Singer

Faced with an authoritarian state, opera singer Floria Tosca finds herself in a struggle for her freedom and dignity as a woman and a stage artist. In a spiral of fear and violence, the boundaries between stage and reality begin to blur in a paranoid way.

Tosca

Stadttheater Klagenfurt

Richard Wagner's 1868 »Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg« is one of the composer's most popular works - and a wonderful musical comedy. This takes place around midsummer night in medieval Nuremberg, where the widowed shoemaker Hans Sachs, the town clerk Sixtus Beckmesser and the young aristocratic daredevil Walther von Stolzing sing, write poetry and also fight over Eva. Why? Because the goldsmith Pogner advertised his coveted daughter as a prize in the annual singing competition to make it clear how important art is to him. And so »Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg« becomes a musical masterpiece that poses the question of the importance of art – here music – for our lives and society. Reason enough for director Jens-Daniel Herzog

Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (The Master-Singers of Nuremberg)

Semperoper Dresden

A rich man has commissioned a young composer to write an opera for a celebration: Ariadne auf Naxos. But because this tragic opera about Ariadne, abandoned by her lover Theseus, isn't entertaining enough for him, he invites a troupe of comedians to perform their farces concurrently with the tragedy. This is an imposition for the composer, but also an opportunity: the grief of the abandoned Ariadne clashes with the joie de vivre of the comedienne Zerbinetta. In his production of the work, which premiered in 1916, David Hermann brings the world of Greek tragedy into contact with the lightness of French Rococo. "Ariadne auf Naxos" is an opera about opera, about fidelity and change, and about the transformative power of love.

Ariadne auf Naxos (Ariadne on Naxos)

Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro)

At the centre of Giacomo Puccini's Tragedia giapponese, set in Nagasaki at the beginning of the 20th century, is the young geisha Cio-Cio-San, called »Butterfly«. The American Naval Lieutenant Pinkerton enters into a short-term marriage with Cio-Cio-San – according to a possible practice in Japan at the time – and rents the right house for the stay. While for Pinkerton the liaison was planned from the outset as an erotic pleasure, for Cio-Cio-San it means not only the opportunity to escape poverty, but the love of her life ... Even today, the tragic love story, which premiered at La Scala in Milan in 1904, touches hearts, shaken by the realism with which the cultural misunderstandings and their deadly consequences are pointed out. Japanese director Amon Miyamoto, together with star designer Kenzō Takada, presents his own Eastern view of the Japanese-American liaison.

Madama Butterfly

The celebrated singer Tosca lives only for art, until political intrigue suddenly disturbs her life and that of her lover, the painter Cavaradossi: When Cavaradossi hides the political refugee Angelotti, he is targeted by the unscrupulous police chief Scarpia, who has long had his eye on Tosca. To save Cavaradossi, Tosca not only has to betray Angelotti, but also give herself to Scarpia. Premiered in 1900, Puccini’s »Tosca« is practically unique in its close interweaving of political power and personal passions.

Semper Essenz: Tosca

Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute)

The wedding of the servant couple Figaro and Susanna is imminent, and everything could be so wonderful, if it weren’t for the lecherous Count Almaviva, who has been stalking Susanna for some time, as well as the vengeful Doctor Bartolo and his housekeeper Marcellina, who all wish to prevent the wedding. After numerous twists and turns, Figaro and Susanna, with the help of the Countess and thanks to an ingenious plan of revenge, finally succeed in thwarting Almaviva using his own art of seduction so that, in the end, all couples are reunited. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s „The Marriage of Figaro“, which premiered at Vienna’s Hoftheater in 1786, is the first of the three Mozart-da Ponte operas. Despite its quick-fire comedic action, the work foreshadows some of the radical ideas of the French Revolution. In his staging, director Johannes Erath takes the audience on a journey through the different epochs of theatrical history from Commedia dell’arte to the modern age.

Bass-baritone

Rupert Grössinger

Events

Past events

Sep 8, 2024

Tosca · Stadttheater Klagenfurt

7 - 14 May, 2023

Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (The Master-Singers of Nuremberg) · Semperoper Dresden

Future and recently performed repertoire

Zweiter Geharnischter in Die Zauberflöte by Mozart

Semperoper Dresden

Il Commissario imperiale in Madama Butterfly by Puccini

Semperoper Dresden

Ein Lakai in Ariadne auf Naxos by Strauss

Semperoper Dresden

Hermann Ortel in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg by Wagner

Semperoper Dresden

Cesare Angelotti in Tosca by Puccini

Stadttheater Klagenfurt

Un carceriere in Tosca by Puccini

Semperoper Dresden

Antonio in Le nozze di Figaro by Mozart

Semperoper Dresden

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