Singer

The Rosenkavalier

Staatstheater Hannover

"Not a pretty sight. Modernity begins."
Christa Wolf on Kleist's Penthesilea
A woman and a man, united by a politically senseless war, obsessed with defeating the other: the Amazon Penthesilea and the Greek Achilles. When Heinrich von Kleist transformed this ancient myth into a play in 1808, he reversed the story's gruesome ending: It wasn't Achilles who slays Penthesilea and then falls in love with the dead woman's body, but Penthesilea who falls in love with Achilles, kills him, and mauls his corpse.
Kleist's tragedy irritated his contemporaries: eroticism and aggression appear interchangeable, women fight like men, hunters become prey, and Penthesilea becomes an animal. This was not how Kleist's contemporaries imagined either antiquity or the theater. It didn't help that the most gruesome scenes weren't shown on stage, but merely reported: Penthesilea was never performed during the author's lifetime. It wasn't until the second half of the 20th century that this idiosyncratic work garnered interest and understanding.

Soprano

Olga Jelinkova

Events

Upcoming events

Mar 5 - Apr 19, 2026

Penthesilea · Staatstheater Hannover

Past events

Nov 9 - Dec 17, 2025

The Rosenkavalier · Staatstheater Hannover

Future and recently performed repertoire

Sophie in The Rosenkavalier by Strauss

Staatstheater Hannover

Prothoe in Penthesilea by Dusapin

Staatstheater Hannover

About

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