Name: Die Liebe der Danae
Start: 2011-01-23T00:00:00.000Z
End: 2011-04-07T00:00:00.000Z
Location: Deutsche Oper Berlin

Organization

Bariton

Mark Delavan

Jupiter

Tenor

Thomas Blondelle

Merkur

Burkhard Ulrich

Pollux

Sopran

Manuela Uhl

Danae I

Hulkar Sabirova

Xanthe

Matthias Klink

Midas

Sänger

Paul Kaufmann

Könige

Clemens Bieber

Nathan De'Shon Myers

Hyung-Wook Lee

Hila Fahima Ruschin

Königin I

Martina Welschenbach

Königin II

Julia Benzinger

Königin III

Katarina Bradić

Königin IV

Dirigat

Andrew Litton

Regie

Kirsten Harms

Bühnenbild

Bernd Damovsky

Kostümbild

Dorothea Katzer-Dittrich

Lichtgestaltung

Manfred Voss

Chordirektion

William Spaulding

Dramaturgie

Andreas K W Meyer

Deutsche Oper Berlin

Deutsch

Die Liebe der Danae

Berlin

Deutschland

Die Tischlerei

Richard Strauss completed his second-to-last opera “Die Liebe der Danae” in 1940. Written under war clouds, the “merry mythology” based on an idea by Hugo von Hofmannsthal was given a provisional, by-invitation-only dress rehearsal premiere at the 1944 Salzburg Festival the day before all theaters in the “Reich” were closed by order of the Ministry of Propaganda. The official world premiere took place at the 1952 Salzburg Festival – now no longer in the presence of the composer, who passed away in 1949. As Europe was about to go up in flames, Strauss was pouring his entire arsenal of melodic beauty and lushness into the score of “Die Liebe der Danae”. The rarely performed opera is nothing if not a feast for Strauss lovers, with arias, ensembles and orchestral interludes blazing with sumptuous colors and rich textures. A kind of compendium of Strauss’ most inspired musical ideas, it is like the swan song of an aged composer who is taking leave from the world on the eve of the catastrophe that will engulf it. Embodying the composer, in a way, is the role of Jupiter, an aging god who realizes that he will never win the love of the beautiful Danae. This timeless production from the Deutsche Oper Berlin can also be seen as the mirror of a changing world order, with a wonderfully suggestive symbol dominating the stage during all three acts: a grand piano suspended upside-down from the rafters. This image can be seen as “an allegory for high and noble art” (Frankfurter Rundschau) or as the symbol of a world turned upside down, ready to come crashing down at any second. Starring Manuela Uhl, Mark Delavan and Matthias Klink in the lead roles, this production does full justice to this rarely performed but exceptionally moving work.

Die Liebe der Danae Strauss,R

Genehmigt

Programmheft der Produktion

Weiterführende Literatur