23 November to 2 December: The first BAROCKTAGE festival at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden with the premiere of HIPPOLYTE ET ARICIE, the new production A MONTEVERDI PROJECT, two revived operas, concerts as well as special events
On 23 November the BAROCKTAGE will be launched at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden. The festival was established by Intendant Matthias Schulz and will be held for the first time this year from 23 November to 2 December. During the ten festival days, the program features a premiere and two revivals in the Großer Saal, a dance/theatre performance in the Apollosaal as well as numerous concerts and special events. The festival focuses on Claudio Monteverdi and Jean-Philippe Rameau, two composers who stand for the beginning and end of the Baroque era.
During the BAROCKTAGE Daniel Barenboim and the Staatskapelle Berlin will be on a concert tour with performances at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing and at the Sydney Opera House where, among other works, the four Brahms symphonies will be performed.
The core of this year’s BAROCKTAGE is the premiere of HIPPOLYTE ET ARICIE on 25 November. For the first time, the Staatsoper Unter den Linden will stage a work by Jean-Philippe Rameau – conducted by Simon Rattle who makes his debut with the Freiburger Barockorchester. Ólafur Elíasson is the stage and costume designer. Together with stage director and choreographer Aletta Collins he developed a comprehensive concept which rethinks light, costume and space. The leading roles will be performed by Anna Prohaska, Magdalena Kožená, Reinoud Van Mechelen, Gyula Orendt and Elsa Dreisig.
Just before the BAROCKTAGE (on 18 November), the world premiere of A MONTEVERDI PROJECT will be staged in the Apollosaal. The dance/theatre performance by Israeli stage director and choreographer Saar Magal, based on music by Claudio Monteverdi will have further performances during the festival until 30 November. This production bridges the gap between the BAROCKTAGE and the new LINDEN 21 format, which comprises all productions and projects of the Staatsoper program that seek to find new forms of performance and reception of contemporary musical theatre.
During the BAROCKTAGE, two musical theatre works by Claudio Monteverdi will be restaged: L’INCORONAZIONE DI POPPEA, staged by Eva-Maria Höckmayr and featuring Diego Fasolis as musical director (from 24 November on), and L’ORFEO, under the direction of Sasha Waltz and conducted by Leonardo García Alarcón (starting on 17 November).
The comprehensive concert program of the BAROCKTAGE festival includes performances by orchestras and ensembles such as the Akademie für Alte Musik, Voces Suaves, Les Musiciens du Louvre with Marc Minkowski as the conductor, Les Talens Lyrique conducted by Christophe Rousset, La Capella Reial de Catalunya and Le Concert des Nations conducted by Jordi Savall, and performances by renowned soloists like Dorothee Oberlinger, Dmitry Sinkovsky, Alexandre Tharaud and Ambroisine Bré. In addition to works by Claudio Monteverdi, Jean-Philippe Rameau and their contemporaries, music by Beat Furrer as well as Ludwig van Beethoven and Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy will be heard. Furthermore there will be a children's concert. The venues are the Große Saal, the Apollosaal as well as the Alter Orchesterprobensaal at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden and the Pierre Boulez Saal.
The BAROCKTAGE will commence with a round table in the Apollosaal on 23 November. To accompany the musical program of the BAROCKTAGE, guided tours of the Staatsoper Unter den Linden will be offered every day, with a focus on the history of the house in the 18th century, as well as city walks through the historic centre of Berlin around the opera house, organized and led by the Staatsoper dramaturgs.
We are happy to reserve press tickets for the BAROCKTAGE events, depending to availability. Please contact us at pressoffice@staatsoper-berlin.de