THE PREMIERE PRODUCTIONS

• Piotr I. Čajkovskij

25 October 2020

Musical Direction Tomáš Hanus

Production Dmitri Tcherniakov

Tatjana Tamuna Gochashvili

Eugen Onegin Andrè Schuen

Lenski Bogdan Volkov

Prince Gremin Dimitry Ivashchenko

The production of director and set designer Dmitri Tcherniakov, which was released in 2006 at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, has travelled the world and remains one of his most important productions to this day. Tcherniakov created a hermetic classicistic dining room, in which a timeless inside event takes place. The central design element is a long table, which is used as a place for shared festive enjoyment of life, making the inescapable alienation of the characters that much more tangible. Almost all solo roles – each character is embodied by a generation of young singers – are premiering at Vienna State Opera, led by new ensemble member Tamuna Gochashvili who plays Tatjana and Andrè Schuen who plays Onegin. The conductor of this new production is Tomáš Hanus, who will conduct this piece of musical theatre here for the first time.

DAS VERRATENE MEER

• Hans Werner Henze

13 December 2020

Musical Direction Simone Young

Production Jossi Wieler & Sergio Morabito

Fusako Kuroda Vera-Lotte Boecker

Noboru Josh Lovell

Ryuji Tsukazaki Bo Skovus

Henze found inspiration for his storyline in the work of the enfant terrible of post-war Japanese literature, Yukio Mishima, whose novel »Gogo no Eiko« (published in English under the title »The Sailor Who Fell from Grace With the Sea«). Hans Werner Henze lets the subtle horror of the original become sound – both disturbing and seductive simultaneously. The Vienna State Opera is putting forward a magnificent cast of singers, including soprano Vera-Lotte Boecker as Fusako, who is new to the ensemble, Josh Lovell as Nob-oru, who has been a staple since the 2019 / 20 season, or Bo Skovhus with his debut in the role as Ryuji. Conceived for a large orchestra, the score is conducted by Simone Young, who knows how to get the audience excited for classical modernism like no other. The directing duo Jossi Wieler and Sergio Morabito (the latter will also be chief dramaturge at the Wiener Staatsoper starting next season) will be making its directing debut at the Vienna State Opera. Together with Anna Viebrock, who is at the helm of scenery and costume design, they have already produced over 20 operas worldwide.

CARMEN

• Georges Bizet

6 February 2021

Musical Direction Andrés Orozco-Estrada

Production Calixto Bieito

Carmen Anita Rachvelishvili

Don José Charles Castronovo

Escamillo Erwin Schrott / Sergey Kaydalov

Micaëla Olga Kulchynska

After Calixto Bieito had become famous as a theatre director, »Carmen« was his first major opera production in 1999 as part of the music festival Castell de Peralada. Since then, the production has travelled the world. With Bieito having revised and refined this legendary staging several times, he is now set to stage it in Vienna himself. For him, Carmen is neither the male fantasy of a femme fatale nor an emancipation symbol, but a character with individuality. Bieito shows the world of soldiers, workers and crooks in a Spanish border area free of »gypsy« kitsch, clichéd images and social romanticism; even flamenco is only quoted ironically among Carmen’s friends. Incidentally, this production is also the director’s declaration of love to the people of his home country. Anita Rachvelishvili, worldwide celebrated for her performances as Carmen will embody the protagonist for the first time at the Vienna State Opera. Other important role debuts include Olga Kulchynska and ensemble member Vera-Lotte Boecker in the second series as Micaëla. At home in Vienna, but at the Vienna State Opera for the first time, is conductor Andrés Orozco-Estrada.

LA TRAVIATA

• Giuseppe Verdi 4 March 2021

Musical Direction Giacomo Sagripanti

Production Simon Stone

Violetta Valéry Pretty Yende

Alfredo Germont Frédéric Antoun

Giorgio Germont Igor Golovatenko

Celebrated for his consistent updates of classical material, Simon Stone, an author, theatre, film, television and opera director, stages Violetta Valéry in his »Traviata« as a terminally ill influencer who remains trapped in her »Instagram world« even when she and her lover retire to the country. Everything private is public in her case, but the public urban space becomes her only retreat during her moments of weakness. At the Vienna State Opera, Violetta is played by soprano Pretty Yende for the first time, with Frédéric Antoun as Afredo at her side. Giacomo Sagripanti, winner of the International Opera Award as »Young Conductor of the Year«, will conduct. It is his first premiere at Vienna State Opera.

PARSIFAL

• Richard Wagner 1 April 2021

Musical Direction Philippe Jordan

Production Kirill Serebrennikov

Amfortas Ludovic Tézier

Gurnemanz Georg Zeppenfeld

Parsifal Jonas Kaufmann

Klingsor Wolfgang Koch

Kundry Elīna Garanča

This production is promising to be the next big thing for several reasons: As a theatre, opera, film and ballet director as well as a set and costume designer, Kirill Serebrennikov has left his mark on an entire generation of young theatremakers and audiences in Russia. His works are deep, intelligent and intense, both sensually and physically, and are regularly shown at international theatre festivals. A widely interna-tionally criticised three-year long case brought against him by the Russian prosecution and threatening his existence only caused Serebrennikov to become more creative and, despite a ban on leaving the country, put together breathtaking productions. A heartfelt thank you goes out to all those involved for their willingness to participate despite the uncertainty revolving around the director’s fate, above all to Music Director Philippe Jordan, who will conduct Wagner’s seminal late work for the first time in Vienna, and Jonas Kaufmann, whose interpretation of Parsifal is setting new standards. In almost all of the other roles, the audience will be able to witness the debuts of important guests in Vienna: Ludovic Tézier as Amfortas, Georg Zeppenfeld as Gurnemanz, Wolfgang Koch as Klingsor as well as former ensemble member and today’s world star Elīna Garanča as Kundry.

FAUST

• Charles Gounod

23 April 2021

Musical Direction Bertrand de Billy

Production Frank Castorf

Faust Juan Diego Flórez

Marguerite Nicole Car

Méphistophélès Adam Palka

Valentin Boris Prýgl

Master of scenic complexity, Frank Castorf, is devoting himself to an opera which, while beautiful, is also considered a bit unsophisticated, thereby igniting a firework of associations that is as sensual as it is intel-lectual. Teaming up with set designer Aleksandar Denić and costume designer Adriana Braga Peretzki, the director shows how much politics and contemporary history is hidden underneath the surface of Gounod’s breathless waltzes and pleasant melodies: France’s early colonialism and its impact felt to date paired with democratic illusions and capitalist hedonism come together in Paris, which is scrutinized as a hub for pan-European developments. In this performance, which is incidentally a secret declaration of love for the capital of France, Juan Diego Flórez will make his debut as Faust. Alongside him, several young generation singers will star in their first State Opera productions: Nicole Car as Marguerite, Adam Palka as Méphisto­ phélès and Boris Prýgl as Valentin. Bertrand de Billy will take over the musical direction and will return to the Vienna State Opera not only for this premiere.

L’INCORONAZIONE DI POPPEA

• Claudio Monteverdi

22 May 2021

Musical Direction Pablo Heras-Casado

Production Jan Lauwers

Nerone Kate Lindsey

Poppea Slávka Zámečníková

Ottone Xavier Sabata

Ottavia Christina Bock

Seneca Willard White

Only once before has an opera by Monteverdi been included in the repertoire of the Vienna State Opera: Under Herbert von Karajan and in a production by Günther Rennert, »L’incoronazione di Poppea« celebrated its premiere on 1 April 1963 in a »free new version«. Much has changed since then in historically informed performance practice – not least on account of the pioneering work of Nikolaus Harnoncourt and his Con-centus Musicus Vienna. 68 years after its inauguration, the ensemble, under the direction of Pablo Heras-Casado, is now making its debut at the Vienna State Opera. The director is none other than Jan Lauwers, who was awarded the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale in 2014. With his Brussels-based Needcompany, he has created a theatre over the course of 35 years in which music, drama, dance and visual arts are constantly seen as an inspiration. His humorous and sceptical style now meets the great human draughtsman that is Monteverdi in a direction in which all participants meet on one level: »In our version of ›L’incoronazione di Poppea‹, every singer, musician and dancer is an independent force – and everyone wants to survive as one«, says Jan Lauwers of his concept.

MACBETH

• Giuseppe Verdi

10 June 2021

Musical Direction Philippe Jordan

Production Barrie Kosky

Macbeth Luca Salsi

Banquo Roberto Tagliavini

Lady Macbeth Anna Netrebko / Martina Serafin

The production by Australian director Barrie Kosky concentrates entirely on the couple Macbeth, who are as familiar with each other as they are at odds with each other. The large cast of the opera turns into a night-marish chamber play in which it remains unclear to the end what is real and what is a hallucination. It is a borderline experience, befitting of Verdi’s radical psychograms. The Music Director of the Vienna State Opera, Philippe Jordan, will conduct the music to this extreme storyline. For the role of Lady Macbeth, Verdi made seemingly paradoxical demands, with the courage to be abominable on the one hand and a highly virtuoso coloratura requiring a perfect bel canto technique on the other. Lady Macbeth is to stretch her last phrase with only a »fil di voce,« i. e. with a touch (literally: a thread) of voice. The role seems to have been made for Anna Netrebko, who will star as the abysmal figure for the first time at the Wiener Staatsoper.