Bavarian State Opera 12 July 2023 - Hamlet | GoComGo.com

Hamlet

Bavarian State Opera, National Theatre, Munich, Germany
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7 PM

E-tickets: Print at home or at the box office of the event if so specified. You will find more information in your booking confirmation email.

You can only select the category, and not the exact seats.
If you order 2 or 3 tickets: your seats will be next to each other.
If you order 4 or more tickets: your seats will be next to each other, or, if this is not possible, we will provide a combination of groups of seats (at least in pairs, for example 2+2 or 2+3).

Important Info
Type: Opera
City: Munich, Germany
Starts at: 19:00
Acts: 2
Sung in: English
Titles in: German,English

E-tickets: Print at home or at the box office of the event if so specified. You will find more information in your booking confirmation email.

You can only select the category, and not the exact seats.
If you order 2 or 3 tickets: your seats will be next to each other.
If you order 4 or more tickets: your seats will be next to each other, or, if this is not possible, we will provide a combination of groups of seats (at least in pairs, for example 2+2 or 2+3).

Festival

Munich Opera Festival 2023

The Munich Opera Festival is an internationally renowned institution. During the summer months, the programme condenses an immense density of opera repertoire, crème de la crème casts, several premieres and an audience travelling from all over the world, united in a unique programme and ambiance. Musical theatre with its finger on the pulse of the times is here to experience in all its facets.

Overview

"To be or not to be" premiere date: Hamlet, William Shakespeare's early 17th century epochal drama delving deeply into the key questions of human existence, has fascinated audiences for centuries.

At Elsinore, Prince Hamlet mourns his deceased father, King Hamlet of Denmark. The funeral is quickly followed by the marriage of his widow Gertrude to Claudius, the king's brother. Hamlet is deeply disturbed by his father's early death and his mother's sudden marriage. At the same time, his father's ghost appears to him. His love for Ophelia is also failing. Hamlet is lost further and further in a world of power games, a thicket of lies, intrigues and insincerities. Brett Dean's setting for this search for meaning and truth by a fragile young man premiered at Glyndebourne in 2017. "A magnificent evening of musical theatre," hailed Die deutsche Bühne, "a masterpiece!" Virtuoso choral passages alternate here with a large ensemble of singers, contributing to a musically imposing experience brought to the stage of the Nationaltheater by the Bayerische Staatsoper in the world premiere production by Neil Armfield and conducted by Vladimir Jurowski, who was also took to the podium at Glynebourne.

Vladimir Jurowski, General Music Director of the Bayerische Staatsoper since the 2021/2022 season, was Music Director of Glyndebourne Festival Opera in England from 2001 to 2013. He returned to Glyndebourne in 2017 to conduct the world premiere of Brett Dean's Hamlet, directed by Neil Armfield. Armfield is artistic director of the Adelaide Festival and co-founder of the Belvoir Theatre in Sydney, where he was also artistic director for 17 years and responsible for more than 50 productions. He has also directed numerous TV films and is the recipient of many awards, including the AFI Award, ATOM Award and twelve Helpmann Awards. He has been an Officer of the Order of Australia since 2007. He has a long working relationship with Australian Ralph Myers. Myers succeeded Armfield as artistic director of Belvoir St Theatre in Sydney from 2011 to 2015, where he hired Simon Stone as resident director and designed numerous sets for him. As a set designer, he has worked internationally with renowned Australian directors in dance, circus, film and opera, including Benedict Andrews and Barrie Kosky. Alice Babidge, costume and set designer for film and television, theatre and opera, is also closely associated with directors Simon Stone, Benedict Andrews and Neil Armfield, working in Australia as well as Europe. She worked with Simon Stone on his Netflix film, The Dig, starring Ralph Fiennes and Carey Mulligan, and with director Justin Kurzel on his film, Nitram, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival.

History
Premiere of this production: 11 June 2017, Glyndebourne

Hamlet is an opera in two acts by Australian composer Brett Dean, with an English libretto by Matthew Jocelyn, which is based on William Shakespeare's play of the same name. The libretto uses "as little as 20 per cent" of the play's text and also takes inspiration from the "first quarto" as it "offers a different view on certain moments".

Venue Info

Bavarian State Opera - Munich
Location   Max-Joseph-Platz 2

The Bavarian State Opera or the National Theatre (Nationaltheater) on Max-Joseph-Platz in Munich, Germany, is a historic opera house and the main theatre of Munich, home of the Bavarian State Opera, Bavarian State Orchestra, and the Bavarian State Ballet.

During its early years, the National Theatre saw the premières of a significant number of operas, including many by German composers. These included Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde (1865), Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (1868), Das Rheingold (1869) and Die Walküre (1870), after which Wagner chose to build the Festspielhaus in Bayreuth and held further premières of his works there.

During the latter part of the 19th century, it was Richard Strauss who would make his mark on the theatre in the city in which he was born in 1864. After accepting the position of conductor for a short time, Strauss returned to the theatre to become principal conductor from 1894 to 1898. In the pre-War period, his Friedenstag (1938) and Capriccio were premièred in Munich. In the post-War period, the house has seen significant productions and many world premieres.

First theatre – 1818 to 1823
The first theatre was commissioned in 1810 by King Maximilian I of Bavaria because the nearby Cuvilliés Theatre had too little space. It was designed by Karl von Fischer, with the 1782 Odéon in Paris as architectural precedent. Construction began on 26 October 1811 but was interrupted in 1813 by financing problems. In 1817 a fire occurred in the unfinished building.

The new theatre finally opened on 12 October 1818 with a performance of Die Weihe by Ferdinand Fränzl, but was soon destroyed by another fire on 14 January 1823; the stage décor caught fire during a performance of Die beyden Füchse by Étienne Méhul and the fire could not be put out because the water supply was frozen. Coincidentally the Paris Odéon itself burnt down in 1818.

Second theatre – 1825 to 1943
Designed by Leo von Klenze, the second theatre incorporated Neo-Grec features in its portico and triangular pediment and an entrance supported by Corinthian columns. In 1925 it was modified to create an enlarged stage area with updated equipment. The building was gutted in an air raid on the night of 3 October 1943.

Third theatre – 1963 to present
The third and present theatre (1963) recreates Karl von Fischer's original neo-classical design, though on a slightly larger, 2,100-seat scale. The magnificent royal box is the center of the interior rondel, decorated with two large caryatids. The new stage covers 2,500 square meters (3,000 sq yd), and is thus the world's third largest, after the Opéra Bastille in Paris and the Grand Theatre, Warsaw.

Through the consistent use of wood as a building material, the auditorium has excellent acoustics. Architect Gerhard Moritz Graubner closely preserved the original look of the foyer and main staircase. It opened on 21 November 1963 with an invitation-only performance of Die Frau ohne Schatten under the baton of Joseph Keilberth. Two nights later came the first public performance, of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, again under Keilberth.

Important Info
Type: Opera
City: Munich, Germany
Starts at: 19:00
Acts: 2
Sung in: English
Titles in: German,English
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