Harrison Birtwistle’s opera ain’t for the fainthearted. A man throws a baby in the fire, stabs his wife Judy, searching for lovely Polly, who he wants to marry, carrying out further murders before he finally finds her. Benjamin Britten proposed the young composer Birtwistle for an opera commissioned by the Aldeburgh Festival, because »he’s got more to say than his contemporaries«.

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Punch and Judy

Bockenheimer Depot

To what lengths may a person to go to free themselves from terrible circumstances? The young Katerina, married into wealth yet lonely nonetheless, imprisoned in a mercilessly cold world dominated by men and controlled by its police force, is longing for something more. She is forced to hide her joie de vivre on account of her tyrannical father-in-law, and suppress her desires for love because her husband is impotent and distant. When he is away and the bravado Sergei starts working on the farm, she seems to have found a way out of this dull situation devoid of action. But in the end, four people are dead, including a murderess. Premiered in Leningrad in 1934, the acclaimed opera was intended to further fuel the promising career of the then 24-year-old Dmitri Shostakovich. But one visit to a performance by Stalin was enough for him to suspect the celebrated star of being a potential enemy of the regime. From then on, Shostakovich was forced to live and compose in oppressive fear. Yet where words are forbidden, his musical world simmers, sizzles and lies in wait to explode at the next touch.

Lady Macbeth von Mzensk

Oper Leipzig

Two things must be known about Undines, aquatic beings in feminine form; first, they can only attain an immortal soul by marrying an earthly man. Second, if Undine's love is betrayed, she must kill the unfaithful man. When the knight Hugo falls in love with Undine, it seems that happiness is perfect at last, the wedding bells ring, the village rejoices and celebrates. But then Bertalda appears and the lake's water level ominously begins to rise.

Undine

The curtain rises, and the stage is bathed in the light of a thousand candles. Stage director and designer Michiel Dijkema’s spectacular vision plays off of Puccini’s music, drawing the audience into the fickle worlds of love and power, church and state in Rome in 1800. Puccini’s Tosca at the Oper Leipzig is a suspense-filled crime drama, and a true celebration of the voice!

Tosca

The music in Mozart's Requiem is endlessly beautiful and poignant, but the story behind the work's creation is shrouded in mystery. It is a commissioned work, but Mozart did not know the person who commissioned it. It was a count, Franz Walsseg-Stuppach, who, through his lawyer, bought works from the leading composers of the time and had them performed as his own. The Requiem – the death mass – was intended as a tribute to his late wife, but it also became a requiem for Mozart himself, as he died before he could complete his masterpiece.

Mozart's Requiem

Aalborg Central Waterfront

Lortzing's popular play opera features many of his signature themes, including craftsmanship, love and comical mix-ups, as well as a humorous yet critical view of the bourgeoisie and the nobility.

Sven Hjörleifsson

Events

Upcoming events

Apr 24 - Jul 3, 2026

The Armourer · Oper Leipzig

Apr 30, 2026

Undine · Oper Leipzig

Past events

11 - 30 Dec, 2025

Punch and Judy · Oper Frankfurt

25 - 29 May, 2025

Lady Macbeth von Mzensk · Oper Leipzig

Future and recently performed repertoire

2. Vorarbeiter / Lehrer in Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk by Shostakovich

Oper Leipzig

Veit in Undine by Dvořák

Oper Leipzig

Veit in Undine by Lortzing

Oper Leipzig

Lawyer in Punch and Judy by Birtwistle

Oper Frankfurt

About

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