Singer

"It is a simple and tremendous problem of life: that of fidelity", is how Hugo von Hofmannsthal described the core of their third opera together, Ariadne auf Naxos, in a letter to Richard Strauss. To live does not mean to persevere and hold on to what has been lost. If you want to live, you have to let go, forget, get over yourself - constantly transform yourself. This is what a young opera composer experiences in this work when he is confronted with the stubborn wishes of his patron; just like the protagonist of his opera, Ariadne, who, abandoned by her lover, Theseus, expects only death.

Ariadne on Naxos

Hamburg State Opera

Under the face of the wandering moon, spirit and body quarrel in all their greatness and wretchedness until the blood of two bodies flows. Strauss remains close to Wilde's re-creation of the biblical material, which leads Salome from her mother's tool to autonomy. It is she who, in her unfulfilled desire for the liberatingly different, the body of the prophet Jochanaan, seeks revenge and demands his head - a price the male-dominated society around Herod is willing to pay for their dance. Now that Salome holds his severed head in her hands, she can kiss Jochanaan, possess him if not alive, then dead. As if under a burning glass, Strauss pours Oscar Wilde's demonic dramaturgy into sound like an eruption of the psyche, accompanying his protagonist from her failed escape from the decadence of her existence to her death.

EPSG:4326

Salome

Staatsoper Hamburg

Sir John Falstaff is an anarchist who obeys only the reign of his own enjoyment, an egoist who feeds only his power-hunger and his own flesh, and who would prefer to raze the small-minded morals of his contemporaries like the walls of a fortress – by seducing two women at the same time. Needless to say, his plan is thwarted, but those trying to expose him also fail to emerge unruffled from the confusion they unleash around him – which only the audience can keep track of, barely. “Tutto nel mondo è burla,” but these jokes are only funny because falling into the abyss actually does pose quite a serious risk. Arrigo Boito, the librettist of “Otello”, distilled a sophisticated, ingenious libretto from Shakespeare’s original, driving Verdi to highly complex compositional heights.

Falstaff

"It is a simple and tremendous problem of life: that of fidelity", is how Hugo von Hofmannsthal described the core of their third opera together, Ariadne auf Naxos, in a letter to Richard Strauss. To live does not mean to persevere and hold on to what has been lost. If you want to live, you have to let go, forget, get over yourself - constantly transform yourself. This is what a young opera composer experiences in this work when he is confronted with the stubborn wishes of his patron; just like the protagonist of his opera, Ariadne, who, abandoned by her lover, Theseus, expects only death. But things turn out differently... Strauss and Hofmannsthal let the opposites collide: Tragedy and comedy, light music and grand opera, playfulness and seriousness. Thus, in the mirroring of art and life, between gaze and gaze, the unfathomable mystery of transformation takes place.

Ariadne auf Naxos

Senta's dreams are directed towards the sea: will the man who will free her from her restricted life at home come from there? It begins stormily; Wagner's first fully valid opera presents a grandiose, overwhelming vision of the elements already in the overture. The fate of the Flying Dutchman and the woman who is to redeem him takes place in the roar of the waves and the ocean. This "romantic opera" aims to transcend boundaries - between tradition and future music, between land and sea, between convention and revolution. The result is a thrilling drama telling the story of a young woman who refuses to submit, who puts all her stakes on one card in order to transcend her boundaries, even if it costs her her life.

Der fliegende Holländer

Violetta is the most sought-after courtesan of the Parisian demimonde. However, her encounter with Alfredo makes her pleasure-seeking life seem questionable: they fall in love and try to build a life for themselves, far from the fast pleasures of the city...

La Traviata

Senta's dreams are directed towards the sea: will the man who will free her from her restricted life at home come from there? It begins stormily; Wagner's first fully valid opera presents a grandiose, overwhelming vision of the elements already in the overture. The fate of the Flying Dutchman and the woman who is to redeem him takes place in the roar of the waves and the ocean. This "romantic opera" aims to transcend boundaries.

The Flying Dutchma

The Flying Dutchman

Nagasaki, Japan, ca. 1900: Pinkerton, a lieutenant in the American navy, has fallen in love with Cio-Cio-San, also known as “Butterfly”. The Japanese ritual marriage ceremony is merely a farce to him – and shortly thereafter, Pinkerton’s “plaything” is alone again, with their child. Three years later, he returns to Japan, but not because of Butterfly...

Madama Butterfly

In Wagner's interpretation, the medieval myth about the tragic love between the Irish king's daughter Isolde and Tristan, King Mark's henchman, to whom Isolde was married against her will, becomes a key work of musical theater at the beginning of a new era. This season, the Hamburg State Opera is bringing Ruth Berghaus' legendary production from 1988 back into the repertoire.

Tenor

Daniel Kluge

Events

Upcoming events

Jan 7 - Feb 21, 2026

La Traviata · Staatsoper Hamburg

13 - 30 Jan, 2026

The Flying Dutchma · Staatsoper Hamburg

13 - 30 Jan, 2026

The Flying Dutchman · Staatsoper Hamburg

Apr 16 - May 9, 2026

Madama Butterfly · Staatsoper Hamburg

7 - 21 Jun, 2026

Tristan und Isolde (Tristan and Isolde) · Staatsoper Hamburg

Past events

Nov 16 - Dec 4, 2025

Ariadne on Naxos · Staatsoper Hamburg

5 - 12 Oct, 2025

Salome · Staatsoper Hamburg

Future and recently performed repertoire

Bardolfo in Falstaff by Verdi

Staatsoper Hamburg

3. Jude in Salome by Strauss

Staatsoper Hamburg

Jude in Salome by Strauss

Staatsoper Hamburg

Brighella in Ariadne auf Naxos by Strauss

Staatsoper Hamburg

A shepherd in Tristan und Isolde by Wagner

Staatsoper Hamburg

Gaston in La traviata by Verdi

Staatsoper Hamburg

Goro in Madama Butterfly by Puccini

Staatsoper Hamburg

The Helmsman of Daland in The Flying Dutchman by Wagner

Staatsoper Hamburg

The Helmsman of Daland in Der fliegende Holländer by Wagner

Staatsoper Hamburg

Brighella in Ariadne on Naxos by Strauss

Staatsoper Hamburg

About

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