It’s not regarding resorting to aesthetics, but regarding inspiration from the spirit of always looking for the uncompromising path into the works. The first premiere on September 29th is dedicated to Mahler, when the evening “Von der Liebe Tod” is formed from his early work, the cantata “Das klagende Lied” and the “Kindertotenlieder”, for which director Calixto Bieito is once more responsible will draw.
On December 4th, director Keith Warner will make his house debut with Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, for which an ensemble led by Michael Volle, Wolfgang Koch and Georg Zeppenfeld will be assembled. Then, following 50 years, the great “Salome” production by Boleslaw Barlog will be replaced on February 2 when the 47-year-old Frenchman Cyril Teste, who comes from spoken theater, reinterprets the Strauss opera. The title role will be played by 48-year-old Swede Malin Byström, who Roščić predicted would have a great future at the house.
It continues on March 5 with “Le nozze di Figaro” as Mahler’s most conducted work during his tenure as director, with which Barry Kosky’s Da Ponte trilogy is continued at the house. The Monteverdi project will also be continued, with “Il ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria” being heard for the first time on April 2nd, with the Concentus Musicus once once more taking over the musical composition. The premiere of the season will then end with Francis Poulenc’s “Dialogues des Carmélites”, which will be performed on May 21, 2023 by the young Magdalena Fuchsberger from Salzburg. “I consider this work to be fully repertoire-capable because the music is so magical,” Roščić justified his choice to put the work back on the repertoire for the first time since 1964.
These six new productions will be accompanied by a youth opera premiere, Ludger Vollmer’s adaptation of the Herrndorf success story of the same name, “Tschick”, which will be performed in front of the Iron Curtain from December 18, 2022. And the State Ballet is bringing two new premieres to the house, on October 24th “Sleeping Beauty” with music by Tchaikovsky, whose choreography the Head of the State Ballet Martin Schläpfer designed himself, and on April 27th 2023 the two-part evening “Goldberg Variations”, which consists of “Tabula rasa ” with music by Arvo Pärt and the eponymous piano work by Bach.
Music director Philippe Jordan, who was not present at the season presentation to the press, conducts three premieres himself and conducts five more works in the coming season. And the ranks of renowned house guests include names such as Nina Stemme, Piotr Beczała, Elīna Garanča, Asmik Grigorian, Jonas Kaufmann and Sonya Yoncheva, while star bass Günther Groissböck is even committed as a new member of the ensemble. Florian Boesch will even celebrate his house debut in the Mahler evening.
There is also an innovation in the house’s standing room, which is legendary in the opera scene, as Managing Director Petra Bohuslav announced. From Monday (May 2nd), the seating with 169 seats introduced during the Corona period will be reduced to standing room. However, these will be grouped more loosely in the future, which is why there will only be 449 instead of the previous 567 places. With the new season, the standard standing room price of 10 euros will also be lifted. From then on, seats on the ground floor will cost 18 euros, those on the balcony 13 euros, although there will still be reductions for BundestheaterCard holders. Here the ticket prices only increase from 3 or 4 euros to 4 or 5 euros. In future, they will also be able to book online one day before the performance. “We not only have some of the most expensive tickets in the opera world, we also continue to have the cheapest,” emphasized Roščić: “A house that calls itself the State Opera is financed by everyone and has to be there for everyone.”
Roščić’s view of the current season is ambivalent: “I find it much more difficult than 20/21”. At least there was clarity back then with the many lockdowns. But at least you stay within the budget despite closures, short-term changes and the cancellation of the Opera Ball. And with these numbers behind him, Roščić, who has been in office since 2020, announced in view of the ongoing re-advertisement of his post from 2025: “I will apply once more.”
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