Set Designer

Few works have slipped from the programmes of German-language opera houses to the extent experienced by the operas of Albert Lortzing. Where works such as THE POACHER, THE ARMOURER and UNDINE were still fixtures in the repertoire only thirty years ago, they have now all but vanished from the calendars of theatre venues. Not even Lortzing’s greatest triumph, his comedy of errors CSAR AND CARPENTER (1837), has escaped the neglect – and this despite old chestnuts like the “Clog Dance” and the aria “Lebe wohl, mein flandrisch Mädchen.” Doubly surprising if you consider that this tale of Tsar Peter the Great, who strikes up a friendship with an army deserter with the exact same name while acquiring the skills of a carpenter incognito in a Dutch shipyard, was arguably one of the best musical comedies of its time, with Lortzing’s protagonists retaining all their relatable flaws and yearnings in the face of all their ups and downs. The young deserter, who just wants a quiet life, the feisty Marie, who’s determined to decide her own path, the Tsar with his thinly veiled leanings to violent domination, and van Bett as the mayor and a loveable caricature of a German bigwig… all these characters confer a timeless humanity on the comedy.

Csar and Carpenter

Deutsche Oper Berlin

Follies, one of Stephen Sondheim’s most personal and touching musicals, will have its first production at the Vienna Volksoper in a production by Martin G. Berger. The Chekhovian work with quotes from the music of the 1920’s to 40’s tells the story of two couples struggling with their life decisions and takes a nostalgic look at a glamorous and supposedly carefree past.

Follies

Volksoper Wien

When the beach lies beneath the pavement, as the ‘68ers’ liked to say, it's not far to the sea. Gladis, the protagonist of this opera, follows the opposite direction, from the sea to the pavement. Gladis is an orca. And she wants to destroy what she destroys. Cruise ships, superyachts, that sort of thing. Not just in the sea, but also on land. And so she takes up an offer and sells one of her fins for 24 hours of human form. Der rote Wal (The Red Whale) is a fairy tale that approaches a Stuttgart material that is charged like a myth. A “German autumn fairy tale“ about the myth of the RAF, about the question of what resistance is allowed and also about what was and what is true.

Set Designer

Sarah-Katharina Karl

Events

Past events

Jun 20 - Jul 11, 2026

Csar and Carpenter · Deutsche Oper Berlin

Apr 18 - May 27, 2026

Follies · Volksoper Wien

About

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