CURRENT PRESS RELEASES
(with kind permission from the Press Offices of the theaters)
FROM OPER LEIPZIG, AND THE DEUTSCHE OPER BERLIN
I have clipped them and translated them automatically using DeepL.com , but i cannot vouch that the translations are 100% accurate. These and others that follow are designed to give you an idea of operatic and theatrical life in Germany today
FROM THE LEIPZIG OPERA
Invitation to the annual press conference of the Leipzig Opera, season 2018/2019;1 March 2018,11 a.m.
INVITATION TO THE ANNUAL PRESS CONFERENCE 2018/2019
Ladies and gentlemen,
dear colleagues,
We cordially invite you to the annual press conference of the Leipzig Opera on Thursday, March 1,2018,11:00 hrsThe artistic director and general music director, Prof. Ulf Schirmer, together with Franziska Severin (opera director), Mario Schröder (ballet director and chief choreographer) and Cusch Jung (chief director of the musical comedy) will present the coming season and inform you about highlights and future plans of the opera, the Leipzig Ballet and the musical comedy. Dr. Skadi Jennicke, Mayor for Culture of the City of Leipzig, welcomes the guests.
THEME:
Presentation of the season 2018/2019
DATETIME:
Thursday, 1 March 2018,11:00 hrs
PLACE:
Concert foyer Opera House
SPEAKERS:
Prof. Ulf Schirmer, Artistic Director and General Music Director
Franziska Severin, Opera Director
Mario Schröder, Ballet Director and Chief Choreographer
Cusch Jung, Director Musical Comedy
We are looking forward to your visit and will be happy to answer any questions you may have.
With kind regards
FROM the Deutsche Oper Berlin
Ladies and gentlemen,
The Deutsche Oper Berlin will raise a forgotten treasure trove of opera history on March 18 with the premiere of DAS WUNDER DER HELIANE. Erich Wolfgang Korngold was one of the most famous composers of his time and the announcement of a new opera electrified the theatres in 1927. Within one year premieres took place at eleven venues, from Vienna, Munich, Wroclaw, Gdansk to the Deutsche Oper Berlin, which at that time was called Städtische Oper. But the ban imposed by the Nazis on the performance of the Jewish composer made the work disappear into oblivion – until our time. Now is the time for rediscovery: Erich Wolfgang Korngold wrote a huge score for DAS WUNDER DER HELIANE with a lavish orchestra.
The plot is fairytale and timeless: an icy cold ruler without the ability to love, his unhappy wife Heliane and an unknown “stranger” are at the centre of an enthralling triangular story about love, hate and waiting for salvation. The stranger seems to be able to bring happiness and love to the country. Heliane falls in love with him. When the ruler discovers this breach of loyalty, he forces his wife to prove with a “miracle” that she is innocent. And the whole country is hoping for this miraculous redemption. With great pathos, Erich Wolfgang Korngold tells us about the power of love in this opera. His music for it glows and blossoms in the most lush colours of late Romanticism. Under the musical direction of Marc Albrecht and in a production by Christof Loy, Sara Jakubiak in the title role, Josef Wagner as her heartless husband and Brian Jagde as a “stranger”.
Symposium “Opera and Film” from 9 to 11 March
The fact that Erich Wolfgang Korngold was not only one of the most celebrated opera composers of the 1920s, but also wrote Hollywood history as “father of film music” inspired us to organise a symposium on the subject of “Opera and Film” from 9 to 11 March. In lectures,
The Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Institute of Musicology at Humboldt University, the Zentrum für Literatur- und Kulturforschung (Centre for Literary and Cultural Research) and the Zeughauskino are working together to explore the complex interrelationship between opera and film. Elisabeth Bronfen will give the opening lecture on March 9 at 3 p. m. on the theme “The Sound of Pictures. The operatic in the cinema “. The complete program can be found in the attached PDF.
cast highlights
We are especially looking forward to the role debut of the great Ricarda Merbeth in the TURANDOT performances on 3,9 and 17 March alongside Stefano La Colla as Calaf.
Tatiana Serjan will continue the series of outstanding singers in Tosca’s role at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. On March 21st and 24th, she will be performing under the musical direction of John Fiore, having been acclaimed by the public and the press as Aida. And last but not least, we are looking forward to seeing Daniela Barcellona as Santuzza (CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA) and a reunion with the Russian tenor star Vladimir Galousin as Canio (DER BAJAZZO) in the performances on March 31st and April 5th and 13th.
Symphony concert on 25 March
Dmitri Schostakowitsch’s Piano Concerto No. 1 deals with the classical formal ideal of symphony and concert by Mozart or Haydn in a playful and ironic way. Pyotr I. Tchaikovsky’s 4th Symphony, on the other hand, combines autobiographical inspiration with Russian folk song melodies. The symphony concert brings a reunion with conductor Michele Mariotti, who inspired the orchestra and audience at Meyerbeer’s HUGENOTTEN at the music stand. The soloists of the piano concerto are pianist Denis Kozhukhin and trumpeter Martin Wagemann.