The opera begins like a mysterious fairy tale. A woman mourns her child, another consoles: "Find a happy person in this world and cut a button off his sleeve." Do it before night, and your child will live. A happy person. You have time until night. Finding a happy person seems easy. However, one disappointing encounter follows another. Happiness is like a mask that quickly falls when you look more closely. Then the path leads to the threshold of a wondrous and charming garden. PICTURE A DAY LIKE THIS is the new work by composer George Benjamin (*1960) and playwright Martin Crimp (*1956), who, since the triumphant premiere of WRITTEN ON SKIN, are considered among the most important authors of contemporary opera internationally. After two large-scale works, Benjamin and Crimp return to chamber opera with their fourth joint work. PICTURE A DAY LIKE THIS develops a story as touching as it is surprising about human nature. This creates a fine mosaic of music and narration. The production of the world premiere at the 2023 Festival Aix-en-Provence by Daniel Jeanneteau and Marie-Christine Soma alternates between realism and dreamlike fantasy and has since captivated audiences in France and England. Now the co-production with the Cologne Opera can be experienced as a German premiere at the Staatenhaus. "PICTURE A DAY LIKE THIS addresses the most existential questions in just one hour." […] George Benjamin's music is on point in every beat, with every note, and from the tightly held ensemble, he conjures a richness of colour that is astonishing. [...] To this end, Daniel Jeanneteau and Marie-Christine Soma create a subtly crafted Gesamtkunstwerk with enchanting lighting direction as well as high scenic density and elegance." (BR-Klassik)

Daniel Jeanneteau

Events

Upcoming events

10 - 24 May, 2026

Picture a Day like this · Oper Köln

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