Apollo Salon III to Barocktage 2026
What do love and friendship, power and death have to do with our present day? At the Baroque Days at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Baroque opera music and contemporary poetry enter into a dialogue that is as surprising as it is entertaining. On Sunday 8 November 2026, in the Apollosaal, arias by Barbara Strozzi, Henry Purcell, George Frideric Handel and Claudio Monteverdi will be paired with texts written especially for the occasion by poetry slammers from the Kiezpoeten. Five singers from the International Opera Studio and five professional poets will explore the major themes of Baroque opera, examine them from a modern perspective and open up new ways of looking at timeless human emotions and experiences.
At the heart of the programme are selected arias from the Baroque repertoire, composed by prominent composers, to which the poets respond with texts written especially for the event. In doing so, they take the themes and conflicts of the musical works as a starting point for their own thoughts, observations and incisive reflections. In this way, the emotional worlds of Baroque opera meet the direct language of the poetry slam – an interplay that opens up new ways of approaching the works and brings their themes into the present day.
The cast features sopranos Defne Celik and Etīna Emīlija Saulīte, alongside Hanseong Yun (bass-baritone), Temur Bidzishvili and Martin Iivarinen (bass). They are accompanied by harpsichordist Tim Ribchester and cellist Ángela Lobato del Castillo. The poetic responses are presented by Fee Brembeck, Jesko Habert, Aidin Halimi, Nick Pötter and Lisa Maria Olszakiewiecz.
The audience also has a say: at the end, visitors can vote for their favourites and help decide which combination of aria and poetry slam was particularly compelling. This transforms the encounter between Baroque music and contemporary poetry into a lively contest of perspectives, combining musical and poetic enjoyment with direct audience participation – very much in keeping with the ‘salon’ concept, which the State Opera aims to explore in various ways through its new format in the Apollosaal.
The event is being held in collaboration with the Kiezpoeten.
The Staatsoper Unter den Linden would like to thank the Friends and Patrons of the Staatsoper Unter den Linden, the Board of Trustees of the Staatsoper Unter den Linden and its main partner, BMW, for their support.