Benjamin Britten: The Rape of Lucretia

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?

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.

Sir John Falstaff is a natural phenomenon: his appearance is imposing, his demeanour commanding, his manner possessive. And most fascinating of all: the event does not care about rules, conventions or decorum, it simply exists for its own sake, in a sense for nothing but its belly.