Conductor

“Crunchy, crunchy crunch, who’s going to crunch my house?”
Hanover's cult production of Hansel and Gretel is back—and here it is! Steffen Tiggeler's work has been on the State Opera's program since 1964, making it the longest-running production of this fairytale play, lovingly composed in Wagnerian style by Engelbert Humperdinck and with a nostalgic libretto by his sister Adelheid Wette.
Hansel and Gretel, the children of a broom-making couple, live in dire poverty. There's hardly any food on the table at home. So, while their father senses trouble, their mother sends them into the forest to gather berries. Hansel and Gretel get lost and fall into the clutches of the evil gingerbread witch, who wants to turn them into gingerbread and consume them herself. Gretel manages to outwit the gingerbread witch, who throws them both into the oven. In the happy ending, all the gingerbread children who had previously fallen into the clutches of the witch are freed. Father and mother also find Hansel and Gretel safe and sound.

Hansel and Gretel

Staatstheater Hannover

The Rosenkavalier

"Am I still Don Juan? No, I don't know anything about him anymore. The role is over. Something has ended, and something else is beginning."
Don Giovanni—the epitome of the ruthless, charismatic seducer. His life is marked by interpersonal encounters, affairs, and relationships. He savors life to the fullest, finding himself in the midst of a frenzied feast. But now Don Giovanni crosses the line: in a duel, he kills the Commendatore, which suddenly leaves a pool of blood in his life book, which was previously meticulously filled with women's names.
The production by Bastian Kraft and his team questions Don Giovanni about the life images of this radically ruthless man, who already sees his own death approaching and yet clings to life once more. More and more memories of his life so far intrude on him. But the voices of the dark figures he encounters—opponents, rivals, lovers—also grow louder and louder. Don Giovanni's actions do not remain without consequences. The images of a single night are overwritten and blurred beyond recognition.

Don Giovanni

How does everyone involved in a performance or concert in the opera house always know exactly when it's their turn and what they have to do? We'll let you in on the secret: thanks to the stage manager! This person, who sits next to the stage and who you never see from the audience, has everything under control: time, order, performance times, lighting moods - there's basically nothing that the stage manager doesn't announce to the staff during the course of a performance. We take a look behind the scenes, let our stage manager have her say and consider what could go wrong at our concert with music by Joseph Haydn, Gioachino Rossini and Anna Clyne if she wasn't reliably there for everyone!

2nd Children's Concert: Announced!

Opernplatz

Great Italian drama! A stage full of "real life", with artificially created, convincing reality: sobbing, wheezing, crying, transformation, exhaustion, garnished with a sugary-sweet "bell choir" and a real fight for the best view of the village theater, which becomes the scene of a bloody tragedy. Pagliacci is a big, glittering, shimmering, escalating show that piles up all the advantages of Italian opera - until at the end everything collapses and only one thing remains: the unvarnished finale. And you never know how close it comes to real life.

The Bajazzo

Grand Italian opera, jazzy rhythms, minimal music, sumptuous waltz icing, romantic feelings, lightness, drama, entertainment, thoughtfulness - and all in one evening! We pack what we love about opera into our traditional opening concert of the State Opera and welcome you to the new 2024/25 season. Artistic director Laura Berman and her team present the highlights of the season. Accompanied by the State Orchestra under the musical direction of General Music Director Stephan Zilias, the new 1st Kapellmeister Mario Hartmuth, the 2nd Kapellmeister Masaru Kumakura and the young newcomer to the musical department Piotr Jaworski, premieres and revivals of new and familiar faces from the ensemble will be presented. Also taking part this year is the State Opera Choir, which, under the direction of its choir director Lorenzo Da Rio, will present excerpts from the opening premiere Satyagraha, among other things. There will also be excerpts from Der Bajazzo , Chicago , The Greek Passion , Der Rosenkavalier , Rusalka and Rigoletto . The concert will be hosted by our colleagues from the dramaturgy: Regine Palmai, Sophia Gustorff and Daniel Menne. Here's to a successful new opera season!

Opening concert

Beijing, in a fairytale setting: At the imperial court, Princess Turandot has made her own marriage a law: Anyone wishing to marry her must answer three riddles correctly; anyone who fails is executed. When a stranger appears, he decides to take on the challenge. He is the only one who succeeds in solving the riddles and, in turn, gives the princess a task: If Turandot can reveal his name by dawn, he is prepared to renounce her hand and die.
Behind the murderous brutality of Turandot's law and her cold-blooded rejection of all suitors lies a deep transgenerational trauma. These unsolvable tasks serve only as self-protection: An ancestor was brutally abused and murdered by her husband. Jakob Peters-Messer's production examines Puccini's fairytale opera for this deep psychological cause and simultaneously reveals the inherent ambivalence of tragedy and grotesque comedy.

Turandot

“This is a delicate matter, how will it end?”
Countess, Susanna and Figaro
On the occasion of Figaro and Susanna's wedding, Count Almaviva wants to once again indulge in the long-abolished "right of the first night," setting in motion a machine of confusion, intrigue, and doubt that ultimately leads to the exposure of the Count's abuse of power, but also to the possibility of forgiveness.
Only a composer like Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart could have come up with the downright ludicrous idea of ​​setting Beaumarchais's La folle journée ou Le mariage de Figaro to music in 1786 , the most politically explosive comedy of those years—a portrait of a society in upheaval and a nobility once again exercising their privileges and blindly running towards their own ruin. The very first bars of the overture make it irresistibly clear: in this play, every bar, every syllable, every whisper carries the undertone of nervous excitement. There is a standstill only at the turning points, those precious moments in which Mozart reveals the inner lives of his heroes. But the adventure continues, and only the onset of night can bring this "mad day" to an end.

The Marriage of Figaro

"How far should our grief go, how far may it go, without uprooting us?"
Paul
After the death of his wife Marie, Paul lives a withdrawn and isolated life in his apartment. He only remains in contact with his friend Frank and Brigitta, who runs his household. But when Paul meets the dancer Marietta on the street, who bears a striking resemblance to Marie, his life, marked by grief, takes a turn: While Paul tries to make Marietta more and more like his deceased wife, the inner conflict between reality and ideal becomes increasingly overwhelming. Marietta initially plays along, but refuses to allow her independence and freedom to be restricted.

Conductor

Mario Hartmuth

Events

Upcoming events

Nov 9 - Dec 17, 2025

The Rosenkavalier · Staatstheater Hannover

3 - 23 Dec, 2025

Hansel and Gretel · Staatstheater Hannover

Feb 2 - Mar 11, 2026

Turandot · Staatstheater Hannover

Mar 1 - May 30, 2026

The Marriage of Figaro · Staatstheater Hannover

May 9 - Jun 18, 2026

The dead city · Staatstheater Hannover

Past events

3 - 23 Dec, 2025

Hansel and Gretel · Staatstheater Hannover

Nov 9 - Dec 17, 2025

The Rosenkavalier · Staatstheater Hannover

Future and recently performed repertoire

Conductor in Turandot by Puccini

Staatstheater Hannover

Conductor in Don Giovanni by Mozart

Staatstheater Hannover

Conductor in Pagliacci by Leoncavallo

Staatstheater Hannover

Conductor in The Marriage of Figaro by Mozart

Staatstheater Hannover

Conductor in Hansel and Gretel by Humperdinck

Staatstheater Hannover

Conductor in The Rosenkavalier by Strauss

Staatstheater Hannover

Conductor in City by Korngold

Staatstheater Hannover

About

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