Lighting Designer

A psychological drama between duty and freedom

Katja Kaba­nova

German Oper am Rhein

Richard Wagner referred to TRISTAN AND ISOLDE as a “storyline in three acts”, signalling a radical break with his previous large-scale romantic operas LOHENGRIN and TANNHÄUSER. The description was also Wagner’s way of serving notice that in his seventh work for the stage he would no longer be serving up grandiose crowd scenes à la grand opéra but rather that he had developed a musical language to express the inner motivation of his characters. This irresolvable knot of the conscious and sub-conscious, which determines the fate of the lovers, is the real theme of TRISTAN AND ISOLDE, its “storyline” being a path whose route is determined by the opposing poles of Eros and Thanatos. Revealing the psychology of protagonists against a minimalist backdrop is also characteristic of the work of Berlin director Michael Thalheimer. His acclaimed production of TRISTAN AND ISOLDE was born of a collaboration with the Grand Théâtre de Genève, where it was performed in September 2024.

Tristan and Isolde

Deutsche Oper Berlin

He has bought the three of them as slaves and fallen in love with Konstanze. However, she wants to remain faithful to Belmonte and is prepared to endure the torture she is threatened with. A planned escape by Belmonte and the three prisoners fails. The Bassa recognizes Belmonte's plea for mercy as the son of his mortal enemy, who once stole his beloved and forced him to leave his homeland. But he gives everyone their freedom: »If you can't win someone over by doing them good, you have to get rid of them.«

Die Entführung aus dem Serail

Vienna State Opera

Together with Papageno, he sets off on his journey. In the course of his undertaking, Tamino recognizes Sarastro's kindness. He passes several tests and, together with Pamina, is allowed to take Sarastro's place as a reward. Papageno also finds a suitable partner: Papagena.

Die Zauberflöte

"Man is an abyss, it makes you dizzy when you look down."
With incomparably stirring, moving music, Alban Berg focuses on the inner life of a person who is neither a hero, nor a privileged person, nor a chosen one: the penniless soldier Wozzeck could hardly be worse off. Derided, mistreated and abused by society, he barely has enough to feed Marie and their illegitimate child. The progressive deterioration of his physical and mental health leads to catastrophe.

Wozzeck

Staatstheater Darmstadt

Opera by Beat Furrer (*1954) after the novel «Eisejuaz» by Sara Gallardo
Libretto by Thomas Stangl
Commissioned by the Opernhaus Zürich, World Premiere

EPSG:4326

Das grosse Feuer

Opernhaus Zürich

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

Staatsoper Hamburg

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

Hamburg State Opera

The Flying Dutchman

Celebrate Mozart's 270th birthday with us with the world's most performed opera: Mozart's The Magic Flute , in a production by Rolando Villazón, with the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg under the direction of its celebrated chief conductor Roberto González-Monjas and with a top-class ensemble of soloists.

Mozart: The Magic Flute K. 620

House for Mozart

According to his servant Leporello, Don Giovanni has already loved no fewer than 2,064 women; the number of those he has left with broken hearts cannot be any less. This masterpiece about the charming yet unscrupulous lothario Don Giovanni became (in the words of Richard Wagner) the „opera of all operas“, thanks to the inspired collaboration of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte. The work, which premiered in Prague in 1787, is more than just a tale of love and seduction, lust and immorality, rape, murder and revenge. Expressly called a „funny drama“ by Mozart, the narrative alternates between tragedy and comedy, between tales of sex-and-crime and theatrum mundi. Don Giovanni, with his passion for breaking rules and taboos, does not shy away from challenging the Dead and even Fate itself. In his staging for Dresden, Andreas Kriegenburg highlights the contemporary relevance of the characters’ endless greed for life, love and beauty.

Don Giovanni

Semperoper Dresden

The king dies. Amfortas, leader of the Grail Brotherhood, is tormented by a wound that will not heal - struck by his arch-enemy Klingsor, to whom he also lost the Holy Spear of Christ that was guarded by the Brotherhood. Day after day, the Knights of the Grail are forced to watch helplessly as Amfortas dies of pain and guilt. Only a prophecy gives them hope: a “pure fool” will one day redeem the suffering king through his compassion and win back the Holy Spear, which the fallen Grail knight Klingsor guards in his magic garden. And then Parsifal knocks on the gates of the Grail Castle...

Parsifal

Following on from Puccini’s LA RONDINE and Johann Strauss’s DIE FLEDERMAUS, Rolando Villazón returns to the Deutsche Oper Berlin to tackle one of the great comedies of the bel canto genre and demonstrate that he can do humour. L’ITALIANA IN ALGERI remains one of the most popular works by Gioacchino Rossini, who is said to have dashed the piece off in less than a month and was a tender 21 years of age when the opera premiered at Venice’s Teatro San Benedetto in 1813. It’s a testament to Rossini’s boldness that he chose material that had been set to music only a few years before by his more experienced colleague Luigi Mosca. His audacity paid off, with the subsequent triumph bringing him immediate fame across Italy and widespread popularity soon afterwards throughout Europe.

L’Italiana in Algeri

Few operas have more to say about remaining true (to yourself) in matters of art and love than Ariadne auf Naxos: should you cling to the one you love unconditionally, or remain open to new loves?

Ariadne auf Naxos

Bebelplatz

Il tabarro is a gloomy marital drama set in the milieu of Parisian boatmen on the Seine: Grief for their deceased child stands between the couple Michele and Giorgetta, Giorgetta's affair with the worker Luigi ends in tragedy.

Lighting Designer

Stefan Bolliger

Events

Upcoming events

Sep 12, 2025 - Jun 28, 2026

Die Zauberflöte · Wiener Staatsoper

Dec 2, 2025 - Feb 8, 2026

Katja Kabanova · Deutsche Oper am Rhein

13 - 30 Jan, 2026

The Flying Dutchma · Staatsoper Hamburg

13 - 30 Jan, 2026

The Flying Dutchman · Staatsoper Hamburg

Jan 23 - Feb 1, 2026

Mozart: The Magic Flute K. 620 · Internationale Stiftung Mozarteum

Past events

Dec 2, 2025 - Feb 8, 2026

Katja Kabanova · Deutsche Oper am Rhein

1 - 23 Nov, 2025

Tristan and Isolde · Deutsche Oper Berlin

About

Stefan Bolliger hasn't added a bio

Lighting Designer

Stefan Bolliger

Events

Upcoming events

Sep 12, 2025 - Jun 28, 2026

Die Zauberflöte · Wiener Staatsoper

Dec 2, 2025 - Feb 8, 2026

Katja Kaba­nova · Deutsche Oper am Rhein

13 - 30 Jan, 2026

The Flying Dutchma · Staatsoper Hamburg

13 - 30 Jan, 2026

The Flying Dutchman · Staatsoper Hamburg

Jan 23 - Feb 1, 2026

Mozart: The Magic Flute K. 620 · Internationale Stiftung Mozarteum

Past events

Dec 2, 2025 - Feb 8, 2026

Katja Kaba­nova · Deutsche Oper am Rhein

1 - 23 Nov, 2025

Tristan and Isolde · Deutsche Oper Berlin

About

Stefan Bolliger hasn't added a bio

Katja Kabanova · Deutsche Oper am Rhein

Katja Kabanova · Deutsche Oper am Rhein