Marvic Monreal

“Eugene Onegin tells a love story that doesn’t work”. This is how Ralph Fiennes sums up the plot of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s opera, inspired by Pushkin’s work. A jaded young dandy, Onegin sets shy Tatiana on fire at first sight. Overcoming her reticence, she writes him a passionate love letter. Alas, he brutally refuses, giving her a lecture on morality. However, years later, after a duel, he falls in love with the young woman who is now Prince Gremin’s wife. Will she yield to his advances? Fascinated by Russian culture and attuned to the dramatic intensity of Tchaikovsky’s music, Ralph Fiennes is directing his first opera. If he chooses to use pictorial simplicity to evoke the Russian countryside or a ballroom, it is all the better to emphasise the emotions of the characters, as complex as they are modern.

When a precious hoard of gold is stolen from the river Rhine, it unleashes a chain of destructive events, pitting gods and mortals against one another for generations. Wagner’s Ring cycle boasts some of the greatest music ever written for the opera stage. Join us as we embark on a spectacular journey into the world of myth, dream and memory, with the figure of Erda – Mother Earth herself – at its centre.

Gathered at the foot of the rock where Siegfried and Brünnhilde have come together, three Norns weave the fate of the world. Past, present and future are interwoven in their rope; when it breaks unexpectedly, the fates still have one oracle: the twilight of the gods is imminent! Götterdämmerung has more than one ending: Siegfried falls victim to intrigue and to his own innocence, Valhalla goes up in flames, Brünnhilde sacrifices herself to return the ring to the Rhinemaidens. Alliances are forged and immediately broken again, magical potions and helmets create painful confusions, and generational traumas result in general destruction. Everything familiar to humans and gods collapses.

In the spring of 2024, the Berliner Philharmoniker, under the direction of their chief conductor Kirill Petrenko, presented a staged production of Richard Strauss’s thrilling and dark opera Elektra – the highlight of the Baden-Baden Easter Festival. The title role was sung by the acclaimed soprano Nina Stemme. Philipp Stölzl, who has caused a sensation with his spectacular productions on the lake stage at the Bregenz Festival, was the director and set designer.

Richard Strauss' Salome opens the 87th Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Festival. Alexander Soddy conducts; Emma Dante directs the new production. Lidia Fridman is Salome, Anna Maria Chiuri is Herodias, and Nikolai Schukoff plays Herod.