Penetrating Schreker’s kaleidoscopic score

By Katherine Syer, 15 July 2018

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Reviewed at Komische Oper Berlin, Berlin on 11 July 2018

Schreker, Die Gezeichneten (The Branded)

Komische Oper Berlin

Stefan Soltész, Conductor

Calixto Bieito, Director

Rebecca Ringst, Set Designer

Ingo Krügler, Costume Designer

Aušrinė Stundytė, Carlotta Nardi

Peter Hoare, Alviano Salvago

Michael Nagy, Count Vitelozzo Tamare

Joachim Goltz, Duke Antoniotto Adorno

Jens Larsen, Lodovico Nardi

Chor der Komischen Oper Berlin

Vocalconsort Berlin

Handel’s Belshazzar at Komische Oper Berlin

Zenaida des Aubris, 28th March

The Baroque confectionery of Herbert Fritsch's production of Handel's oratorio belies a serious core which is all too close to today's headlines.

****1

Barrie Kosky directs a ferocious new Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk

Zenaida des Aubris, 31st January

Shostakovich's opera is laid bare in Berlin, to devastating effect, with a distinguished cast led by Ambur Braid.

****1

Masks and obsessions: Evgeny Titov’s Salome at Komische Oper Berlin

Zenaida des Aubris, 22nd November

Salome is faceless and the Dance of the Seven Veils becomes a sardonic commentary on seduction in Komische Oper Berlin's austere new staging.

****1

Opulent minimalism: Kosky directs a new staging of Akhnaten

Zenaida des Aubris, 23rd March

Barrie Kosky's new production of Philip Glass' Akhnaten for Komische Oper at the Schillertheater removes any egyptological references.

****1

A blade too dull: Kosky directs Sweeney Todd at Komische Oper

Elena Luporini, 17th November

With a brand new production by Barrie Kosky, Komische Oper Berlin's first venture into the Sondheim repertoire mostly falls flat.

**111

Kirill Serebrennikov’s Marriage of Figaro challenges Edinburgh

David Smythe, 16th August

Komische Oper Berlin's The Marriage of Figaro is staged at the Edinburgh International Festival with a strong cast headed by Penny Sofroniadou and Peter Kellner.

****1

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Katherine Syer

Katherine Syer is a Los Angeles-based writer/editor, public scholar, and dramaturg following a teaching career at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and UCLA

Penetrating Schreker’s kaleidoscopic score: Die Gezeichneten in Berlin