The fool in Nikolaus Lehnhoff’s production of Rigoletto is clad in poisonous green, and equally toxic is his mockery of the gaggle of courtiers around the Duke of Mantua. But emotionally the fool is a mess, constantly worried about his daughter Gilda, whom he jealously shields from the clutches of the Duke, an infamous rake. When Gilda nevertheless falls victim to the Duke, Rigoletto swears bloody vengeance. But the plan backfires … The hugely successful premiere of Rigoletto took place at the Teatro La Fenice in 1851. Giuseppe Verdi created a score which he himself described as ”revolutionary“ in its ground-breaking musical and dramatic intensity. The end result is a deeply shocking work, and perhaps the best opera by the great Italian.

Rigoletto

Semperoper Dresden

First performed in Dresden in 1924, Richard Strauss’s Intermezzo provides all manner of insights into his turbulent married life.

Intermezzo

Tired of the big city and its abundance of parties and women, the dandy Eugene Onegin travels to the countryside, where he meets Tatjana, the daughter of an estate owner. Dreaming of romantic love as described in books, she thinks she has found it in Onegin. However, he is unwilling to be tied down. After brusquely rejecting her, it is only years later that Onegin comes to understand his awful mistake and his lack of courage. Yet the realization comes too late: Tatjana has already become the wife of Prince Gremin. Tchaikovsky based his touching and intimate masterpiece from 1878 on the novel in verse by Alexander Pushkin. The opera not only illuminates the torn inner lives of the protagonists, but also the pitfalls of modern relationships. Markus Bothe breaks up the story's chronology using flashbacks of the various characters to create an allusive series of images in which memory, mood and the drama of the present flow seamlessly into one another.

Eugen Onegin

Lucia Ashton falls in love with her family’s mortal enemy, Edgardo, and the young couple pledge eternal fidelity. However, Lucia’s brother Enrico is intent on marrying her off to a rich heir. When Lucia finally believes herself entirely abandoned and alone, with even her beloved Edgardo scorning and insulting her, she murders her unwanted husband on their wedding night. With her family grieving at her perceived insanity, Lucia sees this terrible act as a form of liberation, believing herself close to achieving happiness with her lover. Based on the bestselling novel by Sir Walter Scott, »Lucia di Lammermoor« pearl of bel canto opera. Composed by Gaetano Donizetti in 1835, it is a huge challenge for every singer, both musically and dramatically. In his staging for Dresden, Dietrich W. Hilsdorf illuminates the psychological states of the protagonists by focusing on the central human relationships. The ghostly sounds of the glass harmonica underscore the sensitive inner world of an oppressed woman in her fight against the rest of the world.

Lucia di Lammermoor

Prince Tamino is being pursued by a wild serpent. At the last minute, he is saved by three mysterious ladies who have been sent by the queen of the night. When the bird catcher Papageno appears and boasts about the heroic deed they punish him. In contrast, they give the prince a portrait of Pamina, the daughter of the queen who is being held captive by the ruler of the temple of the sun, Sarastro. Tamino falls in love with her. The queen appears in person and orders him to rescue Pamina together with Papageno. A magic flute will protect him from any danger whilst a reluctant Papageno is given magic bells. Guided by three young boys, they set off on their way to Sarastro’s temple. Whilst the temple guards tell Tamino that Sarastro is not the evil tyrant that the queen has depicted, Papageno finds Pamino and tries to flee with her. With the help of the chimes, he is able to distract her guard Monostatos although his efforts are scuppered by the appearance of Sarastro. Papageno, Pamina and Tamino have to stay in Sarastro’s kingdom as Sarastro has something greater planned for Tamino: just as he has taken Pamina into his kingdom to protect her from her mother, he plans to get Tamino into his circle of insiders of the sun temple and, in this way, prepare him for future tasks.

Die Zauberflöte / The Magic Flute

What does it feel like when, in an instant, your life is turned upside down? That’s what happens to Christine, the wife of court music director Robert Storch. A misdelivered letter leads her to believe that her husband is betraying her in a most shameful manner. She goes on an emotional rollercoaster ride, and the story seems to be veering towards a tragic end ..

»The Nose« is the stroke of genius of the just 22-year-old Dmitri Shostakovich based on the novel of the same name by Nikolai Gogol. While Gogol's novella is a satire on tsarist officials, the opera, which premiered in 1930, brings to the stage an entire society in which an opportunistic official falls into the clutches of bureaucracy, a nose becomes a media sensation, and the police closely monitor its citizens. With dance music, balaleika sounds, Russian church music and the first pure percussion piece in music history, »The Nose« is no less grotesque than the strange occurrences it tells: the nose of college assessor Kovalev suddenly disappeared for no reason.

Sabine Brohm

Events

Upcoming events

8 - 30 May, 2026

Rigoletto · Semperoper Dresden

Past events

8 - 30 May, 2026

Rigoletto · Semperoper Dresden

23 - 30 Apr, 2026

Intermezzo · Semperoper Dresden

Future and recently performed repertoire

Giovanna in Rigoletto by Verdi

Semperoper Dresden

The Frau des Notars in Intermezzo by Strauss

Semperoper Dresden

The Notary's Wife in Intermezzo by Strauss

Semperoper Dresden

The Mother in The Nose by Shostakovich

Semperoper Dresden

Larina in Eugene Onegin by Tchaikovsky

Semperoper Dresden

About

Sabine Brohm hasn't added a bio