Aribert Reimann – now in his 80ies – is one of the most important and prominent contemporary German composers. Since composition of his opera Lear (first performed with grand success at Munich State Opera in 1978), he considered the creation of another stage work based on one of the huge mythological characters of world literature, Medea. But it's only when discovering the Austrian writer Grillparzer’s adaptation (first performed in 1821) that the subject...

Claus Guth created this production of Strauss/Hofmannsthal’s The Woman without Shadow (Die Frau ohne Schatten) 2013 for La Scala. After later shown at Covent Garden, London it is now being staged at the Berlin State Opera as part of the Easter Festival 2017, scenic rehearsal by Julia Burbach. Contrary to other concepts with directors elevating the over-mystified, ferry-tale like plot into full abstraction (Loy for Salzburg or Ponnelle for Cologne many years ago), Guth and...

The State Opera of Lower Saxony in Hannover certainly is among the most creative and adventurous opera theatres in Germany taking pride in presenting a carefully structured and thought through program for many years by now. Not only is the programming ensuring the encounter of the audience with exciting new opera compositions and alternative scenic realizations, in addition the singers are so carefully chosen for the upcoming productions that even a rarely performed, rather exotic opus...

 With merciless sequence is the audience drawn into Wozzeck’s circles of suffering in Büchner’s play. Berg’s music creates passion and compassion of and for the characters and victims of this inescapable orbit. The precision of Andrea Breth’s unstoppable clockwork in light of Wozzeck’s fate is a supreme staging and interpretation completely based on strict reserve and subordination to plot, text, and subtext. The purism of the approach...

What a surprise – it is very unusual to see a 35-year old opera production still performed with such subtle intensity in terms of acting and personal interaction. I assumed the Berliner Staatsoper has highly experienced evening supervisors for their performances (which they most likely have anyway) just to learn that Harry Kupfer himself oversaw the rehearsals of the revival of his 1979 Salome production – which made the audience follow the opera with high...

Höllers’ opus, originally commissioned by the Hamburg opera in 1984, has finally made to town, 24 years after its world premiere in Paris in 1989. An unexpected change of directors at the Hamburg theater shortly after the assignment, opened the chance for its first production in Paris, directed by Hans Neuenfels and under the baton of Lothar Zagrosek who also conducted the second production in 1991 at the Cologne opera house, directed by Friedrich Meyer-Oertel. The only...