Franz Lehár’s “Die Lustige Witwe” is reputed to be one of the most famous operettas in the world. Under the direction of the French Jerome Savary's the “Merry Widow” sparkles. At the first staging of this production at the Opera-Comique in Paris (Octobre, 2005) the singers appeared to be having as much fun as the audience. The Austrian Maestro Manfred Honeck presents his musical view on this operetta.

Production from Antwerp. The knight Titurel has built a fortress for two sacred objects he has miraculously obtained: thechalice from the Last Supper in which Christ's blood was later collected, and the spear thatwounded Christ on the cross. The chalice is believed to be the Holy Grail that gives life and has apurifying effect on the human race. The Grail has become the focus for a community of knightswho, strengthened by the holy chalice, are willing to fight for the faith. All the knights have takena vow of chastity. However, the Grail King Amfortas, their leader and Titurel’s son, fails to resistseduction by Kundry, a woman with a double life: she is both a Grail messenger and temptressin the service of Klingsor.

Lucia loves Edgardo, the last heir of her family’s enemy clan. They are in danger, but Lucia refuses to betray her love. A ring falls to the floor, the nightmare begins – the nocturnal sky fills with lightning and thunder, madness and blood reign, there is a corpse, then another and yet another. Staatsoper Hamburg's Lucia di Lammermoor turns the city into a stage. Inspired by worldwide women's protests, director Amelie Niermeyer has filmed dancers in the city and invites them into the theatre via video. They rush to the aid of the main character Lucia, who - like the director - asserts herself as a woman in a man's world.

Robert Schumann’s secular oratorio Das Paradies und die Peri, created and first performed in 1843. The libretto derives from a German translation of a verse epic by the Irish writer Thomas More entitled Lalla Rookh, which in turn makes use of Persian mythology.

The inaugural season of Tobias Kratzer and Omer Meir Wellber's partnership at the Hamburg State Opera kicks off. The director and conductor present Schumann's rarely performed oratorio Paradise and the Peri. The Peri's quest for redemption, brilliantly interpreted by Vera-Lotte Boecker, illustrates many of today's issues, such as the need for empathy in a world shaken by crises.