Deutsche Oper Berlin 2014 - 2015 season

This might look like an odd place for an international company to stage an opera, but it's where the Deutsche Oper Berlin will be showing their first premiere of the 2014-15 season.

From mid-summer until late November their main house is undergoing renovations. A variety of substitute venues will be commandeered - these include the Philharmonie, the Berlin Festpiele House, and, as you see above, the car park behind the Deutsche Oper.

Following the general trend this year for seat-filling favourites, there's not much to get excited about, although the Xenakis should not be missed, and Evelyn Herlitzius in Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk could be exciting. The star quotient is mostly to be found in revivals, and remains on a par with previous years,

The premieres are:

• Oresteia by Xenakis - in the Deutsche Oper car park
• The Rape of Lucretia - c.Nicholas Carter d. Fiona Shaw - the Glyndebourne production will be shown in the Haus der Berliner Festspiele
• Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk  c.Donald Runnicles d.Ole Anders Tandberg, with Evelyn Herlitzius and Sir John Tomlinson
• La rondine c. Roberto Rizzi Brignoli d. Rolando Villazon - yes, that one
• Roméo et Juliette c. Donald Runnicles d.Sasha Waltz
• Faust c. Marco Armiliato d.Philipp Stölzl, with Teodor Ilincai, Ildebrando D'Arcangelo and Krassimira Stoyanova

Top of the revivals list has to be Lohengrin. Kasper Holten's production was not well received on its first outing, but the cast - Vogt, Harteros, Meier - is pretty much unbeatable. Harteros turns up in Tosca and a single concert Ariadne auf Naxos as well. 

On top of his directorial duties, Rolando Villazon is taking on the role of Don Carlo. Elina Garanca perks up the Rosenkavalier casting, and Lyudmila Monastyrka takes on Abigaille in her inimitable fashion.

Comments

[Roy]

Any idea when the uk houses are announcing 14-15 ?
ROH, ENO, Welsh WNO ?
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Intermezzo replies - ENO is 29 April, ROH is possibly 31 March (or around that date), no idea about WNO. All of these are later than previous years, by the way.

[SJT]

"ROH is possibly 31 March (or around that date)"

Perhaps April 1st would be more suitable?

[Henry Holland]

What a dire season at the DOB, who usually do more non-Top 40 stuff. Apparently, the opera repertoire consists of Puccini, Verdi, Wagner and some other people who wrote/write operas.

[Joao]

When will we have the Berlin Staatsoper and the Semperoper seasons?
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Intermezzo replies - Berlin are usually one of the last to announce and Dresden one of the first, but Semperoper planning has obviously been disrupted by recent events. Dresden's November Strauss-fest has been on sale for some time though.

[Heather]

The new season at the Berlin Staatsoper is due on April 28 according to the box office staff.

[Vecchio John]

According to Twitter SemperOper new season will be announced on 21st March, though as IM says this could be delayed by Dorny exit.
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Intermezzo replies - I understand the original plan was to announce at roughly the same time Dorny ended up leaving. They've had to do some reconfirmation and rearrangement as a result of that.

[Alexander]

quite a witty remark of you ;)

[Miguel Esteban]

Fyi: Villazón, not Villazon. Only saying since accents appear in other names.

[Nik]

More importantly, what's he doing singing Don Carlo in a big house again? Surely this is the sort of repertoire that precipitated his previous vocal crises.
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Intermezzo replies - His problem was caused by nodes on the vocal cords, not by singing any particular repertoire.

[Ruth]

ENO isn't later than last year - they announced the current season on 1st May. I remember turning on my phone in the interval of the ROH Don Carlo dress rehearsal to read the details.

WNO have said on Twitter that they'll be announcing in April. Last year it was mid-February, but I've been led to understand they had to make some adjustments to their touring schedule at fairly late notice which has delayed things.

[Nikolaus Vogel]

That's interesting IM - so you don't think that singing heavier repertoire played any part in his vocal troubles? I'll look forward to hearing his postponed Cavaradossi. Did he really cancel that and sing Lenski instead because of nodes on his vocal cords?
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Intermezzo replies - It's not a question of what I think, it's what the doctor who operated on him said.

I had no idea he was booked for a Tosca, but a singer doesn't need to have vocal problems to realise when they've bitten off more than they can chew.

[Nikolaus Vogel]

Henry - this may be partly because they are out of the house for some of the season. That always has financial consequences. I'll be surprised if they can sell that many tix for Xenakis in the car park, but you never know. You're cross because there's no Schreker or Othmar Schoeck! :)

[Nikolaus Vogel]

"Harteros turns up in Tosca" - she didn't turn up for the Toscas announced last year for January 2014....

Just saying.