For guests who enjoy discovering new and unexpected sounds, the relaxed atmosphere of Semper Bar's bar counter is a popular music venue.

Semper Bar – Introducing the Junge Ensemble

Semper Zwei

Do machines also have human rights? In the year 2037, the programmer Jonah has withdrawn to his studio following the loss of his partner. There, with the help of his robot Juri, he builds the android Alma. His best friend Piet becomes increasingly worried by Jonah’s growing attachment to Alma. And why does he erase her memory every night? When an unknown child sneaks into the rooms and befriends Alma, the small world of the studio is shaken to its core. And what is the story behind the mysterious appearance of Jonah’s former girlfriend Vivienne?

Humanoid

EPSG:4326

Natasha Isabella Gesto, Soprano

The Juilliard School

In the fairytale forest, we encounter the familiar figures of the poor siblings who have lost their way as well as the Gingerbread Witch. The story comes to a head in the famous edible house, which is sweet on the outside but a death trap within. In 1893 Engelbert Humperdinck transformed the tale by the Brothers Grimm into a work which is probably the most famous fairy-tale opera in the repertoire.

Hansel and Gretel

Semperoper Dresden

Puccini’s Madama Butterfly cannot accept that her great love is doomed to end in heartbreak.

Madama Butterfly

La traviata –directly translated as »the one who has lost her way«–is, of course, the Parisian courtesan Violetta Valéry. Already dying from an incurable lung disease, she falls in love with Alfredo Germont. Yet her feelings are in conflict with her way of life and all sense of reason; ultimately, her quest for freedom and happiness is defeated by the moral strictures of bourgeois society. When first performed in Venice in 1853, this story was considered scandalous: an opera about a courtesan who dies of tuberculosis and is also modelled on a real-life woman in Parisian society was an outrageous inno-vation for the time. Focusing on the complex relationship between Violetta, her lover Alfredo and his father Giorgio, Giuseppe Verdi created a captivating and fully-rounded character, expressed through music that shifts between lyrical bel canto passages and powerful musico-dramatic outbursts. Director Barbora Horáková Joly places »La traviata« in the dazzling world of 19th-century vaudeville.

La traviata

If you could change the world right now, what would you do? Change the world! by Mart van Berckel and Pedro Beriso, showing at Semper Zwei, provides a great opportunity to reflect on this and a whole host of other questions. The production aims to transport the audience to the day after a revolution: in a room full of empty chairs (the remnants of barricades), four singers meet after devastating events to reflect, to mourn and to hope … and also to think of a way forward. But they are not alone. They are joined by spoken-word artist Amara van der Elst as a figure who is simultaneously both inside and outside events. According to Mart van Berckel: “Like a presenter or a storyteller, she is responsible for what happens on stage; she can press ‘play’ or ‘pause’, rewind or fast-forward. She’s the motor driving the performance.” She addresses the audience directly with challenging texts, constantly throwing up questions that demand an answer. Amara van der Elst partly drew these questions from the lyrics of the songs which, like a collage, were compiled for this production. The music from both the 19th and 20th centuries runs from Ludwig van Beethoven to Hanns Eisler. Alongside a heady sense of revolutionary tension, the production creates space for personal reflection. Change the world! That’s not a challenge but rather an invitation to tackle difficult questions.

Natasha Isabella Gesto

Events

Upcoming events

19 - 28 Dec, 2025

Hansel and Gretel · Semperoper Dresden

4 - 30 Jan, 2026

Madama Butterfly · Semperoper Dresden

Mar 28 - Apr 28, 2026

La traviata · Semperoper Dresden

2 - 12 May, 2026

Ändere die Welt! · Semperoper Dresden

Past events

Nov 30, 2025

Semper Bar – Introducing the Junge Ensemble · Semperoper Dresden

12 - 21 Nov, 2025

Humanoid · Semperoper Dresden

Future and recently performed repertoire

Annina in La traviata by Verdi

Semperoper Dresden

Sandmännchen in Hansel and Gretel by Humperdinck

Semperoper Dresden

Kate Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly by Puccini

Semperoper Dresden

Alma in humanoid by Evers

Semperoper Dresden

About

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