2020-2021 Upcoming Season Announcements
The COVID-19-related alternative schedule for the 2020-21 season will be published online at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden on Monday 22 June at 12 p.m. EST Advance sales for most of these events will start on July 1, 2020 at 5 a.m. EST.
Taking into account the applicable COVID-19 security measures, there will be a reduced capacity of around 370 seats in the Great Hall, and around 20 seats in the Old Orchestra Rehearsal Hall, in August and September. There will be preventative measures for each performance as well as for the respective entrance, exit and breaks, which are developed in consultation with the responsible authorities. Visitors are informed about the preventative measures when buying tickets, on our homepage, and before the performance visit by email.
The start of the 2020-21 season is marked by the 450th anniversary of the Staatskapelle Berlin: the Beethoven cycle originally planned for the FESTTAGE 2020 under the musical direction of Daniel Barenboim, opens the season on August 31 and will continue on September 3 and 4. A special STATE OPERA FOR EVERYONE in cooperation with our longstanding partner BMW Berlin is planned for September 6th. The conditions under which the event can be held are currently being examined. There will be information on this after the break.
The festival concert “450 Years Staatskapelle Berlin'' will take place on September 11, also conducted by General Music Director Daniel Barenboim. The program includes works by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Richard Strauss, Pierre Boulez and Ludwig van Beethoven. In addition, Jörg Widmann's “450 bars”, a commissioned work for the anniversary, will be premiered. On September 12th, a birthday party for the orchestra will follow, which will be adapted to fit the applicable security measures. On this “Day for the Staatskapelle Berlin'' the musicians will be able to experience the changing chamber music formations and small orchestras with free admission to the Great Hall. Counting cards are required and will be issued at the end of August. The anniversary will be flanked by further offers in the house and by an exhibition on “450 years of the Staatskapelle Berlin '' in the Apollosaal.
On September 26th and 27th, the first subscription concert of the Staatskapelle Berlin 2020-21 will be conducted by Daniel Barenboim, with Anne-Sophie Mutter as soloist: Ludwig van Beethoven's Violin Concerto in D major Op. 61 in the Staatsoper Unter Linden and in the Philharmonie Berlin. The evening will be complemented by works by Pierre Boulez. Due to ongoing coordination with the Philharmonie, advance sales for both dates start on August 20.
ARIADNE AUF NAXOS | Oper von Richard Strauss | Staatsoper Berlin
Promotional video from 2015 production of ARIADNE AUF NAXOS
As the first opera production of the new season, ARIADNE AUF NAXOS is on the program on September 13, 15, 25 and 27, a work by Richard Strauss who has worked as court conductor and GMD at the Berlin Court Opera for 20 years. The opera, with its 30-piece orchestra without a choir, is composed from the ensemble with Anna Samuil in the title role and among others. Andreas Schager (Bacchus), Marina Prudenskaya (Komponist) and Roman Trekel (Musiklehrer). State conductor Thomas Guggeis will take over the musical direction. The most recent staging of Hans Neuenfels was at the Staatsoper Unter Linden.
WALK THE WALK will be premiered on September 10th in the Old Orchestra Rehearsal Hall by Simon Steen-Andersen, who is responsible for the composition, concept, set design and lighting (further performances: September 13th and 15th, 2020). The basic starting point of the “Performance for four drummers, treadmills, video, objects, light and smoke” is “walking.” The Danish composer and installation artist Simon Steen-Andersen works together with the Swiss drummer quartet Ensemble This | Ensemble That with the phenomenon of walking as a theatrical and musical element, thus creating a multimedia performance on tempo and movement (production and commissioned by the Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Musica Strasbourg, Gare du Nord Basel and KLANG Copenhagen).
On September 18, 19 and 20, FROM BERLIN WITH LOVE II will be followed by a gala program by the Staatsballett Berlin, illuminating the romantic-classical repertoire of the company, with dance sequences from the repertoire pieces GISELLE, SCHWANENSEE and DON QUIXOTE . The advance sale of the Berlin State Ballet will start in August 2020.
Since the official regulations for containing the COVID-19 pandemic are in motion and we have to react flexibly according to developments, there will initially be a binding reservation option for all events on the schedule from October 1, 2020 until the end of the season. From July 6th to August 19th, the State Opera Unter den Linden is on a theater holiday - we will, of course, get back to you promptly with the latest information about the reservation option from October, the advance booking and the seat capacities.
Tickets can be requested by phone at +49 (0) 30 20 35 45 55 (Tue - Sat 5 a.m. - 9 a.m. EST), via the online form on the website or by email at tickets@staatsoper-berlin.de. Due to the current situation, our box office in the theater foyer remains closed until further notice. After the theater holidays, the ticket service will be available again from August 20, 2020.
We are happy to take your press card requests for August and September from now on at pressoffice@staatsoper-berlin.de. Please understand that due to the very limited space available, we also had to reduce the press ticket quota, and therefore collect all inquiries until the start of the season and issue them according to availability from August 24th. We also ask for your understanding that we can generally only reserve a press card (no accompanying card).
We look forward to welcoming you, dear press representatives and our audience, back to the house soon. Until then, take care of yourself and stay healthy!