Admin

Semperoper Dresden

Conductor

Maxime Pascal

Orchestra

Staatskapelle Dresden

Stage director

Stage director (+2)

Lorenzo Fioroni

Set designer

Composer (+4)

Paul Zoll

Costume designer

Costume designer (+1)

Annette Braun

Lighting designer

Lighting designer (+3)

Fabio Antoci

Chorusmaster

Jonathan Becker

Dramaturge

Dramaturge (+1)

Dorothee Harpain

Mezzo-soprano (+3)

Paula Murrihy

Waitress

Soprano (+3)

Rosalia Cid

Bride

Soprano (+2)

Anu Komsi

Mother-in-Law

Tenor (+3)

Mario Lerchenberger

Groom

Baritone (+4)

Markus Butter

Father-in-Law

Mezzo-soprano (+4)

Fredrika Brillembourg

Teacher

Tenor (+1)

Simon Jensen

Student 4

Soprano

Olga Heikkilä

Student 6

Semperoper

Sound designer

Romualdas Urba

Singer

Venla Blom

Student 1

Jessica Elevant

Student 2

Nusch Batut

Student 3

Carlo Nevio Wilfart

Student 5

Regiehospitanz

Stage director (+1)

Leonie Dehne

Chorus

Saxon State Opera Choir Dresden

Bass (+4)

Timo Riihonen

Priest

Bass-baritone (+2)

Jukka Rasilainen

Can the past be denied and memories erased? After a mass shooting at an international school, pupils, parents and teachers are left horrified and traumatised. The teenage perpetrator is committed to a psychiatric ward. Ten years later, Stela is celebrating her wedding to Tuomas, who she met in her home country of Romania, together with his parents and a priest. She is so happy that she doesn’t ask why there are so few guests. But the waitress hints that there is something Stela doesn’t know – that her groom has another brother.

„Innocence“ is the fifth and final opera by Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho (1952 –2023). Following its acclaimed premiere at the d’Aix-en-Provence Festival in 2021, it went on to enjoy great success in London, Helsinki and Amsterdam. This work deals with acutely relevant questions: What happens to a society after such a gruesome and disturbing act of violence? How can trauma be overcome? Together with librettist Sofi Oksanen and dramaturge Aleksi Barrière, Kaija Saariaho created a gripping yet poignant psychological thriller that relentlessly unpicks the characters’ entangled culpability, layer by layer, while leaving unanswered the question of each person’s guilt or innocence.

Innocence, Saariaho

Cast

Waitress (Tereza)

Bride (Stela)

Mother-in-Law (Patricia)

Groom (Tuomas)

Father-in-Law (Henrik)

Teacher (Cecilia)

Student 4 (Anton)

Student 6 (Alexia)

Student 1 (Markéta)

Student 2

Student 3 (Iris)

Student 5 (Jerónimo)

Priest

Crew

Stage director

Conductor

Set designer

Costume designer

Chorusmaster

Lighting designer

Dramaturge

Sound designer

Regiehospitanz

Instrumentation

Producer

Producer

Ensemble

Orchestra

Chorus

Co-Producer

Photos

About

Composer

Description

Production synopsis