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Vorhang auf für einen anderen Richard Strauss - Deutsche Oper Berlin

Curtain up for another Richard Strauss

Tobias Kratzer stages three operas by Richard Strauss, all of them about the stressfulness of modern relationships. They also reflect the changeful relationship between the composer and his partner in fate, von Hofmannsthal.

What do ARABELLA, INTERMEZZO and DIE FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN, which you are now combining in a small cycle, have in common?
These operas are about societies undergoing change, and what that means for identities, roles and relationships. At the same time, they also give us a reading of the state of the relationship between the creative duo of Strauss and Hofmannsthal. The middle period in Richard Strauss’ output, which began in 1919 with DIE FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN, also marks a slight estrangement between him and his librettist Hugo von Hofmannsthal. The fact that Strauss just wrote his own libretto for INTERMEZZO, because Hofmannsthal found the tale too banal, offers the most obvious indication of this. But within their joint projects, they were also increasingly working at cross-purposes. Hofmannsthal would seem to be the more modern of the two – but it is the very tension between his libretti and Strauss’ music that results in the most interesting works.

Strauss’ reputation as a person is questionable, to say the least, but his music has plenty of faithful fans. How should his works be staged today?
Strauss’ biography certainly has its fault lines, and he cannot be regarded a moral instance due to his relationship with the Nazi regime. It is often said about Strauss the composer that he started out as a revolutionary and then turned more and more conservative. Yet I also see an abrasive, challenging structure in his later works – underneath the compositions and their purportedly reactionary sound. We aim to illustrate this using the often-underestimated middle works.

The three operas are unusually close to the daily lives of middle-class people, being about marriage and professions…
At first glance, that is true, but for ARABELLA, I would beg to differ. The story looks bourgeois, but it has a lot of fairy-tale elements. Hofmannsthal died while working on ARABELLA, but everything he wrote for it reflects the ambiguity and contradictions of the modern age. He shines a merciless spotlight on the rigid social roles of the 19th century, shortly before their disappearance. 

Tobias Kratzer © Julian Baumann
 

Yet matrimony in particular is rarely the subject of great operas.
It usually signals the beginning of the happy end. Strauss, on the other hand, used his own marriage as the model for INTERMEZZO – that was an innovation. The opera oscillates between a dream novella in the Schnitzler style and an auto-fictional protocol of real life.

DIE FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN, on the other hand, idealizes the classic mother role. Is that not antiquated?
I think that there are many women and men today who believe that parenthood lends meaning to their life. And I don’t find that objectionable, but neither does one have to turn it into an ideology. To me, the interesting thing about FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN is something else – namely the social question. Here we have a poor couple, the Dyer’s Wife and the Dyer, who are exploited by a rich couple. Today you can turn that into a reference to surrogate motherhood, even to the trade in organs. This power to control the lower classes, to physically control their bodies, unfortunately remains a current issue.

So is Strauss progressive and critical after all?
Sometimes he is current and modern despite himself. He has fascinating, extremely sensitive antennae for things that threaten to fall apart and go to pieces.

You are known as a director who likes to read works against the grain. What may we expect this time?
When I am working on a piece, at some point I am so deep into its world that I can only imagine it in this very interpretation. Whether a production is then perceived as true to the original or surprising is something I usually cannot even judge for myself anymore, once I’ve passed a certain point. 

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03
DEC

Adventskalender in der Tischlerei: Das 3. Fensterchen

Today in the Tischlerei: ‘Christmas Carols’
with Thomas Cilluffo (tenor) and Chris Reynolds (piano)
5:00 p.m. / Tischlerei
Duration: approx. 25 minutes / Free admission


In the 1940s, a new era of Christmas songs began in the United States: hits like ‘White Christmas’, ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’ and ‘Let it snow!’ succeeded in translating the contemplative Advent mood into a popular style that suited the modern lifestyle. Today, they have established themselves as classics that are an integral part of the Christmas season. The tenor Thomas Cilluffo presents some of these world-famous melodies, along with classic Christmas songs from different countries and eras. Our solo repetiteur Chris Reynolds accompanies him on the grand piano.

During the 2022/23 season, Cilluffo made his European debut at both the Teatro Regio Torino and the Deutsche Oper Berlin, where he initially enriched the ensemble as a scholarship holder of the Opera Foundation New York. He has been a member of the ensemble here at the house since the 2024/25 season and has appeared in roles such as The Mouth that Speaks Great Words / ANTICRUST, Count Elemer / ARABELLA, Fatty / THE RISE AND FALL OF THE CITY OF MAHAGONNY , Pong / TURANDOT, Malcolm / MACBETH, Arturo / LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR, Monostatos / DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE or as a guest in the big New Year's Concert of the BigBand ‘Swingin’25’.
In recent years, Thomas Cilluffo has been highly successful in prestigious competitions, winning first place in the Premiere Opera Foundation International Singing Competition in 2022, among others. He was a finalist in the George London Foundation Competition in 2022, the Gerda Lissner Opera Competition in 2022 and the Gerda Lissner Song Competition in 2021. His roles also include Belfiore / LA FINTA GIARDINIERA , Almaviva / IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA, Spoletta / TOSCA, the Witch / HÄNSEL UND GRETEL, Adolfo Pirelli / SWEENEY TODD, Don Ottavio / DON GIOVANNI, Puck / A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM and the title role in ROMÉO ET JULIETTE at opera houses such as Portland Opera, Pittsburgh Festival Opera and Opera Colorado. Thomas Cilluffo received his BM/MM from the University of Michigan, where he studied with tenor George Shirley.