Acting
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.
“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.
An opera in a prologue and two acts by John Adams, with a libretto by Alice Goodman, inspired by the 1985 hijacking of the cruise ship Achille Lauro. Conducted by Lawrence Renes, directed and designed by Luca Guadagnino. A new production by the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.
Before the opera begins, King Bertarido has been defeated in battle by Grimoaldo, who has usurped his throne. Bertarido has been able to escape and has allowed rumours of his death to circulate in the hopes of rescuing his wife Rodelinda, their young son Flavio and his sister Eduige, who he had to leave behind. Returning in secret he discovers that Grimoaldo, despite being pledged to marry Eduige, is pursuing Rodelinda relentlessly, determined to force her into marriage if she refuses to willingly love him. Handel wrote some of his most beautiful and characterful music for Rodelinda. Hatred and despair, thwarted love and resentment, and a fierce desire for revenge all combine to make a narrative of extraordinary power and potency. For Garsington Opera’s 2025 production, director Ruth Knight collaborated with designer Leslie Travers for this Handel masterpiece which was conducted by baroque specialist Peter Whelan.
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.
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.
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.
