Berlin’s oldest opera house and its staff are about to strike the final chord. For the first time since the post-war years of 1945-55 the Staatsoper Unter den Linden is leaving its home in Berlin-Mitte, which is to undergo an extensive three-year renovation, and moving into the Schiller Theater in Charlottenburg. But in the coming four weeks, before the first removal vans arrive, there will be a full programme and a festive closing weekend at the Lindenoper.
Emmanuel Chabrier’s rarely performed opera L’étoile is the final premier at Unter den Linden on 16 May, and also the Sir Simon Rattle’s first Staatsoper premier. The director is Dale Duesing and the soloists include Magdalena Kožená, Stella Doufexis, Jean-Paul Fouchécourt and Juanita Lascarro. Further performances on 19, 23, 27 and 30 May.
The Georgian soprano Nino Machaidze gives her debut on 18 May as Alina in Donizetti’s L’elisier d’amore, the last revival before the move. Nino Machaidze stood in for Anna Netrebko alongside Rolando Villazón at the Salzburg Festival 2008 in a sensational performance that led to her international breakthrough. Further performances on 22, 24 and 28 May.
The final week at the Lindenoper is marked by three concert highlights. Thomas Hampson, accompanied at the piano by Wolfram Rieger, gives the last lieder recital in the large auditorium on 1 June, with works by Samuel Barber and Robert Schumann. Anna Prohaska and her pianist Eric Schneider take leave of the Apollo-Saal with a lieder programme entitled Sirène on 2 June that includes works by Franz Schubert, John Dowland, Arthur Honegger and Gabriel Fauré. Finally Daniel Barenboim and the Staatskapelle Berlin celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Robert Schumann on 4 June with his symphonies no. 1 and 4, together with his cello concerto with the young cellist Marie-Elisabeth Hecker.
Thanks to the support of BMW the grand finale will be another Staatsoper For All. From 6 p.m. on 5 June the final opera performance at Unter den Linden will be transmitted live on Bebelplatz for many thousands of opera lovers: Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, conducted by Daniel Barenboim with Rolando Villazón as Lensky, Anna Samuil as Tatyana, René Pape as Prince Gremin and Artur Rucinski as Eugene Onegin. The transmission will be presented by the actor Rufus Beck and will be followed by a farewell party in the scenery depot of the Staatsoper. Daniel Barenboim and the Staatskapelle Berlin say goodbye with a performance of Tchaikovsky’s symphony no. 4 on Bebelplatz at 4 p.m. on 6 June. Before this, at 11 a.m., there is an opportunity to see and hear Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazón once again in Massenet’s Manon, which was the first Staatsoper For All transmission in 2007. The programme is rounded off by guided tours of the opera house for the whole family and a musical tour in which “Figaro Moves House”.
The climax of this year’s season is a presentation by Daniel Barenboim and the Staatskapelle Berlin of a Beethoven-Bruckner cycle in the Berliner Philharmonie from 20 to 27 June.
Tickets: www.staatsoper-berlin.de | Tel: 030 20354 555
Emmanuel Chabrier’s rarely performed opera L’étoile is the final premier at Unter den Linden on 16 May, and also the Sir Simon Rattle’s first Staatsoper premier. The director is Dale Duesing and the soloists include Magdalena Kožená, Stella Doufexis, Jean-Paul Fouchécourt and Juanita Lascarro. Further performances on 19, 23, 27 and 30 May.
The Georgian soprano Nino Machaidze gives her debut on 18 May as Alina in Donizetti’s L’elisier d’amore, the last revival before the move. Nino Machaidze stood in for Anna Netrebko alongside Rolando Villazón at the Salzburg Festival 2008 in a sensational performance that led to her international breakthrough. Further performances on 22, 24 and 28 May.
The final week at the Lindenoper is marked by three concert highlights. Thomas Hampson, accompanied at the piano by Wolfram Rieger, gives the last lieder recital in the large auditorium on 1 June, with works by Samuel Barber and Robert Schumann. Anna Prohaska and her pianist Eric Schneider take leave of the Apollo-Saal with a lieder programme entitled Sirène on 2 June that includes works by Franz Schubert, John Dowland, Arthur Honegger and Gabriel Fauré. Finally Daniel Barenboim and the Staatskapelle Berlin celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Robert Schumann on 4 June with his symphonies no. 1 and 4, together with his cello concerto with the young cellist Marie-Elisabeth Hecker.
Thanks to the support of BMW the grand finale will be another Staatsoper For All. From 6 p.m. on 5 June the final opera performance at Unter den Linden will be transmitted live on Bebelplatz for many thousands of opera lovers: Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, conducted by Daniel Barenboim with Rolando Villazón as Lensky, Anna Samuil as Tatyana, René Pape as Prince Gremin and Artur Rucinski as Eugene Onegin. The transmission will be presented by the actor Rufus Beck and will be followed by a farewell party in the scenery depot of the Staatsoper. Daniel Barenboim and the Staatskapelle Berlin say goodbye with a performance of Tchaikovsky’s symphony no. 4 on Bebelplatz at 4 p.m. on 6 June. Before this, at 11 a.m., there is an opportunity to see and hear Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazón once again in Massenet’s Manon, which was the first Staatsoper For All transmission in 2007. The programme is rounded off by guided tours of the opera house for the whole family and a musical tour in which “Figaro Moves House”.
The climax of this year’s season is a presentation by Daniel Barenboim and the Staatskapelle Berlin of a Beethoven-Bruckner cycle in the Berliner Philharmonie from 20 to 27 June.
Tickets: www.staatsoper-berlin.de | Tel: 030 20354 555
