A REDISCOVERY - NATIONAL EPIC OR FAIRYTALE OPERA ABOUT THE FIGHT AGAINST EVIL?

Who is good and who is evil in this fairytale opera - and why? The nucleus of Pushkin's setting of Ruslan and Lyudmila by Mikhail Glinka is the abduction of the princess's daughter Lyudmila from Kiev, the center of both the Russian and Ukrainian founding myths. For Ruslan, the warrior promised to her, this marks the beginning of an adventurous journey through the magical realm of a powerful dwarf. The rescue operation escalates into a showdown between the men fighting for Lyudmila. But she herself increasingly becomes a distant vision of love - the longed-for prize for heroism. In 1842, in the midst of the awakening Russian national sentiment, Glinka conceived the idea of a culturally united tsarist empire, in which he merged Slavic, Finnish and Arabic melos with the bel canto fashion of his time.

Ruslan und Ljudmila

Hamburg State Opera

Scarpia, Rome’s chief of police, desires Tosca. Since her lover, the painter Cavaradossi, is among the government’s political enemies, Scarpia has him imprisoned. He orders Cavaradossi’s execution and hopes to force Tosca into granting him one night with her, in exchange for Cavaradossi’s release. She, however, thwarts his plans…

The Hamburg State Opera Choir

Nov 9 - Dec 19, 2025

Ruslan und Ljudmila

Oct 13, 2024 - Jan 1, 2026

Tosca

The Hamburg State Opera Choir