This spring, Susanna Mälkki makes her greatly anticipated debut at the Wiener Staatsoper leading the rarely performed Dantons Tod, composed by Gottfried von Einem. These performances are presented in recognition of the 100th anniversary of von Einem’s birth, and serve to reintroduce his work to the Staatsoper’s programming. Tickets are now available for all dates via Wiener-Staatsoper.at: March 24, 27 & 31 and April 3, 6 & 9. The first performance also receives a live stream via Staatsoper Live; visit the following link to purchase your access and select your broadcast time zone.
The cast includes Wolfgang Koch as George Danton, Herbert Lippert as Camille Desmoulins, Jörg Schneider is Hérault de Séchelles, Thomas Ebenstein sings Robespierre, and Olga Bezsmertna is Lucile. The production features stage direction and lighting design by Josef Ernst Köpplinger, set design from Rainer Sinell, and costumes by Alfred Mayerhofer.
Description:
For many decades, no less than four operas (including two world premières) and five ballets (including two world premières) by Gottfried von Einem belonged to the repertoire at the Wiener Staatsoper. To mark the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the composer’s birth, the work that catapulted him to international fame at the Salzburg Festival in 1947 returns to the opera house on the Ring: Dantons Tod. Von Einem had brilliantly recreated Büchner’s Revolution tragedy for music theatre and, following the postulate of his teacher Boris Blacher, had interwoven the musical and the theatrical in such a way that the dramatic episodes are optimally communicated in music to the audience.