For political reasons, King Marke of Cornwall wants to marry the Irish Princess Isolde to secure peace between the two countries. However, Tristan, Marke's nephew and vassal, and Isolde fall in love. The basic constellation in Richard Wagner's music drama corresponds to a classic tragedy of love and jealousy, in which personal feelings and social obligations conflict. But Tristan and Isolde's love transcends all social norms.

Tristan and Isolde

Stadttheater Klagenfurt

Richard Wagner’s »Lohengrin«, which premiered in Weimar in 1850, is closely associated with Dresden: Inspired by the charming landscape around the nearby village of Graupa, Wagner began the opera in 1846 when employed as Kapellmeister to the royal court, completing the work in the Saxon capital in 1849. Since its first performance in Dresden ten years later, the work has been heard over 850 times at the Semperoper. This production from 1983 is a true classic, thrilling audiences year after year. Retaining the work’s roots in both the 19th century and the Middle Ages, director Christine Mielitz tells the story of Elsa, unlawfully accused of murder and at the mercy of her adversaries in the duchy of Brabant, who is rescued by the mysterious Swan Knight. This is a tragic tale of a woman fighting for recognition but also for knowledge. At the end comes the bitter realization that her justifiable wish to know the name of the person to whom she owes her happiness will result in his downfall.

Lohengrin

Semperoper Dresden

As a punishment for lacking compassion, the writer «Ich» (or «I») is forced to take in an idiot at home. This seems like an easy task: «Ich» sets out to choose his idiot and is quite pleased with himself and his willingness to host a «holy fool». The idiot seems to fit obediently into the lives of «Ich» and his wife, except for the fact that he barely speaks—aside from an occasional «Äch!», he doesn't say a word. But when the idiot suddenly, and without warning, defecates on the carpet one day, an uncontrollable spiral of violence, sex, and anarchy begins. Alfred Schnittke's opera Leben mit einem Idioten premiered in Amsterdam in 1992. The titular idiot was quickly interpreted as a caricature of Lenin, and the absurd, grotesque story as a biting parody of everyday life in the Soviet Union. However, the composer himself pointed out that his opera is 'by no means solely about Communism' but more broadly about a condition in which «the irrational dominates the rational». Thus, director Kirill Serebrennikov will bring the piece to the stage as the dystopian, contemporary story of a couple whose idiot becomes the catalyst for their already toxic relationship—a catalyst that brings the darkest, most destructive urges of human nature to the surface, along with an inclination for aggression and violence. Schnittke’s music, which combines quotes from Bach’s Matthäus-Passion, the Communist Internationale, a folk song about a birch tree, a tango from the 1930s, and further echoes of Chopin, Mahler, Shostakovich, and others in a polystylistic collage technique, has great potential for wit and irony, which will unfold under the direction of Jonathan Stockhammer with the Philharmonia Zurich. Susanne Elmark, Bo Skovhus, and the Zurich Opera Chorus, who will be on stage throughout the evening, take on the enormous challenges of their roles.

Birger Radde

Events

Past events

16 - 25 Oct, 2025

Tristan and Isolde · Stadttheater Klagenfurt

Mar 30 - Apr 6, 2025

Lohengrin · Semperoper Dresden

Future and recently performed repertoire

Kurwenal in Tristan and Isolde by Wagner

Stadttheater Klagenfurt

About

Birger Radde hasn't added a bio