Staatsoper for All
On Saturday (9/18), Mozart's LE NOZZE DI FIGARO, conducted by Daniel Barenboim, will be broadcast live from the opera house to screens on Bebelplatz. Featuring: Federica Lombardi (Countess Almaviva), Anna Prohaska (Susanna), Corinna Scheurle (Cherubino), Gyula Orendt (Count Almaviva), and Gerald Finley (Figaro). The new production, the plot of which the director Vincent Huguet sets in the pop world of the 80s, celebrates its "public premiere" on this evening, after it could only take place digitally in April 2021 due to COVID-19.
On Sunday (9/19) there will be a live concert with the Staatskapelle Berlin, conducted by Daniel Barenboim, as well as with the State Opera Choir. The choir plays a central role this year: in 2021-2022, it will celebrate its 200th anniversary. To celebrate the occasion, major opera choruses from well-known works such as NABUCCO or TANNHÄUSER, are on the concert program, followed by Robert Schumann's Symphony No. 2.
“It is a great pleasure for me to conduct my 15th STAATSOPER FOR ALL this year. I am very lucky to be able to perform Mozart's LE NOZZE DI FIGARO in front of a full house and in front of 4,000 other guests who are also present on Bebelplatz. Together with our partner BMW, we will turn Bebelplatz into one of the largest concert halls in Berlin on Sunday, together with the Staatskapelle Berlin and in honor of the 200th birthday of our State Opera Choir - I'm really looking forward to that!,” says Daniel Barenboim, General Music Director of the Staatsoper Unter den Linden and the Staatskapelle Berlin.
Artistic Director Matthias Schulz: “STAATSOPER FOR ALL is always a highlight of the season, but this year the event has a special symbolic power for me as a return to experiencing culture together. I am delighted that the opera house is finally back on its feet and all guests who visit Unter den Linden in the 2021-2022 season to experience music theater in the same room again. I would particularly like to thank our main partner BMW: A crisis shows how important good partnerships and trust in the power of culture are!”
“For fifteen years, STAATSOPER FOR ALL has been transforming Berlin's late summer evenings into special musical experiences. I am very much looking forward to experiencing this atmosphere when the first notes of the Staatskapelle Berlin can be heard in the opera and above Bebelplatz. Together with the Staatsoper Unter den Linden we wish our guests a wonderful weekend - at the opera, on Bebelplatz, and via livestream,” says Bernhard Kuhnt, Head of Market Germany BMW Group.
The Staatsoper Unter den Linden and its partner BMW celebrated the 15th edition of Staatsoper for All at Bebelplatz in Berlin - under the patronage of the Governing Mayor of Berlin, Michael Müller and hosted by the ZDFkultur presenter Lisa Ruhfus. This year marks the 200th anniversary of the State Opera Choir and the 50th anniversary of the BMW Group's cultural commitment, as well as the long-awaited return of culture. Due to the Covid-19-related requirements for major events, four thousand guests were welcomed each day at Bebelplatz. Since Staatsoper for All’s inaugural year in 2007, admission has always been free.
For the first time in 18 months, opera was performed in front of a fully occupied and sold-out house on Saturday evening. The audience at Mozart's LE NOZZE DI FIGARO, staged by Vincent Huguet and conducted by Daniel Barenboim, included guests from business, culture, and society such as journalist, filmmaker and human rights activist Düzen Tekkal; actors Veronica Ferres, Lea Drinda, Janina Uhse, and Lennart Betzgen; pianist and descendant of Robert Schumann, Heike-Angela Moser; model Céline Bethmann; fashion designers Dawid Tomaszewski and Maximilian Seitz; and the founders of the Club of European Entrepreneurs Kristina Tröger and Prof. Yu Zhang. There was a dinner in the Staatsoper Unter den Linden’s Apollo Hall following the performance, in honor of the artists and the Staatsoper for All celebration.
On Sunday there was a live concert with the Staatskapelle Berlin and the Staatsopernchor, which celebrated its 200th anniversary, conducted by Martin Wright and Daniel Barenboim. On the occasion of the birthday, large opera choruses were on the concert program from Richard Wagner's TANNHÄUSER and DIE MEISTERSINGER VON NÜRNBERG, Carl Maria von Weber's DER FREISCHÜTZ, and Giuseppe Verdi's MACBETH, followed by Robert Schumann's Symphony No. 2. The concert was also streamed live worldwide.
Matthias Schulz, Director of the State Opera Unter den Linden: “The Staatsoper for All weekend was a celebration of a new beginning in front of a full house, a celebration for all artists, for Berliners - together with BMW it was possible to experience all these emotions on Bebelplatz as well. It should go on like this!”
Dr. Nicolas Peter, Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, Finance: “Staatsoper for All is a permanent fixture and a musical highlight in the capital. So we - the Staatsoper Unter den Linden and the BMW Group as the main global partner - managed to build bridges together. The passion for music connects the musicians with the listeners, and every year I let myself be inspired by the unique atmosphere of this open-air event in the center of Berlin. The artists in particular have experienced challenging times in the past year and a half. When the first sounds of Mozart rang out on Saturday evening, it was simply a very emotional moment.”
Together with the Staatsoper Unter den Linden, BMW Berlin launched the open-air event series Staatsoper for All in the heart of the city in 2007, which has since delighted more than half a million visitors and is one of the most atmospheric and successful cultural events in the city. It has always been the important foundation of the long-term partnership. Since the 2018/2019 season, and under the hashtag #BMWOPERANEXT, the BMW Group has been promoting the Staatsoper Unter den Linden as an official and global main partner. Together they create a change of perspective with the possibilities of digitization, and open the opera house to a new and larger target group.