Charles Gounod: Faust

Two one-act operas by Giacomo Puccini, based on libretti by Giovacchino Forzano – one tragic, the other comic – hold up a mirror to society through the lens of art. Together, they offer a multifaceted exploration of the interplay between social structures and individual choices. In their production of Puccini’s Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi, both premiered in New York in 1918, Florentine Klepper and Kai Röhrig’s opera class invited the audience to engage in a thought experiment: How does a society react when its values, norms, and boundaries are put to the test?

"Go back, Tarquinius!" – comes the warning from the opera's narrator to the son of the Etruscan king. But the tragedy is already unfolding at pace: Tarquinius falls upon Lucretia, the wife of his comrade Collatinus, and rapes her, in spite of her fierce reistance. The next day, Lucretia takes her own life in public. Benjamin Britten's dark chamber opera, premiered in 1946 at Glyndebourne, resounds with the traumatic experiences of fascism and war.

Through purgatory to paradise – two voices of resistance. Two works – two perspectives on the unimaginable. Even 80 years after the end of the war, they raise big questions about the value of life, the power of art and human resilience. An evening full of intensity, musical beauty and profound humanity.

The performance of Vincenzo Bellini's opera I Capuleti e i Montecchi delivered a powerful reinterpretation of the masterpiece. Directed by Alexander von Pfeil, the production centred on the relentless feud between two rival clans and the profound despair of its victims. This staging transcended specific eras, placing the story in a universal, timeless setting that brought Bellini's dark vision of love and war to the stage with harrowing clarity.