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Two premieres in May: „Roméo et Juliette“ und/ and „Candide“ [ From category News ] [ Article date: 2025-04-23 ] [ From city Dresda ] [ Country Germania ]   The Semperoper Dresden is celebrating two new opera productions in May with Charles Gounod`s “Roméo et Juliette” and Leonard Bernstein`s “Candide”. The international cast in these new productions includes Tuuli Takala and Kang Wang as the world-famous lovers and German actor Jan Josef Liefers as the narrator of Loriot`s witty text to “Candide”. Dresden, 23 April 2025. A must for all fans of French opera: Barbara Wysocka`s new production of the romantic opera Roméo et Juliette by Charles Gounod will celebrate its premiere on Saturday, 3 May 2025, at the Semperoper. Based on William Shakespeare`s famous play, this jewel of 19th-century French opera thrilled audiences at the premiere in Paris`s Théâtre Lyrique in 1867 as part of the world fair Exposition Universelle. Roméo et Juliette was performed more than ninety times in that year, including its German premiere in Dresden. After a lengthy break, this passionate work returns to the city in a fresh staging as the seventh new production of the current season. In Roméo et Juliette, Gounod retells Shakespeare`s beloved tragedy in five acts with dramatic intensity and great lyrical beauty. In particular, the love duets and Juliette`s aria Je veux vivre give the work an emotional depth that enthrals opera lovers. At the same time, the composer creates powerful choral tableaux to express the social conflict of forbidden love between members of two feuding families. Making her role debut, the Finnish soprano Tuuli Takala will play Juliette to her Romeo, the Australian-Chinese tenor Kang Wang, who is appearing in Dresden for the first time. On the premiere evening, they will be joined by Georg Zeppenfeld, Brian Michael Moore, Danylo Matviienko, Oleksandr Pushniak and Valerie Eickhoff. The opera will be conducted by a maestro with a great love of French music, namely the music director of the National Theatre in Prague, Robert Jindra, who will also be making his Semperoper debut at the helm of the Staatskapelle Dresden on the opening night. This is Polish director Barbara Wysocka`s first production for the Semperoper. Her interpretation is full of stark contrasts, reflecting the inherent contradictions of a work in which the dark themes of love, violence and death in Shakespeare`s tragedy meet the apparent lightness of Gounod`s music. By focusing on the human emotions, the escalating spiral of violence is made as tangible as possible. Barbara Wysocka locates the action in an abstract, undefined present-day setting delimited by three shifting walls that dominate the stage space. This design, inspired by the abstruse, even menacing architecture of the early 20th century, creates large spaces for choral and mass scenes as well as more intimate spaces for young lovers. On Sunday, 11 May 2025, the premiere curtain will rise yet again, this time on Leonard Bernstein`s musical exploration of the meaning of life, Candide, which premiered on Broadway in 1956 and is being performed at the Semperoper for the first time. Based on Voltaire`s satirical novella Candide, ou l`Optimisme, the comic operetta offers captivating melodies in which opera is fused with jazz combined with razor-sharp lyrics. When the young, naive title character embarks on his search for the “best of all possible worlds”, the journey (told over two acts) is peppered with numerous obstacles and absurd encounters. The acidulous German lyrics, penned by famous humourist Loriot, both a grand master of dry wit and a connoisseur of opera, are here performed by Dresden-born film and TV star Jan Josef Liefers. Candide will be performed at the Semperoper in a concert version conducted by Karen Kamensek. The American maestra, who won a Grammy Award in 2022, will also be making her Semperoper debut on the opening night when she directs the Staatskapelle Dresden. Alongside David Butt Philip in the title role, the international cast features Tichina Vaughn, Erin Morley, Christoph Pohl, Aaron Pegram, Joshua Hopkins, Stephen Chaundy, Vladyslav Buialskyi, Robert Bork, Timothy Oliver and Padraic Rowan. Roméo et Juliette by Charles Gounod Staging by Barbara Wysocka Premiere at 7 pm on Saturday, 3 May 2025, in the Semperoper Additional performances in May, June, October and November 2025 With Tuuli Takala, Michal Doron and Valerie Eickhoff as well as Kang Wang, Georg Zeppenfeld, Danylo Matviienko, Anton Beliaev, Jongwoo Hong, Gerrit Illenberger, Brian Michael Moore, Oleksandr Pushniak, Tilmann Rönnebeck and Meinhardt Möbius Also on stage: the Saxon State Opera Chorus. The Staatskapelle Dresden will be conducted by Robert Jindra. Candide by Leonard Bernstein Concert performance Premiere at 7 pm on Sunday, 11 May 2025, in the Semperoper Additional performances on 15 and 18 May 2025 With Tichina Vaughn, and Erin Morley as well as David Butt Philip, Robert Bork, Vladyslav Buialskyi, Stephen Chaundy, Joshua Hopkins, Aaron Pegram, Christoph Pohl, Timothy Oliver, Padraic Rowan as well as Jan Josef Liefers as the Narrator Also on stage: the Saxon State Opera Chorus. The Staatskapelle Dresden will be conducted by Karen Kamensek. Tickets for Semperoper events can be purchased from the Schinkelwache box office on Theaterplatz (+49 (0) 351 4911 705). Alternatively, book your tickets and reserve seats via our online ticket shop, which offers a 3D-seating plan.

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