Less than a year and a half since its premiere at the Bavarian State Opera, South Pole, opera by Miroslav Srnka, made its appearance again, this time in a new version on the stage of Staatstheater Darmstadt. The story of two polar expeditions competing in their quest to be the first ones ever to reach the South Pole … Read more
On Saturday 4 March, Staatstheater Darmstadt premiered a new production of Janáček’s Jenůfa. Its author Dirk Schmeding belongs to experienced Janáček-directors; he directed Jenufa already three years ago at Landestheater Detmold and his first work in Darmstadt was The Cunning Little Vixen. His co-workers from the latter production included other members of the present creative team – stage … Read more
After Vienna and London, the acclaimed all-evening opera Biedermann and the Arsonists (2005-2007) by a Czech-Austrian composer Šimon Voseček received its German premiere, too. It was produced in Stadttheater Bremerhaven in northern Germany by director Christian van Götz and conductor Thomas Kalb. Based on Max Frisch’s absurd drama of the same name (1958), the opera tells how … Read more
On 4th February, Landestheater Coburg, Bavaria, presented a new, radical production of Janáček’s Cunning Little Vixen. The Hungarian director duo Alexandra Szemerédy and Magdolna Parditka, who are also responsible for the scenography and costumes, completely abandoned the animal realm and set the story into the world of child prostitution in Eastern Europe. Cages holding underage girls prisoner … Read more
Saarländisches Staatstheater in Saarbrücken, the capital of the state of Saarland, Germany, opened its 2017 opera season with a premiere of Janáček’s Katja Kabanowa. Written in 1921 and based on A. N. Ostrovsky’s play The Storm, the opera got performed here for the first time in history. The premiere took place on January 14. The director Ben Baur set … Read more
On 17th December, Theater Erfurt (Thuringia, Germany) presented a new production of Bedřich Smetana’s Bartered Bride. It was conducted by the theatre’s second kapellmeister, Greek conductor Zoi Tsokanou. Rather than to experiment, director Markus Weckesser chose to set the story, very traditionally, into a Bohemian village, the atmosphere of which is enhanced by the realist scenography and costumes. The central pair … Read more
Staatsoper Hannover chose to present Bedřich Smetana’s The Bartered Bride as one of their productions for the 2016/2017 season. The premiere took place on 29th October and there are ten more performances to follow. The production was directed by Martin G. Berger, young German director celebrated especially for his radical production of Strauss’ Die Fledermaus (also … Read more
On June 11 the Theater Mönchengladbach (North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany) saw a premiere of Janáček’s opera Katja Kabanowa which was last played here 26 years ago. The story of one of the composers’s strongest female characters was put on stage by a team composed almost exclusively of women – from the scenographer and wardrobe supervisor, past the dramaturge to the choirmistress, … Read more
On May 28 one of Bohuslav Martinů’s operatic masterpieces, Juliette (1937-38), was performed, for the first time in the theatre’s history, at the Staatsoper Berlin. The all-star cast includes the Czech mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kožená in the title role of Juliette and Rolando Villazón as Michel; the conductor is the Staatsoper’s musical director Daniel Barenboim. Much of the attention … Read more
A new composition by Martin Smolka received its premiere at the international contemporary music festival Acht Brücken. Musik für Köln (Eight Bridges. Music for Cologne) whose sixth year was held between April 30 and May 10. The piece for violin and piano called lay, wail, purr, whirr, smooth, whoop, soothe (and this also is vanity) … Read more
