Modest Mussorgsky’s national folk drama centres on a grim episode of late 17th-century Russian history. Ivan Khovansky, leader of the musketeer corps (streltsy), and his son Andrei, are planning a conspiracy, but the ambitious Prince Vasily Golitsyn, the boyar Shaklovity and cleric Dosifey also get involved in the struggle for power.

Khovanshchina

Bebelplatz

A maelstrom of violence is unleashed when love turns to envy, when actions are driven by betrayal and madness. David’s triumph over the giant Goliath comes to an abrupt end when King Saul views the young hero as a rival for the throne. Although Saul does everything in his power to kill David, the latter enjoys divine protection. In the end, Saul himself dies and David takes the crown for himself.

Saul

Semperoper Dresden

Elderly King Mitridate wants to marry again, but suspects his sons might dispute his right to his beloved Aspasia and the throne. He therefore spreads the rumour that he died in battle after being defeated by the Romans. Sure enough, his older son Farnace starts pressurising his father’s young intended bride to marry him. But Aspasia secretly loves Sifare, his younger brother, who she asks to protect her from Farnace’s advances. The King of Pontus, believed to be dead, returns in the company of Irene, whom Farnace once promised to marry. Everyone starts eyeing each up other suspiciously. Farnace, in league with the Romans, plots against his father while Sifare und Aspasia are torn between their love for one another and loyalty to Mitridate. Left at the mercy of the King’s jealousy, their desperation brings them close to death.

EPSG:4326

Mitridate, Re di Ponto

Oper Frankfurt

Sometimes as a cautionary tale of a wrongdoer who eventually gets his comeuppance, sometimes as an allegory of a freedom-loving, unconventional libertine who questions the moral and religious ideas of his day: The figure of the irresistibly attractive yet unscrupulous Don Juan (or Don Giovanni) is a modern myth, among whose numerous adaptations Mozart’s "dramma giocoso" stands out.

Don Giovanni

A young woman is given a job as a governess at a country house, Bly, where she will be looking after two orphan children, Flora and Miles. She has been hired by the children’s uncle and guardian, who doesn’t want to be bothered by anything and who makes the young woman swear to absolute secrecy about the goings-on at his estate. Mysterious things do indeed start to happen at the house, including strange behaviour by the children. She also finds something inscrutable about the housekeeper Mrs Grose, who has apparently spent half her life at Bly. Later, the governess believes she sees hazy apparitions of a man and a woman gliding through the rooms of the house, and she identifies them as the spirits of former employees Peter Quint and Miss Jessel. Demonic forces appear to be running rampant and plaguing the characters. At the end, one thing is certain: one of the characters lies dead. Everything else remains unanswered …

Christian Schmidt

Events

Upcoming events

Dec 7, 2025 - Jan 10, 2026

Mitridate, Re di Ponto · Oper Frankfurt

6 - 25 Feb, 2026

Don Giovanni · Staatsoper Berlin

10 - 21 Apr, 2026

The Turn of the Screw · Staatsoper Berlin

Sep 24 - Oct 1, 2026

Mithridates, King of Pontus · Teatro di San Carlo

Past events

2 - 23 Nov, 2025

Khovanshchina · Staatsoper Berlin

Aug 28 - Sep 14, 2025

Saul · Semperoper Dresden

About

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