Conductor

Under the elegant direction of British conductor Leo Hussain and with the radiant presence of South African soprano Nombulelo Yende – Pretty's little sister – pure emotion, orchestral virtuosity and the dramatic power of lyric art come together. The program opens with a sparkling suite from Mozart's Idomeneo where grace meets dramatic intensity. Then, let yourself be enchanted by Puccini and his piece for strings composed in one night under the influence of intense emotion. The famous Bacchanale from Samson et Dalila by Saint-Saëns then sets the stage ablaze with its oriental colors and captivating rhythms. Finally, Richard Strauss closes this exceptional evening with excerpts from Capriccio , his "conversation in music" where the introductory Sextet, of unequaled harmonic subtlety, precedes the Final Scene, sublimated by the unique timbre of Nombulelo Yende. A dazzling tribute between classical grandeur, Puccinian lyricism, sensual exoticism and Straussian sophistication.

The great masters

Opéra Comédie

Pedrillo, his lover Blonde and Konstanze, having been kidnapped by pirates and dragged into the seraglio by the Pasha, Bassa Selim, hope to be rescued. Konstanze’s fiancé Belmonte attempts to free them – but fails. Only the Pasha himself can grant them their freedom. Orientalism and Enlightenment meet colourful costumes and a fairytale backdrop in this production by the Dutch director and stage designer Michiel Dijkemas. In The Abduction from the Seraglio, which premiered in Vienna in 1782, Mozart gathered together numbers that are still some of the most famous in operatic literature such as Konstanze’s aria Martern aller Arten, Blonde’s Welche Wonne, welche Lust, Pedrillo’s Auf zum Kampfe or the exotic Chorus of the Janissaries.

Die Entführung aus dem Serail

Semperoper Dresden

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

In a programme designed to pay tribute to musical predecessors, the evening opens with Tchaikovsky’s sentimental tribute to the composer he worshipped and culminates in Mozart’s 'Jupiter' — his final and greatest symphony.

Mozart's Jupiter

Auckland Town Hall

This opera is the world in a theatrical nutshell: it deals with growing older, with trials and tribulations, with intransparent decisions. One person searches for individuality, another is too lazy to do so. Others postulate that the community is the only adequate place for the individual. Power has either been legitimised by long tradition or usurped by new regimes. Values such as assimilation and loyalty are set against self-assertiveness and independence. There is loving and dreaming, cheating and trusting. Suicides are prevented, tests passed, adventures survived. Who is right? Who has been wronged? The world of the magic flute is opaque, and everyone is looking for a pathway: within it, into it or out of it. Who holds the reigns? Who can be trusted? Could it be music?

EPSG:4326

Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute)

Staatsoper Hamburg

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.

Mitridate, Re di Ponto

Oper Frankfurt

»If I survived, and others didn’t, then it was probably to attest to what Auschwitz was.« Said Zofia Posmysz, explaining why she wrote her novel The (female) Passenger. Polish composer Mieczyslaw Weinberg, who suffered under the brutality of the SS as well as Stalin’s reign of terror, found a guardian and supporter in Dmitri Shostakovich. It was he who suggested he turn Posmysz' novel into an opera. Director Anselm Weber and set designer Katja Haß cleverly managed to depict different times and places – present day and memories: A ship sailing to Brazil in the 1950s. Lisa and her husband Walter are on their way to start a new life when an encounter suddenly confronts Lisa with the past, when she was a KZ guard in Auschwitz. Is the other passenger a former prisoner, Marta? Lisa was convinced she had died but now stands face to face with her. Walter’s dumbfounded and fears for his future as a diplomat – he knew nothing of his wife’s past.

The (female) Passenger

La Traviata is set in the world of Parisian high society. This popular opera tells the story of the courtesan, Violetta Valéry: her loves and her sad fate. It is based on the dramatic adaptation of the romantic novel, "La Dame aux Camélias" by Alexandre Dumas fils, modeled by the author on the high-class mistress, Marie Duplessis. Giuseppe Verdi then took the story, making its heroine a contemporary woman, and writing an innovative opera in which he raised the role of the music itself to that of expressing the story's emotions. Starting with "Libiamo ne' lieti calici", which has become a well-known, staple tune of gala concerts, the work features numerous other famous songs, such as Violetta's most technically demanding aria, "Ah, fors'è lui-sempre libera", in the prelude foretelling tragedy, and Germont's "Di Provenza il mar, il suol".

Conductor

Leo Hussain

Events

Upcoming events

Dec 21, 2024 - Jan 3, 2026

Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) · Staatsoper Hamburg

Dec 7, 2025 - Jan 10, 2026

Mitridate, Re di Ponto · Oper Frankfurt

1 - 21 Feb, 2026

The (female) Passenger · Oper Frankfurt

2 - 12 Apr, 2026

La Traviata · Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra

Past events

Oct 25, 2025

The great masters · Opéra Orchestre National Montpellier

Sep 6 - Nov 7, 2025

Die Entführung aus dem Serail · Semperoper Dresden

Future and recently performed repertoire

Conductor in Capriccio by Strauss

Opéra Orchestre National Montpellier

Conductor in Crisantemi by Puccini

Opéra Orchestre National Montpellier

Conductor in Saul by Handel

Semperoper Dresden

Conductor in Mitridate, re di Ponto by Mozart

Oper Frankfurt

Conductor in La traviata by Verdi

Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra

Conductor in Die Zauberflöte by Mozart

Staatsoper Hamburg

Conductor in Die Entführung aus dem Serail by Mozart

Semperoper Dresden

Conductor in Idomeneo by Mozart

Opéra Orchestre National Montpellier

Conductor in Samson et Dalila by Saint-Saëns

Opéra Orchestre National Montpellier

Conductor in The Passenger by Weinberg

Oper Frankfurt

About

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