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2025 offers countless opportunities to look back on the past 80 years. The Second World War ended in Europe on 8 May 1945 with “Liberation Day,” marked by Germany’s unconditional surrender and the final collapse of the Nazi regime. In the months leading up to this, Allied forces had liberated the concentration camps.

In 2024, the Platform on Politics of the Past was established at the Mozarteum University Salzburg. As a public platform, its purpose is to provide a forum for discussing questions and presenting research findings relating to the historical political positioning and decisions of the Mozarteum University. All university members are welcome to become involved and support its work.

Following on from the BioSphere & TechnoSphere 1 conference (Salzburg 2025), the year's conferences aims to place a particular emphasis on issues relating to emotion and the history of emotions. In interdisciplinary research on emotions, emotion and affect are sometimes strictly distinguished conceptually: emotions are understood as cognitive-intentional, communicative, socially shaped and thus historically changeable practices. By contrast, affects are understood as pre-conscious, bodily and instinctive reactions.

Teacher of Acting and Improvisation

Senior Artist in the Artistic Administration Office

Senior Lecturer and Collaborative Pianist

Collaborative Pianist

Collaborative Pianist

Univ.-Prof. of Opera Studies

Univ.-Prof. of Opera Stagecraft

Univ.-Prof. of Opera Studies

Opera Studies … Home Study Departments Opera Studies Archive Archive Production Archive Department of Opera Vid Ožbolt: Agamemnon 29.6.2026 Vid Ožbolt: Agamemnon  Opera production Giacomo Puccini: Suor Angelica & Gianni Schicchi 20.5.2026 Giacomo Puccini: Suor Angelica & Gianni Schicchi  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? Opera production Johann Strauss: Die Fledermaus 19.2.2026 Johann Strauss: Die Fledermaus  Opera production Benjamin Britten: The Rape of Lucretia 2.2.2026 Benjamin Britten: The Rape of Lucretia  "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. Opera production Der Kaiser von Atlantis & L’Hirondelle inattendue 15.12.2025 Der Kaiser von Atlantis & L’Hirondelle inattendue  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. Opera production Medusa Giuditta 23.6.2025 Medusa Giuditta  Caught between Baroque and contemporary music, Kai Röhrig and Florentine Klepper's opera class set out in search of clues with ‘Medusa / Giuditta’, following on from the successful double bill ‘Elissa / Dido & Aeneas’ in 2023. Opera production Wolfgang Amadé Mozart: Don Giovanni 25.5.2025 Wolfgang Amadé Mozart: Don Giovanni  Mozart's opera Don Giovanni deals with the mythologically charged subject of the womaniser and libertine Don Juan. The focus is on an unscrupulous nobleman who lives excessively, seduces women and even murders – until he is finally brought to account by a higher power. The story is deeply rooted in moral issues and raises questions of guilt, abuse of power and punishment. Opera production Christian Jost: Poet's love 31.1.2025 Christian Jost: Poet's love  Opera production Vincenzo Bellini: I Capuleti e i Montecchi 15.12.2024 Vincenzo Bellini: I Capuleti e i Montecchi  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. Opera production Wolfgang Amadé Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro 26.6.2024 Wolfgang Amadé Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro  As a play, La Folle journée by the scandalous author Pierre Auguste Caron de Beaumarchais was banned in Vienna. However, Mozart and Da Ponte were able to suggest to Emperor Joseph II that the genre of opera would defuse the revolutionarily objectionable text and were thus commissioned to compose and write the libretto. The question of whether they did not in fact intensify the play in other ways is one that is posed anew in every production. With Le nozze di Figaro, Gernot Sahler and Alexander von Pfeil's opera class continued their Da Ponte cycle, which began with Così fan tutte in May 2023. Opera production Giuseppe Verdi: Falstaff 20.5.2024 Giuseppe Verdi: Falstaff  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. Opera production Elegy for young lovers 31.1.2024 Elegy for young lovers  "What qualities must a person possess in order to dominate both dramaturgically and vocally in an opera?" and "What must a man of mature age look like who is in close relationships with a crazy old lady, a young girl and a doctor at the same time?" Opera production Hansel and Gretel 15.12.2023 Hansel and Gretel  With her production, Rosamund Gilmore embarked on a journey into the subconscious and combined the deep psychological layers of the fairy tale with the film-visualized works of Claudia Lehmann's students. Opera production Elissa / Dido & Aeneas 30.6.2023 Elissa / Dido & Aeneas  More than 330 years after the premiere of the only complete opera by Henry Purcell, the French composer Henry Fourès composes a setting for Dido and Aeneas and calls it "Elissa". A second name for the queen that allows the character to exist on its own, without direct ties to Aeneas. Opera production Wolfgang Amadé Mozart: Così fan tutte 21.5.2023 Wolfgang Amadé Mozart: Così fan tutte  The young officers Ferrando and Guilelmo* do not want to let their fatherly friend Don Alfonso get away with it - after all, he doubts the fidelity of their fiancée! But instead of the demanded duel, they accept his proposal of a wager and thus become handmaidens in the work of destroying their love relationships. Opera production Benjamin Britten: The Turn of the Screw 27.1.2023 Benjamin Britten: The Turn of the Screw  Opera production Benjamin Britten: Albert Herring 7.12.2022 Benjamin Britten: Albert Herring  After A Midsummer Night's Dream and Owen Wingrave, the Department of Opera & Music Theater at the Mozarteum University will once again devote itself to Benjamin Britten's abysmal music-theatrical oeuvre. This winter semester, two of his masterpieces will be performed: Albert Herring in December 2022 will be followed by The Turn of the Screw in January 2023. Opera production Claudio Monteverdi: L'incoronazione di Poppea 2.7.2022 Claudio Monteverdi: L'incoronazione di Poppea  Opera production Ermanno Wolf-Ferarri: Il campiello 15.5.2022 Ermanno Wolf-Ferarri: Il campiello  Opera production Charles Gounod: Faust 28.1.2022 Charles Gounod: Faust  Opera production Wolfgang Amadé Mozart: The Magic Flute 23.6.2021 Wolfgang Amadé Mozart: The Magic Flute  Opera production Wolfgang Amadé Mozart: La clemenza di Tito 29.1.2021 Wolfgang Amadé Mozart: La clemenza di Tito  Opera production Franz Schubert: Winter Journey 28.1.2021 Franz Schubert: Winter Journey  Opera production Tan Dun: Tea - A Mirror of Soul 19.12.2020 Tan Dun: Tea - A Mirror of Soul  Opera production Benjamin Britten: Owen Wingrave 20.1.2020 Benjamin Britten: Owen Wingrave  Opera production Joseph Haydn: Il mondo della luna 21.6.2019 Joseph Haydn: Il mondo della luna  Opera production Jacques Offenbach: Les contes d'Hoffmann 10.5.2019 Jacques Offenbach: Les contes d'Hoffmann  Opera production Georg Philipp Telemann: Don Quixote at the wedding of Comacho 19.1.2019 Georg Philipp Telemann: Don Quixote at the wedding of Comacho  Opera production Philippe Boesmans: Round dance 5.12.2018 Philippe Boesmans: Round dance  Opera production Benjamin Britten: A Midsummer Night's Dream 21.6.2018 Benjamin Britten: A Midsummer Night's Dream  Opera production Wolfgang Amadé Mozart: La finta semplice 2.5.2018 Wolfgang Amadé Mozart: La finta semplice  Opera production George Frideric Handel: Alcina 5.12.2017 George Frideric Handel: Alcina  Opera production

Mozart's „Le nozze di Figaro“ will celebrate its premiere on 18 June in the Max Schlereth Saal at Mozarteum University. The director of the production, Alexander von Pfeil, and set designer Thorben Schumüller talk about the creation process, inspirations and the opera's major themes: hierarchies, power relations, gender roles...

Vincenzo Bellini's highly romantic bel canto opera I Capuleti e i Montecchi celebrates its premiere in the Max Schlereth Saal on 10 December under the direction of Alexander von Pfeil and musical direction of Gernot Sahler. A conversation with maestro Gernot Sahler about Bellini's inventiveness and the challenge of dealing with special stage situations.

Julia Maria Eckes, Anastasia Fedorenko and Anna-Maria Husca are about to complete their Master's degree in Opera & Music Theatre at the Mozarteum University. In this interview, they give us an insight into their everyday life as students and let us in on the rehearsal process for the opera ‘Medusa / Giuditta’.

Florentine Klepper and Kai Röhrig discuss their upcoming production of the two one-act operas Der Kaiser von Atlantis and L'Hirondelle inattendue, which will premiere on 6 December in the Max Schlereth Saal.