Intermezzo

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  Intermezzo – Ein Teaser – Ruth Tromboukis

• Intermezzo – Philipp Jekal als Robert Storch Ruth Tromboukis

• Intermezzo – Ein Teaser – Ruth Tromboukis

• Intermezzo – Philipp Jekal als Robert Storch, Maria Bengtsson als Christine, Anna Schoeck als Anna u. a. Monika Rittershaus

• Intermezzo – Maria Bengtsson als Christine, Thomas Blondelle als Baron Lummer Monika Rittershaus

• Intermezzo – Eine Szenenimpression Monika Rittershaus

• Intermezzo – Philipp Jekal als Robert Storch, Maria Bengtsson als Christine Monika Rittershaus

• Intermezzo – Philipp Jekal als Robert Storch, Maria Bengtsson als Christine u. a. Monika Rittershaus

• Intermezzo – Monika Rittershaus

• Intermezzo – Maria Bengtsson als Christine, Thomas Blondelle als Baron Lummer Monika Rittershaus

• Intermezzo – Monika Rittershaus

• Intermezzo – Maria Bengtsson als Christine, Thomas Blondelle als Baron Lummer Monika Rittershaus

• Intermezzo – Thomas Blondelle als Lummer, Lilt Davtyan als Resi. Monika Rittershaus

• Intermezzo – u. a. Maria Bengtsson als Christine Monika Rittershaus

• Intermezzo – Clemens Bieber als Kapellmeister Stroh, Simon Pauly als Justizrat, Joel Allison als Kommerzienrat, Philipp Jekal als Hofkapellmeister Robert Storch und Tobias Kehrer als Kammersänger Monika Rittershaus

• Intermezzo – Clemens Bieber als Kapellmeister Stroh, Simon Pauly als Justizrat, Joel Allison als Kommerzienrat, Philipp Jekal als Hofkapellmeister Robert Storch Monika Rittershaus

• Intermezzo – Clemens Bieber als Kapellmeister Stroh, Simon Pauly als Justizrat, Joel Allison als Kommerzienrat, Philipp Jekal als Hofkapellmeister Robert Storch und Tobias Kehrer als Kammersänger Monika Rittershaus

• Intermezzo – Maria Bengtsson als Christine, Markus Brück als Notar Monika Rittershaus

• Intermezzo – Maria Bengtsson als Christine, Markus Brück als Notar Monika Rittershaus

• Intermezzo – Maria Bengtsson als Christine, Markus Brück als Notar Monika Rittershaus

• Intermezzo – u. a. Philipp Jekal als Hofkapellmeister Robert Storch, Clemens Bieber als Clemens Bieber Monika Rittershaus

• Intermezzo – Maria Bengtsson als Christine, Anna Schoeck als Anna Monika Rittershaus

• Intermezzo – Philipp Jekal als Robert Storch, Maria Bengtsson als Christine Monika Rittershaus

• Intermezzo – Philipp Jekal als Robert Storch, Maria Bengtsson als Christine Monika Rittershaus

• Aus der Premiere: Intermezzo – Ruth Tromboukis

New opera material for a new time - this was not only sought by the avant-gardists in the 1920s. Old master Richard Strauss went even further and brought not only a story from the modern world, but also, barely veiled, his own married life to the stage ... Conductor: Sir Donald Runnicles; Production: Tobias Kratzer; With Philipp Jekal, Maria Bengtsson, Thomas Blondelle a. o.
About the workAudiences exiting the theatre after the world premiere of Richard Strauss’s eighth opera INTERMEZZO felt wrong-footed and out-of-sorts. Instead of drawing on classical material or mythology, the composer had served up a straight story with him and his wife as characters, showing contempt for the boundary between private life and literary work. What they hadn’t realised was that Strauss had once again demonstrated that he was not only hip to musical-theatre trends but could also make them his own: for INTERMEZZO is Strauss’s response to 1920s audiences’ desire for “modern” opera subjects and can be seen as part of a line of avant-garde works by the likes of Arnold Schönberg (VON HEUTE AUF MORGEN) and Paul Hindemith (NEUES VOM TAGE). Unlike them, however, Strauss remains true to his classical sound and creates another of his famous soprano roles, shimmering with cantilenas, in the form of the main character, Christine, the fictional composer’s wife.

And in the same way that Christine represents Strauss’s real-life wife Pauline, so the successful kapellmeister Robert Storch stands in as Richard Strauss himself. Even the misunderstanding that almost destroys the fictional marriage is based on fact. The old comic device, a seductive letter from a woman of dubious virtue that falls into the wrong hands, leads Christine to believe that her husband is two-timing her. The misapprehension is cleared up and everything ends happily, yet the INTERMEZZO incident is more a way of painting the complex, sensitive picture of a woman who is unfulfilled but also aware that she is defined by her role as the caring spouse of a successful musician.

About the productionINTERMEZZO is the middle element in a Richard Strauss trilogy running at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, in which director Tobias Kratzer shines a spotlight on phases in the trajectory of a relationship. Following on from ARABELLA, which explored the difficulties of courtship, INTERMEZZO studies the “wearisome lowlands”. And as with ARABELLA Kratzer makes out a modernity in the material that transfers well to the 21st century: on the one hand we have a woman looking for meaning beyond that of a wife but unable to make the break from her husband; on the other hand the real-life husband reinforcing his patriarchal role by creating a character based on his wife, thereby immortalising his own view of the relationship. Because Strauss is also creating a monument to his own artistry in the form of complex symphonic interludes – another subject explored by the production.

Artists/Collaborators: Sir Donald Runnicles (Musikalische Leitung), Tobias Kratzer (Inszenierung), Rainer Sellmaier (Bühne, Kostüme), Stefan Woinke (Licht), Jonas Dahl (Video), Janic Bebi (Video), Jörg Königsdorf (Dramaturgie), Philipp Jekal (Hofkapellmeister Robert Storch), Maria Bengtsson (Christine, seine Frau), Elliott Woodruff (Franzl, ihr kleiner Sohn), Anna Schoeck (Anna, die Kammerjungfer), Thomas Blondelle (Baron Lummer), Clemens Bieber (Kapellmeister Stroh), Markus Brück (Notar), Nadine Secunde (Frau des Notars), Joel Allison (Kommerzienrat), Simon Pauly (Justizrat), Tobias Kehrer (Kammersänger), Lilit Davtyan (Resi), Orchester der Deutschen Oper Berlin (Orchester)

Pre-performance lecture (in German): 45 minutes prior to each performance

Next date:

• Date Thursday, 13/March/2025 19:30 (2 more dates)
• Venue Deutsche Oper Berlin
• Address Bismarckstraße 35, 10627 Berlin-Charlottenburg