The Pearl Fishers by Bizet, From (2022/2022), Directed by Wim Wenders, Conductor Victorien Vanoosten, Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Berlin, Germany

Against the backdrop of a distant island paradise, Georges Bizet describes a love triangle complicated by true friendship: once before, the love for the Brahman Leïla threatened to divide the longstanding friends Zurga and Nadir. Although both men have sworn to each other that they will do without the beautiful young woman, neither this promise nor Leïla's vow of chastity can prevent her and Nadir from being overwhelmed by the desire for one another when they meet again. When the couple is caught by the high priest, Zurga, as the leader of the pearl fishing village, is said to impose the death sentence on the two perjurers. Torn between friendship and jealousy, a desire for revenge and a sense of duty, Zurga wavers ... Twelve years before the worldwide success of his "Carmen", the 25-year-old Bizet made his breakthrough as an opera composer with his "Perlenfischern". The exoticism, which was so popular at the time, inspired him to write a score with colorful instrumentation, captivating melodies and effective theater music, which unfolds in large-scale choir tableaus as well as in the chamber play-like scenes between the protagonists.