Lighting Designer

Fyodor Dostoyevsky was certain that the secret to winning was surprisingly simple: “to control oneself every minute, regardless of the ups and downs of the game, and not to fall into passion.” Despite this knowledge, Dostoyevsky gambled away all his money and that of his lover at the roulette tables of German health resorts - gambling was forbidden elsewhere - which brought them both to the brink of destitution. Nevertheless, he capitalized on his experiences of loss: in 1866, he freed himself from an extortionate publishing contract with the novel The Gambler, which he wrote under great pressure. And on top of that, he delivered a study of his own (gambling) obsessions.

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The Gambler

The Staatstheater Stuttgart

“Exuberant, loud and over-the-top: it’s showtime in the orchestra pit“, as one journalist put it after the premiere in December 2024. And the stage design and costumes continue the theme – albeit with slightly ironic opulence. Casanova is the title of a revue operetta by composers Johann Strauss and Ralph Benatzky. Eric Charell, the “revue king“ of his time, staged the world premiere at Großes Schauspielhaus in Berlin in 1928. However, the real hero of the Stuttgart production is not so much Casanova himself, but the character of Barberina, who is embodied on stage by two different artists. She takes over the show and leads us through an evening which centers also on female desire and the lustful play with identities and images of masculinity, femininity and the in-between.

Casanova

Stuttgart Opera

“Al’alba vincerò - at sunrise I will win“, the unknown prince bawls out to the city, making him one of the few heroes of Italian opera whose arioso sleeplessness is due to confidence rather than despair. The others have to despair instead. Primarily the inhabitants of the city, in which – “nessun dorma“ – no one is allowed to sleep because everyone has to search for the name of the unknown man on the highest orders and under threat of the death penalty. That Turandot should actually end well by Puccini’s standards can be felt – like so much else – in the central tenor aria of the work. Puccini knew better than anyone how to force an emotional involvement on the audience through the merciless immediacy of his musical language. The piece itself ends happily, albeit without Puccini, who had to lay down his arms in his battle against laryngeal cancer before the finale was finished. And so Turandot joins the ranks of the great opera fragments of the 20th century. But not only is the piece more or less a chimera, the title character herself also seems to be primarily a projection: “Turandot does not exist! Only nothingness exists“, Ping, Pang and Pong warn the unknown prince to prevent him from attempting the three riddles that need to be solved in order to win the emperor’s daughter Turandot. Anna Sophie Mahler, whose Stuttgart production of Saint François d’Assise 2023 was named the “most unusual opera experience of the year“ by the journal Opernwelt, will set out 100 years after the premiere of Puccini’s enigmatic last opera in search of the “fluid of love“ with which the composer wanted to pacify nerves stretched to the limit in the opera’s finale. Because, this much is certain: this fluidum would also be useful today.

Lighting Designer

Valentin Däumler

Events

Upcoming events

Apr 2 - Jun 12, 2026

Casanova · Staatsoper Stuttgart

Jun 7 - Jul 18, 2026

Turandot · Staatsoper Stuttgart

Past events

Feb 2 - Mar 30, 2025

The Gambler · Staatsoper Stuttgart

About

Valentin Däumler hasn't added a bio