Name: Semele
Start: 2025-04-27T16:00:00
Location: Theater Lübeck

Theater Lübeck is poised to offer a vibrant tapestry of performances, blending classic musical narratives with contemporary themes. From the romantic entanglements in 'The Merry Widow' to the introspective journey of 'The Passenger', and the divine love of 'Semele', audiences are set to embark on a variety of emotional and cultural explorations. With orchestral and choral compositions enhancing the theatrical experience, each event promises a unique artistic journey, making Theater Lübeck a beacon for cultural enrichment in the upcoming season.

The Lübeck Theater Season: A Symphony of Narratives and Harmonies

Theater Lübeck presents an eclectic array of performances, spanning genres from orchestral to chamber music, and exploring themes from love and desire to historical reflection. With events such as 'The Merry Widow,' 'The Passenger,' and 'Semele,' alongside a New Year's Concert and the unique 'Music4all,' this season promises to enthrall audiences with its rich tapestry of narratives and sounds. Join us as we delve into these captivating performances, each offering a unique experience that transcends traditional boundaries and celebrates artistic diversity.

A Year of Diverse Musical Journeys: Theater Lübeck's Extravaganza

Theater Lübeck invites you on a captivating musical journey through an eclectic lineup of performances. With a rich blend of genres ranging from timeless musicals like 'The Merry Widow' to compelling new compositions like 'The Passenger', this season promises to appeal to diverse audiences. Acclaimed artists and conductors breathe life into these stories, infusing each performance with charm and depth. Discover themes of love, desire, and moral dilemmas as Theater Lübeck delves into the human experience through the power of music and storytelling.

Exploring Theater Lübeck's Diverse Musical Journey

Theater Lübeck is set to host a captivating array of events that promise to resonate deeply with audiences. From the charming escapades of 'The Merry Widow' to the poignant narrative of 'The Passenger,' each performance offers a unique artistic experience. With a blend of classic and contemporary works, including musical interpretations such as 'Semele' and 'Tristan and Isolde,' the theater invites you to delve into stories that explore love, desire, and the human condition. Join us as we dive into the details of these exceptional performances and the artists who bring them to life.

A Grand Theatrical Journey: Exploring Theater Lübeck's Upcoming Events

Theater Lübeck is set to enchant audiences with a diverse lineup of performances going into 2025. From the romantic entanglements of 'The Merry Widow' and the mythological allure of 'Semele', to the timeless love story of 'Tristan and Isolde', each offering promises to captivate. With dramatic operas like 'Lucia of Lammermoor' and the whimsical comedy of 'Bidla Buh', the season is rich with variety. Not to be overlooked are the orchestral and chamber concerts, showcasing the brilliance of Mozart and Brahms, along with a special treat for young audiences aboard 'The Trans-Siberian Ghost Train'.

Theater Lübeck Unveils a Captivating Season: From Classic Musicals to Innovative Symphonies

Andrea Stadel

Sophie Naubert

Takahiro Nagasaki

Frederick Jones

Delia Bacher

Laila  Salome Fischer

Florian Götz

Ashley Martin-Davis

Jens Ponath

Lynne Hockney

Jan-Michael Krüger

Falk Hampel

Stephen Lawless

Theater Lübeck

A suddenly awakened desire throws Sergeant Don José off his usual path. A woman who unexpectedly throws a flower at his feet gives him access to a world he had previously closed off to. The woman's name is Carmen, and she is a social outsider. What she wants, she takes; when she loves, she does so with every fiber of her being. A coincidence brings Carmen and José together, or perhaps a misunderstanding. For José, erotically inexperienced, believes that the flower thrown at him has attracted Carmen's attention. To be with her, he accepts military demotion and imprisonment; in fact, he ultimately risks his entire civil existence for a relationship with Carmen. But after a short time, she has had enough of him and wants to break up with him. Carmen uncompromisingly asserts her right to freedom and self-determination.

Carmen

We live in the best of all possible worlds! At least, that's what Candide learned from his teacher Dr. Pangloss. When the Westphalian castle where he spent his youth is destroyed in war, he embarks on an adventurous journey into the unknown – via Paris and Lisbon to El Dorado. But with the right amount of optimism in his luggage, neither earthquakes nor shipwrecks, the Inquisition, nor other catastrophes can deter him from his path.

Candide

In his play "Birthday Candles," American playwright Noah Haidle spins a thread of life on which birthdays (some more, some less solemnly celebrated) are strung like pearls on a necklace. 100 years of life – 100 birthday cakes that Ernestine bakes each year according to her mother's recipe as she searches for her place in the universe. At 18, Ernestine is convinced she'll find that place on a theater stage, far away from her tranquil hometown, but as the saying goes, "Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans." Ernestine starts a family with her childhood sweetheart, experiences highs and lows, and ultimately finds herself reflected in the questions, wishes, and dreams of those who come after her.

Birthday Candles

He is one of the greats of American rock music: an Oscar and Tony Award winner, a 20-time Grammy winner – and more than 60 million albums sold make him one of the most successful musicians of all time. His songs, sometimes melancholically dark, sometimes powerfully earthy, have won a huge fan base around the world. Autobiographical elements are repeatedly reflected in the songs: his difficult relationship with his father, his working-class background, but also social themes such as rural exodus in the USA or everyday racism in the provinces. His childhood and youth experiences – growing up in a small town in New Jersey, in a home shaped by a choleric father who failed to build an emotional relationship with his children – flow into his songs. With a mixture of anger, a longing for escape and freedom, but also with wistful nostalgia, he describes his roots and simultaneously expresses what concerns the "little man" on the street. In "My Hometown," for example, he sings about the decline of his hometown, empty shops, violence, and unemployment. He tells of failed lives, lost dreams, and defiant rebellion. His songs deal with life and death, friendship, family, idealism, the American Dream, and homelessness—and they reflect the psychological state of a nation.

My Hometown

The most powerful man in the Roman Empire, Emperor Nero, covets the beautiful and power-hungry courtesan Poppea. She demands that he marry her and crown her empress. To do so, however, Nero must first disown his unloved wife Ottavia. The philosopher Seneca tries in vain to temper Nero's desires, but this only draws his wrath. Empress Ottavia, fighting to maintain her position, commissions a courtier to murder her rival Poppea. But the plan backfires. Ottavia is found guilty, and Nero finally has a plausible reason to exile her and enthrone his lover.

The Coronation of Poppea L'incoronazione di Poppea

Composer John Kander tells a great love story in "Cabaret": Nightclub singer Sally Bowles and writer Clifford Bradshaw meet on New Year's Eve 1929 in Berlin. For a while, the newly in love couple's happiness seems perfect – despite their differing ideas about the future and their precarious circumstances. Sally lives for the day and sings at the famous "Kit Kat Klub" at night. Jealous Cliff can't deal with this. He is working on his second novel, but is in the midst of a creative crisis. Moreover, the mood of the "Golden Twenties" is increasingly changing, even in the liberal metropolis of Berlin. Fascism and anti-Semitism are poisoning society. Even the apolitical landlady, Fräulein Schneider, can no longer close her eyes to the rise of National Socialism.

Cabaret

It remained his last major orchestral work, which Johannes Brahms completed in 1887—a "final act of stupidity," as he announced to his publisher Simrock with characteristic irony. Brahms dedicated the Double Concerto for Violin and Cello to the violinist Joseph Joachim, with whom he had been friends for decades. This friendship had recently reached a crisis, however, and to break the ice between them, Brahms sent the score to his friend. Joachim gratefully accepted the offer; thus, a rapprochement was established, and the furious finale proved to be a veritable celebration of reconciliation between the two. A uniquely well-coordinated duo, the siblings Tanja and Christian Tetzlaff, come to Lübeck for this double concerto.

6th  Symphony Concert

Music and Congress Hall Lübeck

The devil loves music—especially when a violin is involved. Some even whisper that he invented it himself! Tartini's Devil's Trill Sonata, Paganini's lightning-fast Caprices, Schnittke's ghostly A Paganini —that doesn't sound like a human hand... or does it? In this concert, there's plucking, bowing, trickery, and seduction—until even the devil is amazed.

3.  Children's concert Devilishly good music

Along with the symphony, the song was Gustav Mahler's central compositional genre. Preferred textual sources for his songs are poems by Friedrich Rückert and the folk song collection "Des Knaben Wunderhorn." Star baritone Bo Skovhus, who also sings the title role in Alban Berg's "Wozzeck" at the Lübeck Theater this season, presents a select selection from Mahler's song oeuvre with Stefan Vladar on the piano.

Gustav Mahler song recital

People of all ages wear their shirts, and their songs have become the soundtrack of entire generations: Nirvana. But what accounts for the enthusiasm for this band, even though it disbanded over thirty years ago? Not only the suicide of grunge star Kurt Cobain, but also the life and personality of the unforgettable Nirvana frontman still raise questions today: resignation or revolt? Angry outsider, highly sensitive artist, lifelong seeker? Drinks, drugs, and depression. Voice of Generation X, ally, feminist?

Come As You Are

Are you prepared for the zombie apocalypse? "Zombies!" offers practical survival tips for every situation: How do you properly treat bite wounds? Is your partner hiding the fact that they were bitten by a zombie? How do you recognize an impending transformation? And what is the best defense strategy against a zombie? Wait—a single zombie? Don't zombies always appear in groups or crowds?

Zombies!

4th  Chamber Concert

Lübeck City Library

She is a woman whose excessive desires lead to her own extinction: The Theban princess Semele is to marry Prince Athamas at her father's request, but falls in love with the god Jupiter, who appears to her in human form. On her wedding day, Semele therefore willingly allows herself to be abducted into his realm. The love-struck Jupiter swears to his new lover that he will grant her every wish. His jealous wife Juno uses this promise for a devious intrigue: In the guise of Semele's sister Ino, she convinces Semele that she can achieve immortality if she sees Jupiter in his true, divine form. In this way, she tells Semele that she wants Jupiter, without revealing to her that the sight of a god is unbearable for a human being. Semele will burn in the face of the real Jupiter.

Semele

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