In our world of humans and machines, reality and fiction are blending, as are technology and emotion. Five exceptional operas focus on the fundamental questions of human existence, of control and the uncontrollable. Mozart’s almost superhuman and seemingly invincible Don Giovanni, with his unceasing impulse to seduce, finds himself confronted with the fact that his tried and tested mechanisms are no longer working reliably. “The Flying Dutchman” by Richard Wagner presents a vision of humanity caught up in a cycle of perpetual repetition caused by their own wrongdoings – virtually as if they were trapped in the unstoppable rotation of a machine. In his masterpiece “Eugene Onegin”, Tchaikovsky shows us a modern human individual who is acting almost mechanically and whose emotional sentiments have fallen prey to his cynicism and loneliness – a real danger we are all facing, especially in our increasingly mechanised daily lives. In “Giulio Cesare” by Georg Friedrich Händel we catch a glimpse of the power of humanity, reflected in the interplay of strategy, influence and the supposedly infallible machinery of state in an antique setting. “Berlin Alexanderplatz”, conceptualised as a cross-divisional work of music theatre, was nominated as best world premiere in 2023. It is a remarkable adaptation of the eponymous novel by Alfred Döblin – a Woyzeck drama of the 20th century in which the background noise of Berlin, heavily dominated by machinery, serves as a central element for the composition by Vivan and Ketan Bhatti. Together with musical director Leslie Suganandarajah and principal director Alexandra Liedtke, I am looking forward to a season filled with emotions and to a stimulating intellectual exchange with our audiences.

Katrin König
Opera Dircetor