The Children’s Opera House celebrates its premiere of SEHNSUCHT.LOHENGRIN
20 children between the ages of 12 and 14 play their version of Wagner's opera LOHENGRIN
On October 20, the Unter den Linden children's opera house will celebrate its first premiere since 2019. Under the title SEHNSUCHT.LOHENGRIN, children ages 12-14 deal with this material under the guidance of experienced professionals from the opera world, and bring their production to the Alten Orchesterprobensaal under the musical direction of Uwe Sochaczewsky and directed by Ulrike Schwab and Georg Schütky, for the performance. Rebekka Dornhege Reyes designed the set and costumes, and the concept comes from Ulrike Schwab.
SEHNSUCHT.LOHENGRIN is the result of a music theater workshop based on Richard Wagner's opera LOHENGRIN, which addresses questions of identity, longing and confidence from the perspective of children and young people. In the middle of the 19th century, Wagner breathed new life into the old legend of the fairytale Knight of the Grail. Now, the children embark on a journey into this mystical medieval world together with four professional singers. The 20 children involved share the stage with Daniel Arnaldos as Lohengrin, Adriane Queiroz as Elsa, Ulf Dirk Mädler as Telramund, and Barbara Krieger as Ortrud; members of the Staatskapelle Berlin play.
Rehearsals have been taking place for the production SEHNSUCHT.LOHENGRIN, originally planned for the end of May 2021, since September 2020. Many of the rehearsals with the children took place online during the pandemic and included individual coachings, voice trainings, and scenic discussions. In compliance with a comprehensive health plan, some meetings could also be carried out on site. All rehearsals have been taking place in the Staatsoper since the end of summer vacation.
The Berlin Children's Opera House, which was awarded the OPUS KLASSIK award in 2020 and is now firmly anchored in six Berlin districts, is one of the pillars of educational work at the Staatsoper, just like the Children's Opera Orchestra. In the original district of Lichtenberg, where the initiative was launched over ten years ago, as well as in Marzahn-Hellersdorf and Reinickendorf, there are regional centers; school groups have been established in a total of eleven locations, and these threads are woven together in the Staatsoper Unter den Linden since the 2018-19 season. In total, this program reaches hundreds of children from all Berlin districts, some of whom come into contact with the art form for the first time.
In addition to SEHNSUCHT.LOHENGRIN, the Unter den Linden children's opera house will also be presenting the new production GESCHWINDE, IHR WIRBELNDEN with music by Johann Sebastian Bach, with performances in June 2022 during the 2021/22 season.