Singer

“Don‘t you know the horrible dark place, don’t you know the evil one lives there?” Hastily, their parents set out for the woods to save Hansel and Gretel from the witch Rosina Leckermaul. As they feared, the children have got lost in the woods and found the gingerbread house. They cannot resist the sweet temptation – and fall straight into the trap of the witch, who likes children so much she could eat them up… literally.
As in most tales of the Brothers Grimm, in Engelbert Humperdinck’s setting of the fairytale all ends well: until that point, however, Humperdinck’s romantic music accompanies the children deep into the dark forest of legend. Here it invokes magical beings, calls on 14 angels to protect the siblings and allows the witch to ride her broomstick through the air.

Hansel and Gretel

Hamburg State Opera

Iris ter Schiphorst's opera for children was premiered in Vienna in 2010. Together with her librettist Helga Utz, the Hamburg-born composer created a touching and captivatingly imaginative work of music theater from the Grimm fairy tale. A princess, accompanied by her maid, sets off from the protection of her parental home to meet her bridegroom. Despite a difficult journey and numerous obstacles, everything turns out well in the end and she is able to marry her prince. Tobias Kratzer is staging Die Gänsemagd as part of the opening of the opera stabile's artistic direction and season one day after Das Paradies und die Peri, the opening production on the main stage. Musical theater for the youngest generations is not a niche product for him, but a top priority. Here, young audiences experience it at close quarters: As a flock of geese, the children become part of the action, immersing themselves in the story together with the musicians and ensemble singers - opera as a lively, accessible art form full of enchanting melodies that shows how valuable resilience, self-confidence and trust in others are on the journey through life.

The Goose Girl

Opera Stabile Werk/Wirkbühne der Staatsoper

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

“Don‘t you know the horrible dark place, don’t you know the evil one lives there?” Hastily, their parents set out for the woods to save Hansel and Gretel from the witch Rosina Leckermaul. As they feared, the children have got lost in the woods and found the gingerbread house. They cannot resist the sweet temptation – and fall straight into the trap of the witch, who likes children so much she could eat them up… literally.

Hänsel und Gretel (Hansel and Gretel)

The war is over, and tragedy takes its course: the mother and her lover murder the father upon his return. The daughter hides her brother, keeping him safe. – Every day, Elektra thinks of her murdered father, plotting blood-stained celebrations of victory and waiting for the moment when her brother, reared as an avenger, returns. Under one roof with her father’s murderers, thirst for blood and revenge collide with the future plans of her younger sister, who longs for marriage and children, a life in harmony and bliss. The mother is governed by another delusion: “It is not a word, it is not pain, it does not pinch me or strangle me, … and yet it is so terrible that my soul wishes it had been hanged, and every part of my body cries out for death.” Sacrifice is meant to bring relief.

Elektra

The war is over, and tragedy takes its course: the mother and her lover murder the father upon his return. The daughter hides her brother, keeping him safe. – Every day, Elektra thinks of her murdered father, plotting blood-stained celebrations of victory and waiting for the moment when her brother, reared as an avenger, returns...

How do I become what I am not? Between appearance and reality, director Tatjana Gürbaca searches for the melancholic undertones in Gioachino Rossini's masterful comedy. Behind some comic masquerades lies the desire to escape one's role, behind some triumphant vocal acrobatics the fear of missing out on life. Can there ever be a winner in the pursuit of happiness? A masterpiece for all time.

Soprano

Hellen Kwon

Events

Upcoming events

Dec 21, 2024 - Jan 3, 2026

Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) · Staatsoper Hamburg

Nov 30 - Dec 25, 2025

Hansel and Gretel · Staatsoper Hamburg

Apr 14 - May 8, 2026

Elektra · Staatsoper Hamburg

May 17 - Jun 17, 2026

The Barber of Seville · Staatsoper Hamburg

Past events

Nov 30 - Dec 25, 2025

Hansel and Gretel · Staatsoper Hamburg

Sep 28 - Oct 15, 2025

The Goose Girl · Staatsoper Hamburg

Future and recently performed repertoire

Fifth Maid in Elektra by Strauss

Staatsoper Hamburg

First Lady in Die Zauberflöte by Mozart

Staatsoper Hamburg

Crisp witch in Hansel and Gretel by Humperdinck

Staatsoper Hamburg

Crispy witch in Hansel and Gretel by Humperdinck

Staatsoper Hamburg

Berta in The Barber of Seville by Rossini

Staatsoper Hamburg

Fünfte Magd in Elektra by Strauss

Staatsoper Hamburg

Kammerjungfrau in The Goose Girl (Die Gänsemagd) by Stauch

Staatsoper Hamburg

About

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