Eyes wide shut for Berlin’s new Ballo

Charles Castronovo (Riccardo) and Anna Netrebko (Amelia)

Un ballo in maschera, Act 1

Charles Castronovo (Riccardo) and Anna Kissjudit (Ulrica)

Anna Netrebko (Amelia) and Amartuvshin Enkhbat (Renato)

Charles Castronovo (Riccardo) and Anna Kissjudit (Ulrica)

By Mark Pullinger, 30 March 2026

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“Anna Netrebko brought glamour to the cast as Amelia”

Reviewed at Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Berlin on 29 March 2026

Verdi, Un ballo in maschera

Staatsoper Berlin

Enrique Mazzola, Conductor

Rafael R. Villalobos, Director

Emanuele Sinisi, Set Designer

Lorenzo Caprile, Costume Designer

Felipe Ramos, Lighting Designer

Staatskapelle Berlin

Staatsopernchor Berlin

Cachito Vallés, Video

Charles Castronovo, Riccardo

Amartuvshin Enkhbat, Renato

Anna Netrebko, Amelia

Anna Kissjudit, Ulrica

Enkeleda Kamani, Oscar

Manuel Winckhler, Samuel

Friedrich Hamel, Tom

Carles Pachón, Silvano

Junho Hwang, Judge

Javier Pérez, Choreography

Young stars shine in the Staatsoper Berlin’s Rosenkavalier

Mark Pullinger, 28th March

Patricia Nolz makes an outstanding role debut as Christian Thielemann conducts a thrusting Rosenkavalier to open the Staatsoper Unter den Linden's Festtage.

*****

Love is in the hare: a new Cunning Little Vixen opens in Berlin

Elena Luporini, 28th February

The Staatsoper's new production of Janáček's opera buzzes with life thanks to Sir Simon Rattle's conducting and an excellent cast led by Vera-Lotte Boecker and Magdalena Kožená.

****1

Pintscher’s Das kalte Herz premieres at Staatsoper Unter den Linden

Elena Luporini, 14th January

On a snowy January evening, the premiere of Matthias Pintscher’s new opera Das kalte Herz fails to warm up the Berlin public.

**111

Happy 100th birthday, Wozzeck! Thielemann leads Berlin revival

Elena Luporini, 14th December

The Staatsoper Unter den Linden celebrates the 100th birthday of Alban Berg's masterpiece with a stellar cast in Andrea Breth’s revived production.

***11

Low on laughs: Die schweigsame Frau in Berlin

Elena Luporini, 19th July

Newly General Music Director Christian Thielemann and Jan Philipp Gloger bring Richard Strauss' Die schweigsame Frau to the Staatsoper Berlin for the first time, but la commedia is hardly stupenda.

**111

A Norma cooking on medium at Berlin’s Staatsoper Unter den Linden

Elena Luporini, 13th April

Despite excellent performances from Rachel Willis-Sørensen and Elmina Hasan, the Staatsoper Unter den Linden's new production of Norma lacks a pinch of salt.

***11

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Mark Pullinger

Mark has been a Bachtrack editor since 2014. He is also an experienced critic, writing hundreds of reviews for the site, as well as a freelancer writing for other magazines and newspapers. He also writes programme notes and blogs on Substack. Mark has a particular passion for the operas of Verdi as well as Russian and French repertoire. Outside the concert hall and opera house, Mark enjoys cooking and travel and is probably at his happiest let loose in a French patisserie or a Viennese coffee house.