A motley group of travellers on their way to Reims for the coronation of Charles X is billeted in the Hotel zur Goldenen Lilie. But when it transpires that no fresh horses are available for the stage coach, they realise they’re stranded.

The journey to Reims

Deutsche Oper Berlin

Hansel and Gretel, children of a poor broom maker and his wife, are sent into the woods one day by their mother to pick berries – as punishment for larking around instead of doing their chores. When their father arrives home bearing a bag full of treats after a successful working day, he berates his wife, because the woods are home to an evil witch. The parents set off to look for the kids, who have meanwhile filled their baskets but then eaten all the berries themselves out of sheer hunger. They also realise darkness has fallen and they’re lost, so they lie down for the night and say their prayers, falling asleep and having a strange and wonderful dream. In the morning they wake to see a cottage made of gingerbread and other sweetmeats. Nibbling at the house, they are surprised by the witch, who takes them captive, planning to bake the children in her oven. Instead, they play a trick on her and push her into her own oven. The spell is broken and all the children who had been transformed into gingerbread by the witch regain their human form. The pair’s parents appear and the reunited family returns home.

Hansel and Gretel

The stress sets in on the way to school. You’re too late, nobody wants to sit next to you, other students make fun of you and you’re bullied for the clothes you wear. Your grades are poor, your teachers are unfair, you’re worried because your parents are unemployed – or you struggle with memories of war and having to flee from your home, and these memories are still stuck with you.

immmermeeehr

Suffused with the spirit of the French Revolution, FIDELIO explores issues of individual and collective freedom in the face of tyrannical suppression. For his one venture into opera Beethoven chose a political event rooted in the French tradition of rescue opera. It tells the story of a fearless woman, Leonore, who triggers the end of the old order by having her husband released from prison, where he has been detained on a whim. Far from evincing Beethoven’s inability to compose a coherent opera, this mixed bag of genre elements – German light opera, heartfelt arias, exquisite orchestral interludes and a symphonic close – reflects his revolutionary idea of dramaturgical opposites and subversion of form. The further Leonore descends into the depths of the dungeon, the clearer the existential core of the drama becomes. In an explosive choral and symphonic finale, which, with its quote from Schiller’s “Ode to Joy”, foreshadows Beethoven’s “Ninth”, the uncompromising affirmation of liberty, human rights and humanist ideals bursts forth. The work has repeatedly been appropriated for political ends - on both sides of the spectrum – with Leonore acquiring iconic status. Yet Beethoven’s musical vision of a humanist society still manages to thwart all attempts to encapsulate the opera in simplified interpretations.

Fidelio

Georges Bizet’s titular heroine is as captivating a character as any in the history of opera. The different interpretations of Carmen are legion: we have the seductress, the personification of forbidden yearning, the standard bearer for the “eternally female” in the brutal battle of the sexes, the anarchist unfettered by bourgeois angst and compulsions, the archaic clairvoyante seeing her own death in the cards - yet free, as she does not dread her destiny. Few opera heroines are so open to interpretation and hence so able to serve as a mirror held up to society.

Carmen

Classical art songs and modern poetry – lieder recital meets poetry reading in this series of events organised jointly with the Haus für Poesie Berlin. Each of the four evening events held in the foyer of the Deutsche Oper Berlin will feature a poet reading original works whose themes complement the songs on the programme.

Songs and Poets: Drink soul! Drink loneliness!

Lurking in the bowels of the Deutsche Oper Berlin is a long-forgotten realm from the dark ages. In this location, a.k.a the set and props depository, the ghosts of King Gunther, Siegfried and Brünhilde are up to no good, ever fighting over who gets to go on stage next. Nothing’s off-limits to Wagner’s offspring when it comes to winning over the audience! And so it goes: murder and mayhem, drama upon drama, day after day. High time for someone to bang some heads together — and do it with humour, too! Wait a sec: humour!? That’s really not something the German crew knows the first thing about. But then Berlin’s underground scene rides to the rescue: a clique of operetta singers will sort it out – but wait: are these hallowed portals really going to host a work of operetta? Whatever would Richard make of it?

Into the ring!

RISE AND FALL OF THE CITY OF MAHAGONNY in Benedikt von Peter's production will take place in the foyers and on the stage - guests can move freely between the venues and video screens. There will be free choice of seating, including on mattresses.

Artur Garbas

Events

Upcoming events

Sep 1, 2024 - Jun 22, 2025

Carmen · Deutsche Oper Berlin

Dec 27, 2024 - Jan 6, 2025

The journey to Reims · Deutsche Oper Berlin

Feb 4 - May 7, 2025

Songs and Poets: Drink soul! Drink loneliness! · Deutsche Oper Berlin

Feb 28 - Mar 16, 2025

Into the ring! · Deutsche Oper Berlin

17 - 26 Jul, 2025

Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny · Deutsche Oper Berlin

Past events

Dec 27, 2024 - Jan 6, 2025

The journey to Reims · Deutsche Oper Berlin

13 - 28 Dec, 2024

Hansel and Gretel · Deutsche Oper Berlin

Future and recently performed repertoire

Singer in Sechs Lieder by Strauss

Deutsche Oper Berlin

Singer in Four Last Songs by Strauss

Deutsche Oper Berlin

Singer in Seven Early Songs by Berg

Deutsche Oper Berlin

Bill in Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny by Weill

Deutsche Oper Berlin

Dancairo in Carmen by Bizet

Deutsche Oper Berlin

Peter, Brombinder (Father) in Hansel and Gretel by Humperdinck

Deutsche Oper Berlin

Don Fernando in Fidelio by Beethoven

Deutsche Oper Berlin

Mr Müller in immmermeeehr by Kampe

Deutsche Oper Berlin

Don Profondo in Il viaggio a Reims by Rossini

Deutsche Oper Berlin

Singer in Nachtstücke by Reimann

Deutsche Oper Berlin

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