Singer

There are few operas, which from the very first bar endure such intense pressure, few in which the temperature swings from ice-cold calculation to overheating in mere seconds. And scarcely any in which private entanglement and personal tragedy are so interwoven with political attitudes in historical accuracy. Giacomo Puccini’s Tosca has electrified audiences since its world premiere. The shock wave emitted by the opera was so strong that decades later many reactions still tend to point to the bewilderment and overpowering of those affected rather than the qualities of the piece itself and its love triangle surrounding the singer Floria Tosca, the painter Mario Cavaradossi and the chief of police Baron Scarpia. The artistic world of the protagonist couple, Tosca and Cavaradossi, is no colouristic ingredient here, but rather defines the profile of its characters – it justifies Tosca’s eccentricity, just as it does Cavaradossi’s liberality and also explains the singer’s pronounced self-confidence: The heroine of the stage becomes a heroine in real life. Scarpia’s appearance must also be understood as the emergence of his unleashed totalitarian power, and his sexual sadism still today as one of the truly scandalous moments of opera literature. The historical detail is certainly no staffage, but rather forms the, “precondition of the conflict between the representatives of two opposing social systems” (Norbert Christen) in a time of crisis. With his mish-mash of musical recognition motifs, which, with the exception of the rigid Scarpia chords, sensitively adjust to the situations, Puccini achieves a new dimension of through-composed operatic structure – in the intensive cohesion of the score, he nevertheless creates islands in which reflection compacts itself into moments of the highest possible arioso intensity.

TOSCA

Max-Joseph-Platz

The outsider Herman loves Liza, who is engaged to Prince Yeletsky. Herman is a passionate gambler: he is desperate to win a fortune and reputation in order to win Liza’s heart. When he learns that her grandmother knows the secret of the three winning cards, fate takes its course.

Pique Dame

Hamburg State Opera

Lieutenant Pinkerton has fallen in love with the geisha Cio-Cio-San, known as Madama Butterfly, and wants to marry her according to Japanese custom without entering into a permanent relationship. But Butterfly truly loves Pinkerton and has a child by him. For years she waits in vain for the lieutenant to return. When Pinkerton does return, he arrives with his new American wife to pick up the child, and Butterfly stabs herself with a dagger.

Madama Butterfly

Bebelplatz

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. The German premiere of this opera about love, jealousy, betrayal and tyranny was held in Dresden in 1902. Director Johannes Schaaf has found a timeless narrative style for his staging.

Tosca

Semperoper Dresden

A grand decorative opera on the one hand: ancient saga! War between Rome and Gaul, but Norma is also a psychologically fine-grained chamber play about a highly complex woman in the throes of terrible conflicts: Norma, high priestess of the Druids and mistress of the Roman proconsul Pollione. When she is betrayed, this "Casta Diva", this "chaste goddess" is determined to take revenge. It all ends terribly: a love-death burning at the stake! The madness, ecstasy and beauty of total bel canto!

NORMA

Macbeth, army commander in the service of King Duncan, is prophesied by three witches that he himself will become king. But the price is high,and his bloody path of self-destruction soon begins. Urged on by the ambitious Lady Macbeth, he commits murder and treason to secure his power. But his actions catch up with him when he is forced to face off against his adversary Macduff and an insurgent army. The tragedy reaches its climax in a devastating battle that seals Macbeth's downfall and makes Malcolm, the murdered king's son, the new king of Scotland.

Macbeth

Vienna State Opera

Few figures in world literature embody so many tragic contradictions: Otello is both perpetrator and victim, hunter and prey – the bloodthirsty murderer of his beloved Desdemona, yet also at the mercy of the demonic manipulation of his secret adversary, Iago. Verdi’s operatic version further intensifies the gruesome outcome, as the scheming villain escapes. Kornél Mundruczó makes his debut at Deutsche Oper Berlin with this new production of Otello. His meteoric career in the film industry has garnered him awards at the Cannes and Venice Film Festivals and success on Netflix. Since Aviel Cahn discovered him for musical theatre with Herzog Blaubart/Winterreise in 2013, the internationally acclaimed director has increasingly turned his attention to opera. His psychedelic imagery and exceptional integration of film lend new impetus to the genre and are ideally suited to bringing us closer to the delusional inner world of the character Otello: Mundruczó leads us directly into the protagonist’s psychological abyss. When Verdi began his second Shakespearean setting, he had not dedicated himself to a major new composition for over ten years. The collaboration with Arrigo Boito resulted in a work that occupies a special place in Verdi’s oeuvre. The orchestra gains importance for characterisation and atmospheric development, becoming a fundamental driving force of the action. On the podium is Stefano Montanari, a specialist in early Italian opera; he demonstrated his sensitivity to Verdi’s late works with a fresh approach in a celebrated Otello at the Stuttgart State Opera. With the role of Otello, which demands everything from heroic radiance to lyrical tenderness and even violent outbursts beyond mere beauty of sound, Verdi shattered the conventions of traditional vocal categories. Najmiddin Mavlyanov, in demand worldwide for dramatic tenor roles in the Italian and Russian repertoire, brings all of this to the role. Alongside him, Ruzan Mantashyan makes her debut as Desdemona. Luca Micheletti is playing Iago for the first time outside his native Italy.

Otello

Deutsche Oper Berlin

Giuseppe Verdi's Don Carlo intertwines family tragedy and historical panorama. This grand opera premiered in 1867 and was repeatedly reworked in the following decades. In the four-act Italian version, the abysses of Spanish absolutism open up even more dramatically: arbitrary rule, an emaciated people, fanatical autodafés – and the experience that friendship can be stronger than the hated bonds of blood. Based on Schiller's "dramatic poem", Verdi focuses on the inner conflicts between political duty and personal desire. In Marco Arturo Marelli's production, this struggle is condensed into an archetypal spectacle. Such a drama needs charismatic voices; this season, singers such as German bass Tareq Nazmi as Filippo II, Ève-Maud Hubeaux as Eboli, Adriana González as Elisabetta and Nicola Alaimo as Posa are waiting to be rediscovered. Najmiddin Mavlyanov takes on the title role. Dan Ettinger, who has already been general music director in Mannheim and Tel Aviv, conducts at the Deutsche Oper for the first time.

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Najmiddin Mavlyanov

Events

Upcoming events

Nov 30, 2025 - Apr 30, 2026

Madama Butterfly · Staatsoper Berlin

May 22 - Jul 20, 2026

NORMA · Bayerische Staatsoper

Sep 24 - Oct 4, 2026

Macbeth · Wiener Staatsoper

Apr 16 - May 2, 2027

Otello · Deutsche Oper Berlin

May 29 - Jun 17, 2027

Don Carlo · Deutsche Oper Berlin

Past events

6 - 12 Apr, 2026

TOSCA · Bayerische Staatsoper

Feb 7 - Mar 13, 2026

Pique Dame · Staatsoper Hamburg

Future and recently performed repertoire

Macduff in Macbeth by Verdi

Wiener Staatsoper

Otello in Otello by Verdi

Deutsche Oper Berlin

Pollione in Norma by Bellini

Bayerische Staatsoper

Benjamin Franklin Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly by Puccini

Staatsoper Berlin

Mario Cavaradossi in Tosca by Puccini

Bayerische Staatsoper

Don Carlo in Don Carlos by Verdi

Deutsche Oper Berlin

Mario Cavaradossi in Tosca by Puccini

Semperoper Dresden

Herman in Pique Dame by Tchaikovsky

Staatsoper Hamburg

About

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