Singer

Four people, perhaps the very last ones left: Hamm, his servant Clov, and his parents Nell and Nagg. They grapple with power and powerlessness, memory and repression, affection and humiliation, while the world outside falls apart. This standstill lays bare the depths of their relationships, but also reveals absurd humor. A lifelong fascination with Samuel Beckett’s ‹Endspiel› inspired Hungarian composer György Kurtág to write his first opera in 2018. Kurtág’s 100th birthday marks the occasion for the Swiss premiere of his work in Basel, where the composer regularly worked. Today, his estate is preserved here at the Paul Sacher Foundation. In his Basel debut, director David Marton frees the characters from the prison of Beckett’s dark room and transports them into the open air: onto a rooftop terrace in Márton Ágh’s post-apocalyptic urban landscape.

Fin de partie

Theater Basel

A great journey into the inner human being: This is Johann Sebastian Bach's St. Matthew Passion , perhaps the most significant religious musical work of the 18th century, which can still touch us today as it did 300 years ago: with its story of faith and doubt, of loyalty and betrayal, of hope and despair. In contrast to its dramatic sister, the St. John Passion , the focus of the St. Matthew Passion is on the inner journey that we all take when we relive and experience the suffering of Jesus Christ. And the St. Matthew Passion is not just a work for believers, for those connected to the Christian religion, but it also questions our values, our relationship to life and death, to this world and the next. The scope and instrumentation are larger, more powerful than in the St. John Passion : two choirs and two orchestras are contrasted, symbolizing the earthly and the divine spheres.

St. Matthew Passion

Beethoven Hall

In November 1938, Elfriede and Otto Silbermann find themselves on the edge of their world. Bewilderment and silent agreements accompany their last hours together in their homeland. Elfriede desperately fights to salvage what can still be saved, while her Jewish husband Otto rushes from station to station in flight. However, their son still dreams of a better life in Paris. A brother-in-law who changes with the wind, and the harsh reality of persecution and betrayal, shape their days. In a world where antisemitism and the threat to democratic values are once again becoming prominent, "The Traveler" tells a poignant tale of escape and displacement, of lost fundamental rights and the powerlessness of love. This powerful melodrama for speakers, soloists, choir, orchestra, and multimedia not only sheds light on the dark sides of violence and injustice but also on the hope, longing, and humanity that still find their place even in the greatest despair. As part of the commemorative year "80 years since the end of World War II".

Baritone

Michael Borth

Events

Upcoming events

May 2 - Jun 18, 2026

Fin de partie · Theater Basel

Past events

May 2 - Jun 18, 2026

Fin de partie · Theater Basel

Apr 3, 2026

St. Matthew Passion · Beethoven Orchester Bonn

Future and recently performed repertoire

Singer in The Traveler by Müller-Wieland

Dresdner Philharmonie

Clov in Fin de partie by Kurtág

Theater Basel

Singer in St. Matthew Passion BWV 244 by Bach

Beethoven Orchester Bonn

About

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