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Schedule - Deutsche Oper Berlin

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Pikowaja Dama - Queen of Spades

Pyotr I. Tchaikovsky (1840 – 1893)

Information on the piece

Opera in three acts by Piotr I. Tchaikovsky
Libretto by Modest Tchaikovsky based on Alexander Puschkin
First performance on 19 December, 1890, in Sankt Petersburg
Premiere on 9 March 2024

approximately 3 hrs 15 mins / 1 interval

In Russian with German and English surtitles

45 minutes before beginning: Introduction (in German language)

recommended from 14 years
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Our thanks to our partners

Kindly supported by Förderkreis der Deutschen Oper Berlin e. V.

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About the performance

About the work
THE QUEEN OF SPADES, Tchaikovsky’s second most popular opera after EUGENE ONEGIN, delights audiences due to its sheer scale, among other qualities. The mood switches effortlessly from full chorus and ensemble to delicate chamber scenes. Sophisticated leisured society rubs up against indigent proletariat. Pushkin’s novella was used by Pyotr and Modest Tchaikovsky as the springboard into a psychogram of the two main protagonists Herman and Lisa, who are bound by their star-crossed despair and thwarted desire to express themselves freely. Herman serves the homosexual Tchaikovsky brothers not only as a touchstone in his capacity as social outcast; his profession as military engineer is also a reference to their father, Ilya Petrovich Tchaikovsky.

Herman, an officer fascinated by the secrets of the gambling community, is in love with Lisa, a lady of gentle birth. Lisa yearns for self-determination but still lives under the thumb of her grandmother, the Countess, who, besides having stirred up Parisian high society in her youth, is also reputed to be the holder of a secret strategy for winning at cards. When Herman hears the rumour, he is sure that he has found a way out of his misery. His fixation on the mystery of the Three Cards takes its course.

About the production
Director Sam Brown makes his debut at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. His set design - heavily informed by that of his friend and director colleague Sir Graham Vick, who died tragically in 2021 – accentuates the nuances and ambiguities of the work’s dramatic storyline. His approach deliberately poses questions that are meant to remain unanswered. Does Herman love Lisa or is she just the means to an end? Is Lisa a helpless victim or does she just think Herman can help her escape her golden cage? Is there really a secret key to success at cards or is it just a figment of Herman’s imagination?

Our articles on the subject

In the spirit of friendship
Aren’t you ashamed of dancing a Russian jig?
Pique Dame (The Queen of Spades) – Synopsis
Fortune, Gambling, Compulsion
Passion and Calculation
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05
DEC

Adventskalender in der Tischlerei: Das 5. Fensterchen

Today in the Tischlerei: ‘Rossini, Liszt and more’
with Kangyoon Shine Lee (tenor) and Songyeon Catarina Kim (piano)
5pm / Tischlerei
Duration: approx. 25 minutes / free admission


The evening begins with musical declarations of love: love is illuminated in all its facets – from the idealised, the yearning to the devoted and the melancholy – in three songs by Franz Liszt and an aria from Rossini's IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA. Franz Liszt's ‘Enfant, si j'etais roi’ (‘Child, if I were king’) and ‘Oh! Quand je dors’ (‘Oh! When I sleep’) are settings of poems by Victor Hugo. In the first, the beloved is given everything imaginable – but it can never be enough. The second poem describes a nocturnal vision of the beloved, who appears like an angel, kisses the sleeping person and fills them with heavenly love. Liszt's ‘Liebestraum Nr. 3’ (‘Oh dear, as long as you can love’) is one of a series of three songs that Liszt later arranged in a purely instrumental form and which became emblematic of romantic piano music. The original text was written by Ferdinand Freiligrath and deals with the transience of love and the resulting need to cherish and cultivate it in the here and now. You will hear the Korean pianist Songyeon Catarina Kim at the piano. She then lovingly accompanies our ensemble member Kangyoon Shine Lee in an aria that he will sing again on our main stage from 31 March 2025, when he takes on the role of Count Almaviva in Katharina Thalbach's production of Rossini's IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA: the cavatina ‘Ecco, ridente in cielo’. In it, Almaviva sings about the beauty of the morning and his ardent love for Rosina – it is a lyrical and romantic beginning to an otherwise predominantly comedic opera. It is followed by the song ‘La danza’ from Rossini's collection of songs ‘Les soirées musicales’, published about 20 years later, which describes the joyful hustle and bustle of a Neapolitan festival. The musical basis for this song is the tarantella, a fast, rhythmic folk dance from southern Italy. The programme will conclude with a contemplative Christmas favourite, ‘O Holy Night’.

Lyric tenor Kangyoon Shine Lee was born in Seoul. He first graduated from the Korea National University of Arts before studying with Kammersänger Prof. Roman Trekel at the Hanns Eisler School of Music Berlin from 2022. In 2021, Kangyoon Shine Lee won the Belvedere Competition and received an engagement at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. He made his house debut on 27 December 2022 as Almaviva in Rossini's IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA and also sang in DAS WUNDER DER HELIANE. In the 2024/25 season, he will be part of the ensemble here at the theatre and can be heard in roles such as Tamino in Mozart's MAGIC FLUTE and the children's version THE FAIRY TALE OF THE MAGIC FLUTE, as Count von Lerma / DON CARLO, Cavalier Belfiore / IL VIAGGIO A REIMS, Malcolm / MACBETH, Walther von der Vogelweide / TANNHÄUSER and Pang / TURANDOT.

The South Korean pianist Songyeon Catarina Kim studied piano at Kyunghee University in Seoul. She has won numerous Korean and international competitions. Since 2021, she has been studying Lied interpretation with Prof. Wolfram Rieger at the Hanns Eisler School of Music Berlin. She is currently studying chamber music with Prof. Wolfram Rieger as part of her concert exam. During her studies, she was a répétiteur in lessons with KS Prof. Roman Trekel, Prof. Anna Korondi, KS Prof. Ewa Wolak, Prof. Martin Bruns and Prof. Christine Schäfer, as well as a répétiteur in masterclasses with KS Brigitte Fassbaender and KS Prof. Thomas Quasthoff. She has also worked as a répétiteur for scenic instruction at the Immling Festival, the Darmstadt Theatre and the Erfurt Theatre. In the 2024/25 season, she will work as a répétiteur at IMMMERMEEEHR at the Deutsche Oper Berlin.