03 - 05 July 2015 | Premiere trip to the Scala Milano: Jürgen Flimm staging »Otello«
At the Scala Milano, our Artistic Director Jürgen Flimm staged the rarely shown opera by Rossini. The stage design was based on an idea by Anselm Kiefer, the famous German painter and sculptor. We travelled to this special event with our members and got to see a cast with great stars such as Olga Peretyatko, Juan Diego Flórez and Gregory Kunde in the Teatro alla Scala. On the evening before the premiere, Mr. Flimm personally revealed us some things about his staging and his work at one of the most famous opera houses worldwide during a dinner. As a very special highlight, we could attend the premiere party on stage and thus got close to the action with the artists of the evening!
29 June 2015 | Lied and aria recital by the International Opera Studio
On 29 June 2015, the current fellowship holders of the Staatsoper’s International Opera Studio said goodbye with a fulminant final concert. At the Staatsoper im Schiller Theater, the young singers of the Opera Studio – supported by the »Liz Mohn Kultur- und Musikstiftung« – gained important experiences for their future career for an exciting period of two years. Sónia Grané (soprano), Annika Schlicht (mezzo-soprano), Stephen Chambers (tenor), Jonathan Winell (tenor), Maximilian Krummen (baritone) and Grigory Shkarupa (bass) showed once more their fantastic skills with a Lied and aria recital with works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Gaetano Donizetti, Richard Strauss, Robert Schumann and Charles Gounod. At the subsequent reception, our donors, patrons and master builders celebrated together with Liz Mohn’s guests of honor and watched how the young singers received their certificates.
28 May 2015 | Visit of Alexander Polzin's Studio
In May, we had the wonderful opportunity to invite our Patrons and Donors to an exclusive visit of the studio of a very special artist: Alexander Polzin not only creates superb sculptures and paintings – for example his Giordano Bruno monument at the Potsdamer Platz – but has also been working as stage designer for more than ten years. He has worked with important contemporary composers such as Helmut Lachenmann and György Kurtág and has created stage designs for the Teatro Real in Madrid, the Salzburg Easter Festival, the Grand Théâtre de Génève or the Tiroler Festspiele in Erl, where he was also stage director. At the Staatsoper he created the scene for »Philemon & Baucis« staged by Immo Karaman – this production was financially supported by the Friends and Supporters.
Alexander Polzin, who is being represented by the Galerie Kornfeld in the Fasanenstraße, welcomed us in his studio and gave us many inspiring insights into his multifaceted work and the process of creation. Afterwards, we had the opportunity to talk about what we’d just seen at a little reception.
Photo:
Alexander Polzin
Sisyphus (Mortier Award), Silver Edition, 2014
Silvered Bronze, Ed.: 22
8 x 10,5 x 7 cm
27 April 2015 | Presentation of the new season by Artistic Director Jürgen Flimm
Every year it is a very special moment when, full of excitement and anticipation, we turn for the first time the pages of the Staatsoper’s season preview fresh from the press. On 27 April, Jürgen Flimm personally presented the premieres, the opera stars and concert highlights of the upcoming season to the Friends and Sponsors. With a glass of wine at the invitation of the Südliche Weinstraße, our members could get started planning their Staatsoper season 2015/16 and to look forward to your opera and concert visits together with other Friends.
21 - 24 April 2015 | The Staatskapelle Berlin and Daniel Barenboim in the new Philharmonie de Paris
The French capital got a spectacular new Philharmonie at the beginning of 2015 and started the first season with a stunning concert program. The famous architect Jean Nouvel and acoustic legend Yasuhisa Toyota have designed an impressing building. Together with an opera visit in the Palais Garnier where Jules Massenet’s »Le Cid« with Roberto Alagna and Anna Caterina Antonacci was shown, the Friends and Sponsors discovered a musical Paris in spring, for example during a guided tour through the Opera Bastille. Furthermore, we visited the building of the sensational, recently opened Fondation Louis Vuitton, designed by architect Frank Gehry.
2 April 2015 | Reception after »Tannhäuser« with Friends and artists
Last year, »Tannhäuser« staged by Sasha Waltz was premiered. On the occasion of this wonderful revival, we got together in the Gläsernes Foyer of the Schiller Theater after the performance to drink to the FESTTAGE 2015 together with the artists. Artistic Director Jürgen Flimm thanked the members of the Friends and Sponsors for their commitment and welcomed with us many artists of the evening: Sasha Waltz, Peter Seiffert (Tannhäuser), Marina Prudenskaya (Venus), Christian Gerhaher (Wolfram), Kwangchul Youn (Landgraf), Sónia Grané (Hirt) and members of the Staatsopernchor and the Staatskapelle Berlin. With a glass of wine the guests had the opportunity to get into conversation with the artists, talk with other music lovers and in this great atmosphere let fade away the evening.
PHOTO GALLERY OF THE RECEPTION
02 April 2015 | »ZwischenTöne« with Parsifal-Singer Andreas Schager
As eponymous hero of »Parsifal«, Andreas Schager enchanted audience and press at this year’s premiere of the FESTTAGE. Since his debut in 2009, his career has gone straight upwards; his engagements lead him to many renowned opera houses. At the Staatsoper im Schiller Theater, Andreas Schager already caused a sensation in 2013, when he stepped in as the eponymous hero of »Siegfried« ten minutes before the performance began and thrilled the audience.
We welcomed the exceptional singer for a talk and got to know many fascinating facts about his view on the new production of »Parsifal« and about his career as a singer. The Hotel am Steinplatz offered us the perfect place to get to talk with the artist in a private and exclusive atmosphere and with a glass of champagne and some fine food.
24 February 2015 | Guided tour of the Staatsoper’s workshops
The Friends and Sponsors finance the scenery for the new production of »Parsifal« during the FESTTAGE 2015 – during a guided tour of the workshops of the Stiftung Oper in Berlin, we could get a first glance on what will await us behind the red curtain at the premiere.
On an area of 25.000 m2, around 200 craftsmen work in the workshops to constantly create and re-create the world on stage. The Bühnenservice Berlin, to which the workshops belong, is the biggest service provider for theatre in Germany. We got to know the place where sceneries and costumes are made which we can afterwards see on stage of the Schiller Theater.
21 January 2015 | »Der Freischütz«: ZwischenTöne featuring Sebastian Weigle and Burkhard Fritz
After the performance of »Der Freischütz« on 21 January 2015, a round of talk with artists took place in the Glassy Foyer of the Schiller Theater as part of our event series ZwischenTöne. Guests were Sebastian Weigle, conductor of the new production at the Staatsoper staged by Michael Thalheimer, and Burkhard Fritz, singer of »Max«. The Greatgreatgreatgrandson of the opera composer, Christian Freiherr von Weber, unfortunately had to cancel due to illness. Holger Röder, member of the board of curators of the Friends and Supporters, presented the talk. Lively and entertaining, Sebastian Weigle and Burkhard Fritz explained the backgrounds and peculiarities of the staging from their view as conductor and singer as well as the specialties of the »Freischütz« often labeled as »German national opera«.
22 November 2014 | Achim Freyer’s »Kunsthaus«
Achim Freyer, who celebrated his 80th birthday in the spring of 2014 and whose wonderful stage design has been shown for over 45 years in Rossini’s »Il barbiere di Siviglia« at the Staatsoper, is not just a stage director, stage designer and theatre artist, but also a painter and arts collector. His home, a heritage-protected villa from the 19th century in Berlin-Lichterfelde, is also exhibition space, gallery and atelier. Densely from the bottom to the top of the house, around 2.000 international works mainly of the 20th and 21st century are collected here. Paintings by Neo Rauch, Joseph Beuys, Sigmar Polke, Salvador Dalí, Hans Arp, Max Klinger or Henri Matisse can be discovered, but also works by unknown artists and amateurs, which are uniquely put together by Freyer. Together with Achim Freyer, we could discover this extensive exhibition of paintings, graphics and sculptures and talk with him about his oeuvre.
24 - 26 October 2014 | International Opera Weekend by the Young Friends
From 24 to 26 October 2014, the Young Friends of the Staatsoper held the 9th International Opera Weekend in Berlin. Puccini, Wagner and Mozart – this year, three of the greatest opera composers of all time and three of the most admired operas ever were on the program of the Young friends and their visitors, who came to Berlin from Italy, Norway, France, the Netherlands and other countries. Thus, 50 young opera friends watched »Tosca« and »Tristan und Isolde« at the Staatsoper im Schiller Theater as well as »Die Zauberflöte« at the Komische Oper together. Furthermore, a guided tour through the construction site of the opera house Unter den Linden and a reception at the Schiller Theater were waiting for them.
16 October 2014 | Welcome evening: Friends meet friends at »Tosca«
With a joint visit of the new production of »Tosca« with Daniel Barenboim at the conductor’s desk, we welcomed our new members in the association. At an exclusive reception during the intermission, they were able get to know other opera lovers and talk about the Staatsoper. Afterwards, we discover the Schiller Theater behind the scenes during a guided tour.
Thanks to the financial commitment of our members, the production of »Tosca« is supported by our association with 100.000,- €.
On 5 October 2014, artists of the Staatsoper filled the Dussmann KulturKaufhaus
with music during the 8th Sunday shopping to the benefit of the Staatsoper. Once again, the Dussmann KulturKaufhaus donated all revenues of the day to our association to the benefit of the refurbishment of the opera house Unter den Linden. With the aid of this donation, our association will enable in a public-private-partnership the installation of a multilingual subtitling in the Staatsoper Unter den Linden.
Jonathan Winell (tenor) and Maximilian Krummen (baritone) of the Staatsoper’s international Opernstudio opened the musical part with songs and arias by Richard Strauss, Hugo Wolf and Gaetano Donizetti; they were accompanied on the piano by Andrei Diakov. Concertmeister Lothar Strauß of the Staatskapelle Berlin and Victoria Margasyuk of the Orchesterakademie played violin duos by Béla Bartók as well as together with pianist Günther Albers a wonderful double concerto for two violins by Johann Sebastian Bach. Afterwards, Günther Albers and solo flutist Claudia Stein of the Staatskapelle Berlin presented music for flute and piano by Francis Poulenc, Egon Kornauth and Charles Marie Widor. The great ensemble singers Carola Höhn (soprano) and Arttu Kataja (baritone) accomplished this musical afternoon with songs by Ludwig van Beethoven and Jean Sibelius as well as a duet from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s »Don Giovanni«. They were accompanied on the piano by Gary Gromis.
We cordially thank the Dussmann KulturKaufhaus for this extraordinary commitment as well as all the artists who made such a special event possible. We would also like to thank all visitors and shoppers.
26 September 2014 | Vernissage »Behind the mask« with portraits of Staatsoper’s artists
During performances like »Don Carlos«, »Die Zauberflöte«, »Il trovatore« and many other productions at the Staatsoper im Schiller Theater, photographer Paul Green has been shooting backstage portraits of the artists. The impressive portrait series »Behind the Mask« shows artists such as Marina Prudenskaya, René Pape, Anna Prohaska and Gyula Orendt. Now Paul Green for the first time presented a range of these works at the »Rainmaking Loft« in Berlin Mitte; the aim of it was to raise money for the Junge Staatsoper. Our members were invited to the opening of the exhibition as well as an exclusive guided tour where Paul Green presented us his works. They show singers and performers in close shots, after they have turned into the character on stage. Thus the second glance at the person behind the mask was very fascinating. At the vernissage we could afterwards enjoy a performance by the great mezzo-soprano Marina Prudenskaya.
21 September 2014 | Staatsoper for cinema pricing: »Candide« for everyone under 35
In the evening of the Staatsoper’s season opening festivity, about 300 young visitors under 35 could watch Leonard Bernstein’s opera »Candide« back on stage of the Schiller Theater. With the project »Staatsoper for cinema pricing«, our association gave them the wonderful chance to see this opera for just 8,- euros.
With a glass of wine at the invitation of the Südliche Weinstraße the participants opened the evening in the Glass Foyer of the Schiller Theater. Afterwards they enjoyed Berstein’s opalescent »Comic Operetta in Two Acts« after Voltaire’s philosophic-satiric novel »Candide«. A great ensemble of singers around Leonardo Capalbo as the eponymous hero, the charming and humorous staging by Vincent Boussard and opulent rococo costumes by designer Christian Lacroix ensured a wonderful evening.