Munich has nine new operas, none startling
NewsBavarian State Opera today rolled out its 2024-25 season:
DAS RHEINGOLD
With Das Rheingold, Tobias Kratzer is beginning his new staging of Richard Wagner’s masterpiece Der Ring des Nibelungen, with its four evenings premiering over three seasons. General Music Director Vladimir Jurowski will be the musical director.
LA FILLE DU RÉGIMENT
Gaetano Donizetti’s La Fille du régiment follows shortly before Christmas. Damiano Michieletto is once again directing at the Bayerische Staatsoper. Stefano Montanari will be conducting.
DIE LIEBE DER DANAE
Director Claus Guth returns to the Bayerische Staatsoper for the fourth time to stage a work by Richard Strauss: Die Liebe der Danae. Sebastian Weigle will conduct the Bayerisches Staatsorchester.
KÁŤA KABANOVÁ
With Kát’a Kabanová, Krzysztof Warlikowski is staging his ninth opera at the Bayerische Staatsoper. After The Cunning Little Vixen, conductor Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla is working on another Czech opera from Leoš Janáček.
CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA / PAGLIACCI
With Cavalleria rusticana by Pietro Mascagni and Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo, director Francesco Micheli combines the two operas, which are often performed together. This is his first production at the Bayerische Staatsoper. The musical direction is in the hands of Daniele Rustioni.
DON GIOVANNI
Don Giovanni by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart completes the new Da Ponte cycle as a new production of the Munich Opera Festival 2025. FAUST award winner David Hermann is staging the production for the first time at the Bayerische Staatsoper. General Music Director Vladimir Jurowski conducts.
PÉNÉLOPE
Gabriel Fauré’s Pénélope will have its premiere for the first time at the Prinzregententheater at the end of the season. Andrea Breth directs for the first time in Munich, Susanna Mälkki makes her debut conducting the Bayerisches Staatsorchester.
I’ll be making the trip to see Danae (even though Guth’s ideas are running thin and Weigle is just a competent organizer) and Pénélope.
Penelope and Die Liebe der Danae are true rarieties. A reason to schedule a Festspiele-visit next summer!
Why is everybody doing Rheingold?
The list contains only names of conductors and directors. Call me old fashioned (although I’m not that old), I thought opera ought to be about SINGING ???
If Lise Davidsen is in any of the shows then I am interested!
Because they will be doing a new Ring, and the guy who wrote it put Rheingold first.
So “Penelope” will be premiered for the first time. Someone obviously needs to look up “premiered” in a dictionary. Oops.
The word “Premiere” as used in German means “new production” or “opening” depending on context. Classic mistranslation of a false friend.
The German for “première” is Uraufführung.
I don’t see any “new” operas in that list. Am I missing something?
I was confused by this entire item too. For one thing it lists eight operas, not nine. Are they new to Bavarian State Opera, new productions, what? And although there are some crowd-pleasing familiars, how often do we get a chance at Danae, Penelope or even Katya Kavanova? Not sure exactly what the beef is in this item. But it is very privileged beefing — I can’t remember when I was last within striking range of a Fille du Régiment.
Very sensible choices but note how it is first and foremost about the stage directors. When I lived in Munich I always got a “Partiturplatz” — cheap, you can sit, and you cannot see the stage at all. I spent many happy hours there, for example savouring Kurt Moll’s voice in Parsifal and wondering why everyone was booing.