Bayerische Staatsorchester

Stage director Frank Castorf “might have been born to direct From the House of the Dead” (Opera Today). His gritty, visually striking adaptation brings bold modern and postmodern touches to Janáček’s masterwork without ever overshadowing the intense forward momentum of the music, conducted to dramatic perfection by Simone Young and sung by an all-star cast in Munich. Janáček adapted Dostoevsky for this powerfully compelling opera set in a Siberian prison camp, full of starkly contrasting moods and motifs, unusual in its episodic structure. The last opera Janáček ever composed, its third act was on his desk when he died in 1928; attempts by his students to “complete” his orchestration have largely fallen away over the decades in favor of the original version. Despite the grimness of the setting and the brutality of several characters, the composer’s compassion shines through in tender moments, movingly illustrating his motto for the work: “in every creature, a spark of God.”

This performance of Richard Strauss' opera Der Rosenkavalier (1979) features the vocal talents of Gwyneth Jones in the lead role; recorded at the National Theatre Munich.

Ernst Krenek's theatrical piece Karl V. consisting completely of twelve-tone series should have premiered at the Vienna State Opera. The political situation in the Vienna of 1933 and the fact that Krenek was despised by the Nazis because of this Jazz opera Jonny spielt auf, prevented the première. It only took place five years later in Prague, however Krenek had already emigrated to the USA. Karl V was the last emperor to hold to the idea of a Christian empire in which the sun never set, although its downfall was always inevitable, for numerous reasons. For the second production of Karl V. in the Nationaltheater, Carlus Padrissa in particular seeks out political power systems that are highly topical, and so very precisely analyses the treatment in the theatrical piece. At the core of the intellectually and linguistically highly qualified libretto, written by the composer himself, Karl V. reflects on his life and makes his confession to a young monk below Titian's La Gloria.

Stage director Axel Ranisch interweaves two works, resulting in a coming-of-age fairy tale on family, love, knowledge and self-determination: Mavra and Iolanta are becoming Mavra / Iolanta.

The Snow Queen is Hans Abrahamsen's first opera, composed to a self-penned libretto, based on Hans Christian Andersen's eponymous fairy tale. Following an in-depth study of the topic of snow and a life-long obsession with Andersen's fairy tales, Abrahamsen composed the opera between 2014 and 2018. Hans Abrahamsen's music, with it's smooth transitions and subtly modified repeats, lends the lyrics both depth and lightness. He is keen to point out the range of avenues for interpretation available. " It's possible to read the fairy tale in a variety of ways. It contains many mysteries which are open to numerous interpretations." Accompanying Barbara Hannigan is a top-class ensemble of singers, including Peter Rose, Katarinya Dalayman and Rachael Wilson. Cornelius Meister is the musical director, currently general music director at the Staatsoper Stuttgart.

The revolutionary tribunal has sentenced Andrea Chénier to death and no one can avert his fate. Shortly before his execution, Chénier is visited by his lover Maddalena, who has decided to die at the poet's side. “Our death is the triumph of love”, the lovers promise each other in their last words. The French Revolution, which was initially demanded by the people, turns out to be a machine of terror after 1789: spies of the regime pursue the citizens, show trials serve as a deterrent and the guillotine ensures that the sentences are carried out. Although the wanted Chénier could flee Paris, he decides against it. He wants to know who is behind the letters that are secretly delivered to him. Here, in the shadow of the reign of terror, love triumphs: Chénier and Maddalena find each other, swear eternal love and are faithful to each other until their last breath together.

Barrie Kosky gives the “operetta of all operettas” a new look and devotes himself to its morbid side. The setting is Vienna, city of the golden operetta era, where Die Fledermaus premiered at the Theater an der Wien in 1874. The bat's revenge becomes a nightmare, and not just for Gabriel von Eisenstein. A society, an entire city dances towards the abyss. To take revenge on his friend Eisenstein, Dr. Falke, alias Die Fledermaus, stages a game of mistaken identity at Count Orlofsky's house. A marquis and a chevalier, a countess and budding artists meet there for a raucous party. Glasses clink, relationships are shaken, people love, lie and dance. The party lasts as long as it lasts, true to the motto: “Happy is he who forgets...”.