The 2021/22 season at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden

Press release of 4 June 2021

The Staatsoper Unter den Linden is pleased to present to you the programme for the 2021/22 season, which is themed »Sleepless«. In sleeplessness, the sense of time is lost. This sensation is one we had to painfully experience last year over a long course of time waiting for, among other things, openings, vaccinations and closeness with others. Sleeplessness evokes both positive and negative associations – as an absence of rest and relaxation, but also as a state of excitement and anticipation. After last year, during which time we were able to keep the engine of our institution running with, amongst other activities, the online and TV premieres of Wagners LOHENGRIN, Janáčeks JENUFA und Mozarts LE NOZZE DI FIGARO, we now look forward, full of anticipation to finally being able to experience music together again!

The story »Schlaflos« (sleepless) by Jon Fosse is also the basis for a new opera by Peter Eötvös, which will have its world premiere next season staged by Kornél Mundruczó under the title SLEEPLESS. In addition to this world premiere, the highlights of the 2021/22 season will be:

  • five further premieres in the Großes Haus (see premieres section)
  • the LINDEN 21 format with two world premieres, a new production and an audience premiere
  • the BAROCKTAGE (5 to 14 November 2021) with a focus on the rich musical culture of France, including the new production of André Campra’s IDOMÉNÉE, conducted by Emmanuelle Haïm and directed by Àlex Ollé of La Fura dels Baus
  • the FESTTAGE (6 to 17 April 2022) with, among others, two complete performances of Mozart’s Da Ponte Trilogy, conducted by Daniel Barenboim and staged by Vincent Huguet
  • the audience premieres of Mozart’s LE NOZZE DI FIGARO, Wagner's LOHENGRIN and Janáček’s JENŮFA – three new productions from 2020/21, which are now being shown live in front of an audience for the first time
  • 22 more revived music theatre works – including Strauss’ DER ROSENKAVALIER, the last major premiere in front of an audience in February 2020 before the pandemic began, as well as a focus on works of Puccini
  • In addition, there will be more than 120 concerts in Berlin with around 90 programmes and a European tour of the Staatskapelle Berlin conducted by Daniel Barenboim, as well as other concert tours
  • The major composers featured in the opera and concert programme are Leoš Janáček, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Giacomo Puccini and Robert Schumann, flanked by compositions from the Baroque to the present
  • In 2021/22, the Staatsoper Unter den Linden will present a total of around 320 events, two STAATSOPER FÜR ALLE editions (at the beginning and end of the season) and numerous projects by the Junge Staatsoper, including performances by the Opernkinderorchester and the Kinderopernhaus Berlin
  • We will also focus specifically on the Staatsopernchor as the choir celebrates its 200th anniversary in 2021/22, and on the tenth anniversary of the Orchester des Wandels, a sustainability initiative by members of the Staatskapelle Berlin
  • The new season kicks off with an opening festival on 28 August 2021



PREMIERES

In the 2021/22 season, Mozart’s Da Ponte Trilogy, which director Vincent Huguet and conductor Daniel Barenboim are working on together, will have its (audience) premiere: The opening premiere of the season will be COSÌ FAN TUTTE on 3 October 2021, with Federica Lombardi (Fiordiligi), Marina Viotti (Dorabella, role debut), Paolo Fanale (Ferrando), Gyula Orendt (Guglielmo), Barbara Frittoli (Despina, role debut) and Lucio Gallo (Don Alfonso).
The Mozart Da Ponte cycle will begin in September with performances of LE NOZZE DI FIGARO, live in front of an audience for the first time. The trilogy will be completed with the premiere of DON GIOVANNI (2 April 2022). The ensemble of LE NOZZE DI FIGARO includes Federica Lombardi (Countess Almaviva), Gerald Finley (Count Almaviva), Anna Prohaska (Susanna), Corinna Scheurle (Cherubino) and Ricardo Fassi (Figaro). DON GIOVANNI features Michael Volle in the title role, along with Slávka Zámečníková (Donna Anna, role debut), Elsa Dreisig (Donna Elvira, role debut), Serena Sáenz (Zerlina), Riccardo Fassi (Leporello, role debut), Bogdan Volkov (Don Ottavio), David Oštrek (Masetto) and Peter Rose (Commendatore), as well as the Staatskapelle Berlin and the Staatsopernchor.
During the FESTTAGE 2022, the three-part cycle will be performed twice in its entirety.

In addition to the Mozart premieres and the FESTTAGE cycles, Daniel Barenboim will perform at the 2022 FESTTAGE concerts as conductor and pianist along with the Wiener Philharmoniker and the Staatskapelle Berlin, in the latter concert together with Martha Argerich. He will also perform as a pianist in a recital with Cecilia Bartoli. Additionally, in the 2021/22 season he will act as conductor of the revivals of Saint-Saëns’ SAMSON ET DALILA and Strauss’ ELEKTRA, and will conduct four subscription concerts of the Staatskapelle Berlin and the open-air concerts as part of STAATSOPER FÜR ALLE on Bebelplatz. He will also be the conductor of the Staatskapelle Berlin during guest performances in Lucerne, Athens, Milan, Rome, Madrid, Geneva, Zurich, Vienna, Paris, Hamburg, Munich, Cologne and Frankfurt am Main.

The world premiere of Peter Eötvös’ SLEEPLESS will take place on 28 November 2021, conducted by the composer himself and Maxime Pascal.This work, commissioned by the Staatsoper Unter den Linden and the Grand Théâtre de Genève, with a libretto by Mari Mezei, is based on the story »Sleepless« from the »Trilogy« by Norwegian author Jon Fosse: A young couple, Alida and Asle, wander through a Norwegian coastal town. It is cold and Alida is heavily pregnant. They have nothing with them but two bundles that Asle has tied up and a box with a violin inside, an heirloom from his father. No one wants to take them in, until they finally refuse to be turned away... The story is a kind of modern Christmas story with a distinctive »Bonnie and Clyde« feel to it, delving deep into the challenges and abysses of human existence.
The two main roles, Alida and Asle, will be sung by Victoria Randem and Linard Vrielink, both former members of the International Opera Studio of the Staatsoper Unter den Linden. The Staatskapelle Berlin will perform. The premiere will be staged by the multi-award-winning Hungarian film, theatre and opera director Kornél Mundruczó, who is making his house debut at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden. He has been invited to work for numerous festivals worldwide, and he also directs at theatres and opera houses in German-speaking and European countries. He made his English-language film debut in 2020 with the drama »Pieces of a Woman«, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival and is currently available on Netflix. The leading actress, Vanessa Kirby received numerous nominations for her performance, including nominations for the Oscar and the Golden Globe Award.

With the premiere of DIE SACHE MAKROPULOS (premiere: 13 February 2022), Simon Rattle continues his exploration of central works by Leoš Janáček at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden. The new production is directed by Claus Guth. The cast includes Marlis Petersen, who gives her debut in the role of Emilia Marty, Nicky Spence (Albert Gregor), Peter Hoare (Vítek) and Bo Skovhus (Jaroslav Prus). The Staatskapelle Berlin will perform.
With this new Janáček production, the audience premiere of JENŮFA (staging: Damiano Michieletto, conductor: Thomas Guggeis) with Asmik Grigorian in the title role (house debut), the LINDEN 21 production IM NEBEL EIN LICHT – EIN JANÁČEK-STRAUSS-ABEND (staging: Jürgen Flimm, conductor: Adrian Heger), various concerts and a Janáček chamber music festival with members of the Staatskapelle Berlin, the Staatsoper places a significant part of their focus on the composer in 2021/22.
In addition to the premiere of DIE SACHE MAKROPULOS, Simon Rattle will conduct the Freiburger Barockorchester in the revival of Rameau’s HIPPOLYTE ET ARICIE in the 2021/22 season as part of the BAROCKTAGE and will co-conduct the anniversary concert of Le Concert d’Astrée with Emmanuelle Haïm. Simon Rattle will also perform Robert Schumann’s »Das Paradies und die Peri« in the Staatskapelle Berlin’s IV subscription concert, with two concerts in Berlin and a guest performance in Hamburg.

Giacomo Puccini’s TURANDOT, staged by film and opera director Philipp Stölzl and conducted by Zubin Mehta, honorary conductor of the Staatskapelle Berlin, will be the last premiere of the 2021/22 season on 18 June 2022. The central starting point of Stölzl’s concept is Pang’s exclamation »Turandot doesn’t exist! « – translated into an oversized animated figure. Anna Netrebko will sing the title role (Elena Pankratova for the July performances). The ensemble also includes Yusif Eyvazov, Aida Garifullina (Olga Peretyatko for the July dates, who gives her role debut as Liù), René Pape, giving his role debut as Timur (Grigory Shkarupa on 1 July), Graham Clark, Gyula Orendt, Siyabonga Maqungo and Andrés Moreno García, as well as the Staatsopernchor, the Staatskapelle Berlin and the Kinderchor der Staatsoper.
In the 2021/22 season, Giacomo Puccini’s TURANDOT will be complemented by revivals of LA BOHÈME, TOSCA, MADAMA BUTTERFLY and LA FANCIULLA DEL WEST.

IDOMÉNÉE, conducted by Emmanuelle Haïm, is the BAROCKTAGE premiere on 5 November 2021. This rare performance will be the first time ever that a work by André Campra, a central representative of French baroque opera, will be heard and seen at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden. The Tragédie lyrique – which, unlike Mozart’s version, has a tragic ending – will be staged by Àlex Ollé, one of the six artistic directors of the theatre collective La Fura dels Baus founded in Barcelona, who is directing for the first time at the Berliner Staatsoper. The title role is sung by Tassis Christoyannis. The further cast includes Chiara Skerath, Hélène Carpentier, Eva Zaïcik, Samuel Boden and Yoann Dubruque. The ensemble Le Concert d'Astrée (orchestra and choir), founded by Emmanuelle Haïm, will play and celebrate its 20th anniversary during the BAROCKTAGE festival in Berlin.

The BAROCKTAGE festival will take place in 2021 from 5 to 14 November and is focused on the rich musical culture of France. In addition to the premiere of Campra’s IDOMÉNÉE, the festival programme includes the revival of Rameau’s HIPPOLYTE ET ARICIE, featuring Ólafur Elíasson’s stage and lighting design, with the Freiburger Barockorchester and the Staatsopernchor conducted by Simon Rattle. Christoph Willibald Gluck’s ORFEO ED EURIDICE will also be performed. In addition to musical theatre, the ten-day programme in November includes 14 concerts, focusing on French music, as well as the mobile children’s opera THESEUS’ REISE IN DIE UNTERWELT in cooperation with the Freiburger Barockorchester. During the BAROCKTAGE, the Staatskapelle Berlin will be on a tour of Europe together with Daniel Barenboim.

LINDEN 21 comprises the productions and projects in the repertoire that trace the diverse forms of contemporary music theatre:

Jürgen Flimm will develop a project with music by Leoš Janáček and texts by Botho Strauß under the title IM NEBEL EIN LICHT – EIN JANÁČEK-STRAUSS-ABEND. The performance features Adrian Heger as conductor and Martina Gedeck, Meike Droste, Katharina Kammerloher, Roman Trekel, among others, as well as members of the Staatskapelle Berlin (world premiere: 15 January 2022).

Christian Jost’s chamber opera DIE ARABISCHE NACHT (2007), based on the play of the same name by Roland Schimmelpfennig, will premiere on 14 April 2022 with members of the International Opera Studio of the Staatsoper Unter den Linden. The ensemble work tells the story of five lonely people on a sultry city night. What is a dream, what is reality? The production is staged by Marcin Łakomicki, with Philipp Armbruster as conductor. The music will be performed by members of the Staatskapelle Berlin. The International Opera Studio of the Staatsoper Unter den Linden is supported by the Liz Mohn Kultur- und Musikstiftung.

Thom Luz’s play WERCKMEISTER HARMONIEN, which was previously scheduled for the 2019/20 season and had to be postponed due to Corona, will have its world premiere in the Apollosaal on 24 May 2022. Together with the musician and arranger Mathias Weibel, Luz has in recent years developed a theatrical language that combines silence, movement, text and music into dense, atmospheric spatial compositions. The principles of well-tempered piano tuning formulated in 1682 by the musician and music theorist Andreas Werckmeister are the starting point for his first work at the Staatsoper. The production is in cooperation with the Theater Gessnerallee Zurich.

The programme of LINDEN 21 also features the audience premiere of Lucia Ronchetti’s PINOCCHIOS ABENTEUER for children ages 6 and over, staged by Swaantje Lena Kleff (12 February 2022), as well as a jazz lounge as part of the BAROCKTAGE (13 November 2021).


SELECTED REVIVALS
 

  • Beethoven’s FIDELIO, conducted by Alexander Soddy with Simone Schneider as Leonore and role debuts by Matthias Goerne (Don Pizarro), Pavel Černoch (Florestan), Siyabonga Maqungo (Jaquino) and Victoria Randem (Marzelline) (August / September 2021)
  • Mozart’s LE NOZZE DI FIGARO directed by Vincent Huguet, live for the first time in front of an audience conducted by Daniel Barenboim and with, among others, Federica Lombardi, Anna Prohaska, Gerald Finley, Riccardo Fassi and Corinna Scheurle (September / October 2021 and as part of the FESTTAGE)  
  • Wagner’s LOHENGRIN directed by Calixto Bieito and conducted by Thomas Guggeis, live for the first time in front of an audience, featuring Andreas Schager in the title role and Elza van den Heever as Elsa von Brabant (November / December 2021), as well as conducted by Matthias Pintscher with Roberto Alagna and Vida Miknevičiūtė (April / May 2022)
  • Mozart’s DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE in the two productions by August Everding and Yuval Sharon, conducted, among others, by Giuseppe Mentuccia / Anna Milukova (23 / 25 December) and Kristiina Poska (December 2021 and March / May 2022)
  • Saint-Saëns' SAMSON ET DALILA, conducted by Daniel Barenboim (Thomas Guggeis on 15 / 19 December), with Elīna Garanča and Andreas Schager in the title roles (December 2021)
  • Donizetti’s L’ELISIR D’AMORE, conducted by Speranza Scappucci, with Hera Hyesang Park as Adina, giving her house debut (February / March 2022)
  • Strauss’ DER ROSENKAVALIER, staged by André Heller and conducted by Simone Young, with Camilla Nylund, Christof Fischesser and Siobhan Stagg among others (March / April 2022)
  • A focus on Puccini, combining the premiere of TURANDOT with the revivals of LA BOHÈME (conductor: Domingo Hindoyan, with Sonya Yoncheva and Elsa Dreisig, among others, giving her role debut as Musetta, December 2021 / January 2022), TOSCA (conductor: Andrés Orozco-Estrada / Julien Salemkour, with among others, Anja Harteros, Fabio Sartori, Ambrogio Maestri, January / February 2022), MADAMA BUTTERFLY (conductor: Massimo Zanetti, with Aleksandra Kurzak and Roberto Alagna, among others, August / September 2021) and LA FANCIULLA DEL WEST (conductor: Matthias Pintscher, with Anja Kampe, Marcelo Álvarez, Michael Volle, among others, June / July 2022)
  • Janáček’s JENŮFA directed by Damiano Michieletto, live in front of an audience for the first time conducted by Thomas Guggeis and with Asmik Grigorian giving her house debut in the title role (May / June 2022)
  • Strauss’ ELEKTRA staged by Patrice Chéreau and conducted by Daniel Barenboim (Thomas Guggeis on 19 / 24 June) with, among others, Ricarda Merbeth in the title role, Waltraud Meier, Vida Miknevičiūtė and René Pape (June 2022)


In the 2021/22 season there will be two editions of STAATSOPER FÜR ALLE: On 19 September 2021 with a live concert on Bebelplatz, on the occasion of the Staatsopernchor celebrating its 200th anniversary, and on 18 September 2021 with the broadcast of Mozart’s LE NOZZE DI FIGARO – both conducted by Daniel Barenboim. The summer edition of STAATSOPER FÜR ALLE will take place on 18 June 2022 with the live broadcast of the premiere of Puccini’s TURANDOT, conducted by Zubin Mehta, and on 19 June 2022 with an opera-air concert by the Staatskapelle Berlin, conducted by Daniel Barenboim. STAATSOPER FÜR ALLE takes place thanks to BMW.


200TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE STAATSOPERNCHOR

It has been 200 years since a professional choir of singers first took part in a performance at the Berliner Hofoper. This anniversary is cause for celebration for the around 80 members of the choir and their directors, as well as for the Staatsoper as a whole and also the audience. The choir will be present at the opening festival ERÖFFNUNGSFEST, at STAATSOPER FÜR ALLE and also at several choral symphonic concerts together with the Staatskapelle Berlin, presenting works by Bruckner, Schumann and Mozart – and of course you can listen to it on the opera stage on many evenings. In addition, there will be a symposium on the history and present state of the Staatsopernchor.

New to the ENSEMBLE as of the 2021/22 season are the Norwegian soprano Victoria Randem and the tenor Andrés Moreno García, both former members of the International Opera Studio.


CONCERT PROGRAMME

With Robert Schumann the concert programme focuses on a composer who seems to fit the »Sleepless« theme particularly well. The symphonies and instrumental concertos will be performed by the Staatskapelle, and members of the Staatskapelle will also present this particular composer’s chamber music works. There is also a focus on contemporary compositions with works by Peter Eötvös, Benjamin Attahir and Luca Francesconi.

The Staatskapelle Berlin will play 16 major symphony concerts in Berlin with eight programmes – in the opera house Unter den Linden as well as in the Philharmonie. Four double performances will be performed with Daniel Barenboim conducting. The other subscription concerts will be conducted by Simon Rattle, Zubin Mehta, Daniele Gatti and Herbert Blomstedt.
Soloists will be Martha Argerich (piano), Kian Soltani (violoncello), Frank Peter Zimmermann and Renaud Capuçon (violin) and vocal soloists such as Elza van den Heever, Lucy Crowe, Anna Prohaska, Siobhan Stagg, Miah Persson (soprano), Elīna Garanča, Anna Lapkovskaja (alto), Siyabonga Maqungo, Andrew Staples, Linard Vrielink, Peter Sonn (tenor), Florian Boesch (baritone) and David Oštrek (bass). The Staatsopernchor, which celebrates its 200th anniversary in the upcoming season, also participates in three programmes.

The FESTTAGE concert programme in 2022 will focus on two symphony concerts with Mozart works:On 6 April with the Wiener Philharmoniker and on 13 April with the Staatskapelle Berlin – with Daniel Barenboim as both the conductor and the pianist, and on 13 April together with Martha Argerich as soloist. At the concert with the Staatskapelle Berlin, the programme will be completed by Bruckner’s 4th Symphony. There will also be a recital with Anne-Sophie Mutter as a soloist with works by Mozart, Beethoven and Franck (8 April) as well as recitals with Renée Fleming, who will be performing at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden for the first time (13 April), and Cecilia Bartoli, who will be accompanied by Daniel Barenboim as pianist on 15 April. In addition, the Opernkinderorchester will perform a concert under the direction of Giuseppe Mentuccia as part of the FESTTAGE on 16 April.

The 14 BAROCKTAGE concerts (5 to 14 November) are dedicated to newly-discovered French music, with composers such as André Campra, Jean-Philippe Rameau, Jean-Baptiste Lully, François Couperin, Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe and Jean Marais. Guests include Nikolaus Habjan, Ines Schüttengruber, Le Concert des Nations under Jordi Savall, Christophe Rousset with Les Talens Lyriques, Dorothee Oberlinger and the Ensemble 1700 together with Hille Perl and François Lazarevich, Ottavio Dantone and the Accademia Bizantina, Nicolas Altstaedt, Jean Rondeau, the Akademie für Alte Musik and the Ensemble {oh!} Orkiestra Historyczna! conducted by Martyna Pastuszka.

Together with Emmanuelle Haïm Simon Rattle will conduct the anniversary concert of Le Concert d’Astrée on 8 November – with Magdalena Kožená, Lea Desandre and Sandrine Piau as soloists, among others. As part of the BAROCKTAGE and LINDEN 21, there will be a jazz lounge with students from the Jazz-Institut Berlin, and for a young audience there will be children’s concerts featuring members of the Akademie für Alte Musik under the motto »Von Orpheus und Eurydike«. The BAROCKTAGE concerts will take place in the Apollosaal, the Großer Saal, the Alter Orchesterprobensaal and the Pierre Boulez Saal (in collaboration with the Pierre Boulez Saal).

STAATSKAPELLE BERLIN ON TOUR: Guest performances will take the Staatskapelle Berlin and Daniel Barenboim to the Lucerne Festival in August 2021 and on a concert tour to Athens, Milan, Geneva, Madrid, Vienna and Zurich in October / November 2021. Guest performances in Paris, Hamburg, Munich, Cologne and Frankfurt a. M. will follow in January 2022. The tours will focus on Robert Schumannʼs and Johannes Brahmsʼ Symphonies 1-4. The programme is complemented by symphonic works by Beethoven and Schubert. In addition to the concert tours with its General Music Director, the Staatskapelle Berlin will give another guest performance in February 2022 at the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, with Robert Schumann's »Das Paradies und die Peri« conducted by Simon Rattle.

Special concerts include the New Yearʼs concerts with the Staatskapelle Berlin on 31 December 2021 and 1 January 2022 conducted by Andrés Orozco-Estrada and with Elsa Dreisig as soloist. Works by Richard Strauss will be performed.

A summer concert with works by Stravinsky, Debussy and Ravel will be conducted by Alain Altinoglu in July 2022, the STAATSOPER FÜR ALLE concerts as well as two programmes in the Pierre Boulez Saal with James Gaffigan and András Schiff performing Bachʼs Brandenburg Concertos will take place.

The Staatskapelle Berlin, conducted by Ilan Volkov, will also perform the Staatsballet world premiere of Georg Friedrich Haasʼ SYM-PHONIE 2020, choreographed by Sasha Waltz (world premiere: 13 March 2022).

In 2021/22, the chamber concerts with members of the Staatskapelle Berlin will focus on the chamber music works of Robert Schumann, flanking the symphony concerts. In addition, there will be a Janáček Chamber Music Festival with works by Leoš Janáček and other Czech composers.

Other concert formats include, among others, Preußens Hofmusik, Sunday matinees at the Bode Museum, Lied recitals in the Apollosaal with singers from the ensemble, the Advent concert of the Kinderchor of the Staatsoper, other choral concerts, childrenʼs concerts for various age groups, school and family concerts in the Großer Saal, concerts and public master classes with the International Opera Studio and the Orchesterakademie at Staatskapelle Berlin, a satellite concert for the world premiere of SLEEPLESS with works by Peter Eötvös, the Musicbanda Franui, the Mecklenburgische Bläserakademie, and the CD release of Richard Straussʼ serenades and sonatinas for wind ensemble with members of the Staatskapelle Berlin.

In 2021/22, five recitals are scheduled in the Großer Saal with Sonya Yoncheva (6 December), Juan Diego Flórez (house debut, 17 December), Lise Davidsen (6 January), Renée Fleming (house debut, FESTTAGE concert on 13 April) and Cecilia Bartoli (FESTTAGE concert on 15 April).


ORCHESTER DES WANDELS – TENTH ANNIVERSARY

For ten years now, the musicians of the Staatskapelle Berlin have been committed to climate and environmental protection. Numerous projects have already developed from their »Orchester des Wandels« initiative: Benefit concerts and art campaigns, as well as productive work in the NaturTon Foundation and in the Verein Ebenholz! In the meantime, other instrumentalists and ensembles from all over Germany have joined this initiative – which has now become SEVERAL »Orchester des Wandels«. The focus of their activities is an annual »Klimakonzert«. This season it will be a »Filmkonzert-Drama« on 24 May 2022 at Kraftwerk Mitte conducted by Frank Strobel: A cinematically and musically impressive excursion into fascinating glacier landscapes: »Die weiße Hölle vom Piz Palü«.

In addition, the Staatsoper Unter den Linden invites you to a new series entitled SUSTAINABLE LISTENING, which addresses climate and environmental issues in discourse and concert performances. The centrepiece is a concert performance by the Orchester des Wandels featuring members of the Staatskapelle Berlin. Drinks and DJs from the Berlin club scene invite you to linger afterwards (1 March and 8 June 2022, Apollosaal).


CHILDREN’S AND YOUTH PROGRAMME

The Opernkinderorchester, a cooperation with Berlin’s twelve district music schools, will perform on 16 April 2022 as part of the FESTTAGE 2022, conducted by Giuseppe Mentuccia and moderated by Amelie Stiefvatter. With their concert, the young musicians, ages 7 to 12, build a bridge to the 2021/22 opera programme, with excerpts from Mozartʼs DON GIOVANNI, COSÌ FAN TUTTE and LE NOZZE DI FIGARO as well as works by Edvard Grieg, Bedřich Smetana and Johann Strauß. In addition, they will perform world premieres by young Berlin composers. For the first time, the Opernkinderorchester will also perform outside the Staatsoper Unter den Linden with a concert in Potsdam. Further performance dates: 29 April and 8 May 2022 (Staatsoper Unter den Linden) and 16 May 2022 (Nikolaisaal Potsdam). The Opernkinderorchester is supported by the Hilti Foundation, the Heinz and Heide Dürr Stiftung, the Karl Schlecht Stiftung and KPMG.

The Kinderopernhaus Berlin, which was awarded the OPUS KLASSIK in 2020 and is now firmly established in six Berlin districts, is one of the pillars of the educational work at the Staatsoper, as is the Opernkinderorchester. In the original district of Lichtenberg, where the initiative was launched more than ten years ago, as well as in Marzahn and Reinickendorf, there are regional centres. School workgroups have been initiated in a total of eleven places, while the threads have been coming together at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden since the 2018/19 season. Altogether, hundreds of children from all Berlin districts have been reached, some of whom were introduced to opera as an art form for the first time. In the 2021/22 season, two premieres of the Kinderopernhaus Unter den Linden will be staged: After the production could not be realised any longer in June 2021 due to Corona, the children, ages 10 to 13, under the title of SEHNSUCHT. LOHENGRIN under the guidance of experienced professionals from the opera world now in the new season tackle the Lohengrin material. This production will premiere on 20 October 2021 in the Alter Orchesterprobensaal conducted by Uwe Sochaczewsky and directed by Ulrike Schwab (co-directed by Georg Schütky).
GESCHWINDE, IHR WIRBELNDEN WINDE is the title of the second production of the Kinderopernhaus Unter den Linden, taking place at the end of the season on 3 July 2022: For the first time, the Kinderopernhaus Berlin dedicates its work to a piece by Johann Sebastian Bach. Together with professional musicians under the direction of Adrian Heger, the choreographer Kathlyn Pope from the Staatsballett Berlin and members of the International Opera Studio, the ensemble develops its own piece of music theatre.
The Kinderopernhaus Berlin is funded by the State of Berlin and co-financed by participating districts. Other sponsors are the Hilti Foundation, Stiftung Berliner Sparkasse, Caritasverband Berlin and the Freunde und Förderer der Staatsoper Unter den Linden.

As part of the BAROCKTAGE, THESEUS’ REISE IN DIE UNTERWELT for young people of primary school age will celebrate its premiere on 5 November 2021 in the Alter Orchesterprobensaal of the Staatsoper. Prior to that time, the work will be performed on four occasions in primary schools in Berlin. The mobile children’s opera based on motifs from Rameau’s HIPPOLYTE ET ARICIE is a collaboration with members of the Freiburger Barockorchester, with ensemble member Adam Kutny taking on the vocal part.

On 12 February 2022, the public premiere of Lucia Ronchetti’s children’s opera PINOCCHIOS ABENTEUER for children ages 6 and over, staged by Swaantje Lena Kleff and conducted by Adrian Heger, can be heard in the Alter Orchesterprobensaal.

A new programme highlight are the concerts for schools and families in the Großer Saal. In addition, the Junge Staatsoper’s programme includes children’s concerts, which are also integrated into festivals such as the BAROCKTAGE, workshops, rehearsal visits, family and school performances, the composition workshop, projects such as »Rhapsody in School«, the music theatre labyrinth and TUSCH – Theater und Schule as well as the youth choir.

The main partner of the children’s and youth programme of the Staatsoper Unter den Linden is the Hilti Foundation, Liechtenstein, within the framework of its funding priority »Community Arts & Culture«.

Programmes such as the International Opera Studio, funded by the Liz Mohn Kultur- und Musikstiftung, and the Orchesterakademie at Staatskapelle Berlin promote young professional singers and musicians at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden.


ADVANCE TICKET SALES

At present, it is not possible to predict how the measures to contain the COVID-19 pandemic will develop. Therefore, until further notice, regular advance ticket sales will start every two months on the last Saturday of the previous month, and early sales one week before. As soon as there is more long-term planning certainty, the entire season’s dates will be put on sale.

Tickets for the performances in August / September 2021 are already on sale!

Advance ticket sale for October / November 2021, BAROCKTAGE 2021 and FESTTAGE cycles 2022:
Saturday, 4 September 2021 starting at noon

For further information see: https://www.staatsoper-berlin.de/en/

All performances will take place with protective and hygienic measures in place to contribute to the further containment of coronavirus infection. The applicable hygiene measures in place at any time can be found online at https://www.staatsoper-berlin.de/en/service/hygiene-concept/.

Since 2007, the BMW Group and the Staatsoper Unter den Linden have been linked by a partnership that is not only longstanding, but since the 2018/2019 season has been enriched by yet another joint collaboration: BMW OPERA NEXT uses digital formats to open the doors of the opera in a new way and inspire a broad audience by changing perspectives between tradition and modernity. #BMWOPERANEXT

The Staatsoper Unter den Linden sincerely thanks the Verein der Freunde und Förderer der Staatsoper Unter den Linden and its main partners BMW and the Hilti Foundation for their support.

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