When Richard Wagner developed his initial ideas for Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg in the mid-1840s, he had no intention of writing a monumental "festive opera". The work was intended to be a facile comedy, a jovial and humorous satyr play to place alongside his Tannhäuser, since – like Tannhäuser – reflections on art and artists are its focus. More than two decades later, he had a musical score that was one of the most extensive and multi-layered of his entire repertoire, and that aroused controversy.

The Mastersingers of Nuremberg

Bebelplatz

Like a call issuing from a mythical distant past, Richard Strauss’ Elektra summons the magic of eerie gloom and archaic brutality. An almost inevitable 'tremendous increase to the very end' (Strauss) in musical tension plunges the listener deep into Electra’s world, which is shaped by grief, pain, and thirst for vengeance. Humiliated and tormented by her family, Electra, the daughter of the king of Mycenae, devotes her life to a single obsessive goal: day in and day out, she invokes the memory of her father, who was murdered treacherously by her mother Clytemnestra and Clytemnestra’s lover Aegisthus, and she waits for the return of her brother Orestes, who is supposed to avenge his father’s murder. The deed must be paid back in kind. Vacillating between hatred, hysteria, weakness, hubris, deep sadness, obsession and sarcasm, Electra has lost every connection to the people around her. She is unkempt and has rejected her femininity.

Elektra

In a villa by the sea in a summer resort, where Figaro is on holiday, emotions run high, old grudges are settled, and intrigues spun. At the end of this "great day", however, there is forgiveness. Once again, love triumphs and everyone is happy – the Count and Countess, Figaro and Susanna, Bartolo and Marcellina, and even Cherubino, who had hitherto stirred everything up.

Olaf Bär

Events

Upcoming events

1 - 22 Dec, 2024

The Mastersingers of Nuremberg · Staatsoper Berlin

Jan 26 - Feb 14, 2025

Elektra · Staatsoper Berlin

Jan 27 - Feb 21, 2025

The Marriage of Figaro · Staatsoper Berlin

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