Whoever has money has power. And whoever doesn't will find it difficult to build a fortune. This was already the case in 1837 in London's Soho or in Brecht's Berlin - and it is no different today. Life without capitalism is no longer imaginable, and in a self-corrupting system, everything has become a commodity - love, morality, and misery. Businessmen and the police are just as criminal and devoid of morals as criminals and beggars - there is no distinction between the bourgeoisie and the crooks. The top and the bottom of society merge seamlessly into one another. What connects them is money, and good business probably justifies any immoral behavior.

The Threepenny Opera

Theater Bonn Opera House

Two of the world’s most powerful men shake hands – as the world looks on. With their opera about the state visit by US President Nixon to China in 1972 composer John Adams and librettist Alice Goodman rendered a recent historical event in operatic form. They envisioned a »heroic opera« telling of modern myths and the power of images. This rapprochement between the two great powers gave rise to one of the most prodigious media spectacles of the 20th century. Nixon himself put the event on a par with the moon landing. The opera, whose composition was pushed for by Peter Sellars, the director of the eventual premiere, is a depiction of both the details of the visit and the coverage by the media. Alice Goodman’s libretto reflects the tradition of 19th-century opera, with larger-than-life characters interacting and the protagonists dealing with both affairs of state and their private lives. Staged in the style of an excessively satirical documentary, the minimal-music opera sticks close to protocols from the state visit, depicting the larger-than-life protagonists swerving between exhibitionism, helplessness and the desire to reach a mutual understanding.

Nixon in China

Deutsche Oper Berlin

Which sounds evoke feelings of home in us? What music do we associate with the places where we have lived our lives? Can a rummaged-out LP sleeve, a cassette box, an aging CD bring memories to life across countries and generations? With questions like these in mind, Croatian composer Sara Glojnarić started a “sound archive of the future“ two years ago as a collection of material for her compositions. In personal conversations and listening sessions with people who have settled in the Stuttgart area since the 1950s, she has since uncovered long-forgotten memories and created an intergenerational songbook of the city: “I want to start where the history books stop – to tell the story in all its splendor, humor and realness. From the perspective of an insider who understands this very special feeling of an emotional balancing act between what we call home and where we are now.“ In a team with Bosnian writer Tanja Šljivar and director Anika Rutkofsky, Glojnarić weaves these immigration stories full of nostalgia and dreams, tragedy and comedy, rituals and linguistic diversity into a poetic-surreal mixtape opera. Together, they take us on a kind of road trip along the former Europastraße 5, a nightly transit route that forms a bridge between the cultural identities of Germany and south-eastern Europe and at the same time symbolizes the longing for belonging. An opera about the timeless utopian power of music as cultural memory. An opera about Stuttgart and from Stuttgart, composed for the state orchestra and ensemble of the Staatsoper Stuttgart, including Goran Jurić and Diana Haller, whose personal musical memories of the journey to Stuttgart will be experienced on stage as flashbacks.

Christina Schmitt

Events

Upcoming events

May 10 - Jun 21, 2026

Station Paradiso · Staatsoper Stuttgart

Past events

Apr 6 - Jul 9, 2025

The Threepenny Opera · Theater Bonn

Feb 28 - Mar 5, 2025

Nixon in China · Deutsche Oper Berlin

About

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