With its emotionally charged and gripping music, “Der Freischütz” was soon to become the epitome of German romantic opera. More than 200 years after its premiere, “Der Freischütz” will be performed on the Lake Constance stage for the first time in the Festival’s history this year. The romantic opera classic is staged by Philipp Stölzl, who this year transforms the lake stage into a spooky winter wonderland in his dual role as director and set designer.

Fresh from the Salzburg Festival, 3sat shows the new production of Giuseppe Verdi’s “Falstaff”. Gerald Finley sings the title role, with Ingo Metzmacher conducting the Vienna Philharmonic.

This is the seventh collaboration between director Christoph Marthaler and set and costume designer Anna Viebrock at the Salzburg Festival. International ensembles take the stage in the Großes Festspielhaus.

Juliet kisses the lifeless Romeo one last time, then stabs herself – this is how this love story ends in Shakespeare. The French composer Charles Gounod closes his opera “Roméo et Juliette” with a great lyrical duet. With Julie Fuchs and Benjamin Bernheim, the new Zurich production presents a vocal and acting dream team.

The performance Universe, Incomplete of the Ruhrtriennale 2018 in the Jahrhunderthalle Bochum dealt with the torso of the Universe Symphony by Charles Ives. Director Christoph Marthaler, conductor Titus Engel, and set designer Anna Viebrock developed their own unique perspective on the American composer’s unfinished project.

The composer Charles Ives had not managed to complete his work Universe. In the event that I do not succeed in completing this work, perhaps someone else will be found who will attempt to elaborate my thoughts. It could be that the sketches I created make much more sense when viewed from the perspective of someone other than myselfIves had noted. Inspired by this seductive formulation, director Christoph Marthaler, conductor Titus Engel and set designer Anna Viebrock developed their own unique perspective on an unfinished project by the American composer. Based on the actually composed parts of the work, they designed for the Ruhrtriennale 2018 in der Jahrhunderthalle Bochum einen szenisch-musikalischen Raum, in dem Instrumentalsolistinnen und -solisten sowie die Bochumer Symphoniker and an ensemble consisting of actors, dancers and singers looked back on today’s life from a distant future on a scenic and a sonic level and fantasized a future from the present. Other compositions by Charles Ives, independent of the Universe Symphony, have thereby occupied the voids of the unfinished universe.

55 years after its premiere, the Stuttgart Ballet revisits John Cranko’s legendary Romeo and Juliet – the very choreography which laid the foundations for the Stuttgart Ballet Miracle, the company’s meteoric rise to fame. In this anniversary performance of the stunning, timeless production, experienced Cranko-performers and highly talented young dancers share the stage to tell the most famous love story of all time.

John Cranko, who led the Stuttgart Ballet from 1961 until his death in 1973, created the choreography of Romeo and Juliet especially for his ensemble. Set to the superb score by Sergei Prokofiev, William Shakespeare’s story about two star-crossed lovers, caught in their families’ feuds, offers dramatic roles for the top-notch soloists: Elisa Badenes shines as youthful, fresh, entirely natural and spontaneous Juliet, while her partner David Moore dances a Romeo who is expressing his love with the greatest sensitivity (Der Neue Merker). With breathtaking pas de deux, fierce swordfights and colourful ensemble scenes, the Stuttgart ensemble brings Renaissance Italy to life on stage. Jürgen Rose’s magnificent sets and costumes conjure up images of the sunlit streets of Verona. This production of Romeo and Juliet is marked by yet another anniversary: Marcia Haydee, John Cranko’s muse and prima ballerina, was the very first, highly acclaimed Juliet. Haydee, who followed Cranko as artistic director of the Stuttgart Ballet, participates in this performance as Julia’s nurse, celebrating her 80th birthday on stage. She is joined by two other stars of the ensemble, Haydee’s former dance partner Egon Madsen as Friar Lawrence and Artistic Director Reid Anderson as Lord Capulet.

If you think you’ve seen Romeo and Juliet, think again. This is a revelation.

The inn run by sisters Traudl, Wilma and Vroni is buzzing, leaving neither time nor attention for the men. New Year’s Eve, of all times, offers a good opportunity for the downtrodden to finally strike back.

The new play was recorded at the Festspielhaus Füssen in February 2016.

Photos: ipmedia/Samer, R. Wilschewski, M. Henne

Gerhard Polt and the Well-Brüder from Biermoos – that’s the promise of Bavarian humour of the biting kind, which doesn’t need a script to express sometimes unpleasant truths. The new revue Ekzem Homo once again deals with the human being. An inexhaustible topic, which nobody analyses as aptly as the primitive Polt and his musical comrades-in-arms.

Theatre is once again directed by the outgoing director of the Kammerspiele Johan Simons.

The human being – a home for parasites: Living and arguing with neighbours – with the help of a wooden Kalashnikov if necessary: Gerhard Polt’s eczema Homo shows the lowlands on the other side of the paling fence and leaves the audience laughing, yodeling and clapping.

With the programme Ekzem Homo Polt, the old master of Bavarian cabaret, has written a new stage programme in which he lets the demograttler Brezner – i.e. the democrat without money – grumble about anything and everything.

Schubert’s stage works unfortunately lead a shadowy existence in comparison to his instrumental works and songs. This recording of the Salzburg Festival shows how completely unjustified this is. Here – for the first time in the history of the festival – Schubert’s last composition for the stage was performed: Fierrabras.

None less than Peter Stein directed this magnificent, one might say opulent production of Fierrabras, which shines with stage stars such as Michael Schade and Dorothea Röschmann as well as with the fantastic Vienna Philharmonic under the baton of Ingo Metzmacher.

This production shoots from a standing start to the top of the Fierrabras-Reference and is therefore an inevitable “must have” for every lover of romantic opera!

Op­era in three acts by Richard Strauss
Lib­retto by Hugo von Hof­mannsth­al

This is Renée Flem­ing and Thomas Hampson’s first time per­form­ing to­geth­er in its en­tirety in Richard Strauss’ Ar­a­bella, a high­light of the 2014 Salzburg East­er Fest­iv­al. The Fest­iv­al per­form­ances of Strauss’ mu­sic cel­eb­rate the 150^th an­niversary of the com­poser’s birth. On top of that, Ar­a­bella was writ­ten for the Staat­skapelle and first per­formed in Dresden – Chris­ti­an Thiele­mann leads the Staat­skapelle Dresden and Florentine Klep­per dir­ects this new pro­duc­tion, which stun­ningly cap­tures Vi­enna’s Golden Age.

Ms. Flem­ing re­ceived rave re­views for her pre­vi­ous por­tray­als of Ar­a­bella, which she sang with the plush sound, sub­lime lyr­i­cism and dra­mat­ic sub­tlety that have en­deared her to op­era lov­ers (New York Times) and her sig­na­ture creamy sop­rano tone (…) fills the soar­ing lyr­ic­al phrases. (Op­era News)