Name: Lear
Start: 2014-05-04T00:00:00.000Z
End: 2014-05-17T00:00:00.000Z
Location: Staatsoper

Admin

Organization

Sänger

Bass-Bariton

Bo Skovhus

Lear

Bass

Wilhelm Schwinghammer

König von Frankreich

Christian Miedl

Herzog von Albany

Tenor

Peter Galliard

Herzog von Cornwall

Jürgen Sacher

Graf von Kent

Lauri Vasar

Graf von Gloster

Countertenor

Andrew Watts

Edgar

Martin Homrich

Edmund

Sopran

Katja Pieweck

Goneril

Hellen Kwon

Regan

Ha Young Lee

Cordelia

Sprechrolle

Erwin Leder

Narr

Frieder Stricker

Bedienter

Dirigat

Simone Young

Regie

Karoline Gruber

Kostümbild

Mechthild Seipel

Bühnenbild

Roy Spahn

Lichtgestaltung

Hans Toelstede

Chordirektion

Eberhard Friedrich

Assistant Stage Director

Anja Krietsch

Staatsoper Hamburg

Hamburg

Deutschland

Staatsoper

In 1961, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau asked Benjamin Britten to compose an opera version of Shakespeare’s tragedy King Lear. Unfortunately, the English composer refused. Although the complexities of the Bard’s play had put Britten off—much like Berlioz, Verdi, and Debussy previously—the legendary baritone saw his wish come true thanks to the German composer Aribert Reimann and librettist Claus H. Henneberg. Premiered in 1978 in Munich, their adaptation tightens the plot and concentrates on its essential elements, notably retaining the relentless pace of the play. The expressive range of the score is a credit to the composer, remarkable in his unique musical depiction of characters and an orchestral architecture to challenge even his predecessors Schoenberg and Berg.

In this impressive production by Karoline Gruber at the Staatsoper Hamburg, the plot is transported to the modern business world. The cursed king, masterfully portrayed by Danish baritone Bo Skovhus, is no longer a victim of his senility, but of his oversized ego. Maestro Simone Young conducts the resident orchestra, joined by a fantastic cast revolving around the protagonist and his three daughters, played by the superb Katja Pieweck, Hellen Kwon, and Siobhan Stagg.

Lear Reimann

Public

Genehmigt

Programmheft der Produktion

Weiterführende Literatur