaceted, rhythmic, and captivating.

The Thüringen Philharmonie Gotha-Eisenach, under the direction of Russell Harris, presents a musical journey through sunny Spain: from fiery and intense classical works to lively dances and well-known pop hits. Look forward to arias from Georges Bizet's opera "Carmen," Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's "Capriccio espagnol," flamenco rhythms with castanet artist Friederike von Krosigk, Maurice Ravel's legendary "Boléro," and the seductively virtuosic "Zigeunerweisen" by Pablo de Sarasate with Alexei Barchevitch on solo violin.

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Last Night – Friedenstein Philharmonic Proms

Schloss Friedenstein Gotha

A unique work with an idiosyncratic character - a work that focuses on one of the most important myths of ancient Greece: The "Medea" melodrama by the Bohemian composer and instrumental virtuoso Georg Anton Benda, who worked in the Gotha court orchestra under Frederick III of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, impresses with its immediate intensity of expression and the vivid representation of complex worlds of feelings and thoughts. No less a figure than Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was fascinated by this "drama mixed with music" when he experienced it in person in Mannheim in 1778. "We attended two performances of Benda's Medea with great pleasure. Nothing has ever impressed me more! The combination of prose and music is extremely pleasing. Benda is one of my favorite composers." This is what the young Mozart wrote to his father Leopold immediately after the overwhelming performance. In the 18th century, the term “melodrama” was used to describe a form that was apparently avant-garde enough for the time to impress even the genius of the young Wolfgang: a play with musical accompaniment, but with recitations instead of singing.

Ekhof Festival 2024: “medea” Premiere – As Part Of: Golden Autumn

Ekhof Theatre Gotha

Puppet theatre with the Baroque Orchestra of the Thuringia Philharmonic Gotha-Eisenach – Ekhof Festival 2024

Violinist

Alexej Barchevitch

Events

Past events

Nov 28, 2025

GREAT OPERA GALA – Homage to Georges Bizet · Thüringen Philharmonie Gotha-Eisenach

Nov 27, 2025

B1 GREAT OPERA GALA – Homage to Georges Bizet · Thüringen Philharmonie Gotha-Eisenach

About

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