Hector Berlioz's 1862 opera, Béatrice et Bénédict, a comedic adaptation of Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing," follows two couples with contrasting views on love. Héro and Claudio yearn for marriage, while Béatrice and Bénédict are avowed singles who delight in trading insults. A matchmaking scheme convinces each that the other is secretly in love, leading to a witty exploration of love, courtship, and a quadruple wedding.
Verdi's four-act opera, Otello, follows Iago's manipulative whisperings of Desdemona's infidelity to Otello. Consumed by doubt and destructive thoughts, Otello's downfall unfolds. This grand intrigue explores a man whose high social standing is unstable, leading to self-destruction.
Elmar Lampson's opera, based on Eduard von Keyserling's text adapted by Julia Spinola, premieres. Set in a Baltic seaside resort before World War I, it critiques utopia and foreshadows 20th-century disasters. Lampson's music complements Keyserling's ironic social analysis. Director Philipp Rosendahl and conductor Yoel Gamzou highlight the story's current relevance.
Third Generation East's experimental music theatre, Opera Otze Axt, is inspired by East punk anti-hero Dieter "Otze" Ehrlich. Exploring destruction as a historical, narrative, and musical motif, the collective challenges systems of power. Supported by NOperas!, a funding initiative by the Fund for Experimental Music Theatre (feXm), in partnership with NRW KULTURsekretariat.
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