Long before Oscar Wilde’s interpretation, the figure of Salome already appeared in the Bible. There, the story was about how King Herod, his stepdaughter Salome, and John the Baptist (Jochanaan) each lose their heads—although in very different ways...

Sa­lo­me

Schiller Theater

‘Imagine that the universe is beginning to sound and resonate’, Gustav Mahler once said about his Eighth Symphony. This extraordinary work is often called the ‘Symphony of a Thousand’, because Mahler’s vision called for such a huge ensemble: two mixed choirs, a boys’ choir, eight soloists, a massive orchestra, an organ, and an additional brass section. ‘Veni, creator, spiritus!’ It is with this Pentecost hymn invoking the Holy Spirit that the symphony’s first movement begins. For the second movement, Mahler draws upon the final scene of Goethe’s Faust II: ‘The noble part of the spirit has been saved from evil’. Angels and other celestial ‘flight attendants’ lift Faust’s soul—rescued from the clutches of the devil—up to the realm of the ‘Eternal Feminine’. Faust, an early pioneer of grand visions and soaring ideas, fits perfectly into the industrial architecture of Tempelhof. It is here that Mahler’s Eighth Symphony will truly ‘sound and resonate’ as never before, especially with Music Director James Gaffigan himself in the cockpit, guiding our flight through Mahler’s universe.

The thou­sand at Tem­pel­hof

Tempelhof Airport

Director Barrie Kosky plunges us into a nightmarish, wildly exaggerated satire, with marching noses, rolling rickshaw tables, and caricatured protagonists in garish costumes that straddle folklore and historicism, all unfolding within a cold, bleak setting that feels claustrophobic despite its size. This surrealist story of the insecure and paranoid upstart Platon Kuzmich Kovalyov is transformed into a absurd, kaleidoscopic revue of the vanities, an unsettling collision of Wozzeck and Alice in Wonderland with its own ‘irrational’ logic.

The Nose

Imagine being immortal and witnessing four centuries of history firsthand—first as a man, then as a woman...

Karolina Gumos

Events

Upcoming events

Mar 15 - Apr 6, 2026

The Nose · Komische Oper Berlin

May 16 - Jun 6, 2026

Orlando · Komische Oper Berlin

Past events

Nov 22, 2025 - Jan 3, 2026

Salome · Komische Oper Berlin

25 - 26 Sep, 2025

The thousand at Tempelhof · Komische Oper Berlin

Future and recently performed repertoire

The old countess in The Nose by Shostakovich

Komische Oper Berlin

Samaritan Woman in Symphony No. 8 by Mahler

Komische Oper Berlin

Herodias in Salome by Strauss

Komische Oper Berlin

Queen/Purity/Friend of Orlando's Child in Orlando by Neuwirth

Komische Oper Berlin

About

Karolina Gumos hasn't added a bio

Ka­ro­li­na Gu­mos

Events

Upcoming events

Mar 15 - Apr 6, 2026

The Nose · Komische Oper Berlin

May 16 - Jun 6, 2026

Or­lan­do · Komische Oper Berlin

Past events

Nov 22, 2025 - Jan 3, 2026

Sa­lo­me · Komische Oper Berlin

25 - 26 Sep, 2025

The thou­sand at Tem­pel­hof · Komische Oper Berlin

Future and recently performed repertoire

The old countess in The Nose by Shostakovich

Komische Oper Berlin

Samaritan Woman in Symphony No. 8 by Mahler

Komische Oper Berlin

Herodias in Salome by Strauss

Komische Oper Berlin

Queen/Purity/Friend of Orlando's Child in Or­lan­do by Neuwirth

Komische Oper Berlin

About

Ka­ro­li­na Gu­mos hasn't added a bio

Karolina Gumos

Orlando · Komische Oper Berlin

Salome · Komische Oper Berlin

The thousand at Tempelhof · Komische Oper Berlin

Queen/Purity/Friend of Orlando's Child in Orlando by Neuwirth

Karolina Gumos hasn't added a bio