Intendant Roland Geyerand death, Britten composed an extremely suggestive score and used a small, transparent orchestra, percussion and a piano. Death in Venice premiered in 1973 at

The Theater an der Wien receives subsidies from the Cultural Department of the City of Vienna

Intendant Roland Geyer

General sponsor

A Wien Holding Company

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Wien starts our first series of annual premieres from this season. This is not just a firm statement of intent to embrace contemporary music; it is also the fulfilment of the vision to stimulate the genre of opera to constant renewal and thereby concur with feelings already expressed by Victor Hugo: “A dream is indispensable if you want to shape the future.”

The new programme for the 2009/10 season once more brings one ope-ra premiere every month at the Theater an der Wien. Britten, Rossini, Henze, Haydn, Bach, Monteverdi, Kalitzke, Gluck, Mahler, Weber, and Strauß are the composers whose works will be premiered this year. In addition, we are once again producing two world-class dance projects: John Neumeier’s Weihnachtsoratorium and Anne Teresa De Keersmae-ker’s 3Adieux. Many outstanding artists will provide the Theater an der Wien with artistic high points this season, of whom we may explicitly mention Nikolaus Harnoncourt, who will be conducting Haydn’s fa-mous opera Il mondo della luna on his 80th birthday (in collaboration with director Tobias Moretti), and Austria’s sole Oscar winner Stefan Ruzowitzky, who makes his debut as an opera director with Der Freischütz.

“All the world’s a stage,” proclaims William Shakespeare in his beloved comedy As You Like It. With these words, he boldly asserts the power of his own particular art and seeks the approbation of his audience.

With these words I hope that you, dear reader, will find our twelve new works enjoyable and that they will gain your approbation so that we may have the pleasure of welcoming you in our theatre.

Best wishes,

Roland Geyer Intendant

When Maja stands on the tennis court she trembles like aspen leaves, snorts like a horse and rages like a hurricane. Her shots are hard, vicious, it’s all her tennis coach can do to return them. It is no game but a bitter battle – and when they both collapse exhausted, Maja knows that this tennis coach has “the same tenacity and doggedness” as she has.“Could you kill that squirrel?” He laughed, just like her, and, without stop-ping to think, hurled the animal against a tree with all his might. What is that? Madness? Obsession? Mania? – or merely a dream? It seemed as though they both desired to destroy each other. Exactly 40 years ago, Witold Gombrowicz, one of the Polish avant-garde’s “three musketeers”, died. His novel Possessed: The Secret of Myslotch evokes the ambivalence of human nature as it is caught between eroti-cism, disaster and crime. In particular the conflicting poles of individual and history, and appearance and personality, often find forceful expres-sion in his works. His language is that of fantasy, dreams, irony, even farce. Unlike the surrealists, Gombrowicz has not conceptually placed something above reality; instead he describes what is above reality, uto-pia, as man’s reality that is then destroyed, suppressed and ultimately murdered by man’s constructions. His biography makes it clear why he views man’s reality as having no home, because home only describes a public side of the human being who describes himself as mature and who by doing so surrenders himself to all the illusions and projections, all the chimaeras and all the struggle of interpersonal intercourse.

“We are all possessed,” says Christian Morgenstern, “we simply have to understand the word untheologically and sufficiently literally.” Conver-sely, it is precisely dreams and visions that make our lives a joyful cele- bration. Every human being carries in his heart a vision for his life that strives for fulfilment. It is an endless yearning that prompts us to live our dreams.

I am delighted that Johannes Kalitzke has set a libretto dramatisati-on by Christoph Klimke of this remarkable work by Gombrowicz to music, thereby making an important contribution to this year’s motto “Dream and Obsession”. It is with Die Besessenen that the Theater an der

“EvEn a sEa of drEams has anothEr shorE”

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Contentsmusic theatreB. Britten: DEATH IN VENICE 7

G. Rossini: TANCREDI 11

H. W. Henze: DER PRINz VON HOMBURG 15

J. Haydn: Il MONDO DEllA lUNA 19

J. S. Bach/J. Neumeier: WEIHNACHTSORATORIUM 23

C. Monteverdi: l’INCORONAzIONE DI POPPEA 27

J. Kalitzke: DIE BESESSENEN 31

Chr. W. Gluck: IPHIGéNIE EN TAURIDE 35

G. Mahler/A. T. De Keersmaeker: 3ADIEUx 39

C. M. v. Weber: DER FREISCHüTz 43

R. Wagner u. a.: ORlANDO MISTERIOSO 47

J. Strauß: DIE FlEDERMAUS 51

Opening night 2009/10 54Opera in cOncert 55cOncerts 63“hölle” 68

Guided Tours 71

Prices 72

Seating Plan 73

Information 75

Imprint 78

Booking form 79Telekom Austria supports innovative opera!

Sustainable partnerships with cultural institutions are a special concern of ours. That‘s why Telekom Austria is a technology partner of Theater an der Wien, which is breaking new ground as an opera house by combining the traditional with the modern. www.telekom.at

BusImage_Sekt_130x205_RZ.indd 1 20.07.2009 14:21:17 Uhr

Death in VeniceBenjamin Britten

17 september 200919 / 22 / 24 / 27 September 2009

It is true, it is all true. I can fall no further. (Gustav von Aschenbach)

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Death in VeniceOpera in two acts (1973)

MUSIC By BENJAMIN BRITTENlIBRETTO By MyFANWy PIPER BASED ON THE NOVEllA By THOMAS MANN

Performed in English with German surtitles

Conductor Donald RunniclesDirector Ramin GraySet designer Jeremy HerbertCostume designer Kandis CookChoreographer Thomas Stuart Light designer Adam Silverman

Gustav von Aschenbach Kurt StreitThe Traveller Russell BraunThe Voice of Apollo Christophe DumauxHotel porter Erik ÅrmanEnglish clerk Klemens Sander

Vokalensemble NOVA:Hotel Waiter, Russian Mother, Strawberry Seller, Russian Nanny, Gondolier, Glass Maker, Guide in Venice, Priest in St. Mark’s, Polish Father, Beggar Lady, Hotel Guests, …

ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien

Coproduction with Staatsoper Hamburg

Premiere: Thursday, 17 September 2009, 7 p.m.Performances: 19, 22, 24 & 27 September 2009, 7 p.m.Introduction: Sunday, 6 September 2009, 11 a.m.

enice as a symbol of sensuality and ambiguity, beauty and decay – in his last and most personal stage work, the British composer Benjamin Britten took Thomas Mann’s famous and much discussed novella Death In Venice as his source material, which had already been made into a film by Visconti. The plot centres on the writer Gustav von Aschenbach and the story of the fate that befalls him as an artist: after years of self-con- trol he is broken by the conflict between the struggle to achieve perfect beauty in his art and ardent, feverish passion.

The writer Gustav von Aschenbach, suffering from writer’s block, is seized by a desire for change. He travels to Venice. On his arrival he finds the sea and sky grey, the air clammy. But then his attention is taken by Tadzio, the son of a Polish family. His beauty and childlike grace fascinate the writer. He falls in love with the youth, thereby going beyond the limits of anything he could previously have imagined. Aschenbach believes he has found the perfect form in Tadzio and surrenders to his fascination and his feelings to such an extent that he passively submits to his impending death of cholera.

Benjamin Britten and his librettist Myfanwy Piper created a world in their opera that is largely composed of an introspective monologue by Aschenbach. Bound up by self-imposed shackles and social ostracism, Britten’s alter ego gives an account of inspiration through youth, of Apollo-like innocence and Dionysian desire and of a love that brings not only destruction but also liberation. For the 17 scenes evoking the am- bivalent relationship between youth and old age as well as between love and death, Britten composed an extremely suggestive score and used a small, transparent orchestra, percussion and a piano. Death in Venice premiered in 1973 at the Aldeburgh Festival, three years before Britten’s death. The part of Gustav von Aschenbach was played by Peter Pears, his life-long partner.

V

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TancrediGioachino rossini

15 October 200917 / 19 /21 / 23 October 2009

Contro il destin crudele trionferà l’amor.

love will conquer cruel fate. (Tancredi)

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Melodramma eroico in two acts (1813)

MUSIC By GIOACHINO ROSSINIlIBRETTO By GAETANO ROSSI

Performed in Italian with German surtitles

Conductor René JacobsDirector Stephen lawlessSet & costume designer Gideon DaveyChoreographer lynne HockneyLight designer Patricia Collins

Argirio Colin leeAmenaide Aleksandra KurzakTancredi Vivica GenauxOrbazzano Konstantin WolffIsaura liora GrodnikaiteRoggiero Ruby Hughes

Orchestre des Champs-ElyséesArnold Schoenberg Chor (Chorus master: Erwin Ortner)

New production Theater an der Wien

Premiere: Thursday, 15 October 2009, 7 p.m.Performances: 17, 19, 21 & 23 October 2009, 7 p.m.Introduction: Sunday, 4 October 2009, 11 a.m.

ancredi, the Sicilian drama of war and love that abounds with melo-dies and is based on Voltaire’s 1760 French tragedy of the same name, was commissioned for the Venetian carnival season of 1812/13. For the 21-year-old Gioachino Rossini, who was at the beginning of his career, the work represented a particularly great challenge. The only way he could make his name as an operatic composer was to produce a successful opera seria. To suit the taste of Italian audiences of the time the librettist Gaetano Rossi replaced the tragic ending of Voltaire’s drama with a happy one.

After years of bloody feuding, the opposing families of the Argirios and the Orbazzanos form an alliance to fight the Saracens who are laying siege to the city. To cement their new alliance, Argirio promises Orbazzano the hand of his daughter Amenaide in marriage. But Amenaide is in love with Tancre-di, who was dispossessed and banished during the civil war. For his part, Tan- credi does not yet know anything about the planned marriage of Amenaide to Orbazzano. In desperation, Amenaide tries to send a message to Tancredi asking him to rid the country of Orbazzano. But the letter goes astray and finds its way to Orbazzano. However, he thinks the letter is intended for the Saracen leader Solamir. Amenaide is arrested and sentenced to death. Tan- credi, believing that he has been betrayed by Amenaide, appears incognito, kills Orbazzano and later defeats the Saracens as well at the head of the ar- my. The populace rapturously cheers Tancredi and the lovers realise that each has remained faithful to the other after all. Nothing now stands in the way of the young couple’s union.

Tancredi is pure Rossini, a veritable explosion of virtuoso and lyrically in-spired arias. It was not long after the premiere in February 1813 at the Teatro la Fenice in Venice that Tancredi began its run of success on the opera stages of Europe. Vienna was also caught up by the spreading Rossini-mania: the first performance of Tancredi at the Theater an der Wien was as early as 1817. Even Richard Wagner, that staunch opponent of Rossini, was unable to resist his popularity and quoted Tancredi’s fa-mous opening cavatina “Di tanti palpiti” in the third act of his Meister-singer von Nürnberg

Tancredi

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T

12 november 200914 / 17 / 20 November 2009

Der Prinz von Homburghans Werner henze

nein, sagt, ist es ein traum? No, tell me, is it a dream ? (Prinz von Homburg)

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Opera in three acts (1960)

MUSIC By HANS WERNER HENzElIBRETTO By INGEBORG BACHMANN BASED ON THE STAGE PlAy By HEINRICH VON KlEIST

Performed in German

Conductor Marc AlbrechtDirector Christof loySet designer Dirk BeckerCostume designer Herbert MurauerLight designer Olaf Winter

Friedrich Wilhelm, Kurfürst von Brandenburg John UhlenhoppDie Kurfürstin Helene SchneidermanPrinzessin Natalie Britta StallmeisterPrinz Friedrich Artur von Homburg Christian GerhaherObrist Kottwitz Frode OlsenGraf Hohenzollern Johannes ChumFeldmarschall Dörfling Andreas ScheibnerErste Hofdame Simona EisingerZweite Hofdame Nina TarandekDritte Hofdame Jaroslava PepperErster Offizier Stefan ReichmannZweiter Offizier Andreas JankowitschDritter Offizier Rupert BergmannErster Heiduck Erik ÅrmanZweiter Heiduck/Wachtmeister Christian Kostal

Wiener Symphoniker


Premiere: Thursday, 12 November 2009, 7.30 p.m.Performances: 14, 17 & 20 November 2009, 7.30 p.m.Introduction: Sunday, 8 November 2009, 11 a.m.

nly a few years following the publication in 1811 of Heinrich von Kleist’s play Prinz Friedrich von Homburg, first efforts were made to set it to music. Some 150 years later, Hans Werner Henze, one of the foremost German opera composers of the present day, was looking for suitable material for an opera and chose this story of the legendary officer and dreamer. “I was looking for a language that would force my music to perform new things when combined with it, a language that my music was aiming at,” says Henze, “and what I found was the Prinz.”

On the eve of the Battle of Fehrbellin, the Prince of Homburg wanders drea- mily in the garden, watched by the electoral prince, his wife and Princess Natalie. The sleepwalking prince takes hold of Natalie’s hand, removes the glove from it and keeps it. Next morning, while the officers are discussing the strategy for the impending battle, his thoughts turn longingly to Natalie and he pays no attention to the orders given. As a result, he breaks ranks too soon on the battlefield, but nevertheless leads his troops to victory. But the electoral prince decrees that this unauthorised initiative is punishable by death. The prince is disarmed and arrested. Although Natalie protests, he declares that he finds his punishment fitting and will face the consequences. It is not until the corps of soldiers comes out in support of the prince that the death sentence is rescinded. The prince is led blindfolded into the garden in which he once sleepwalked. When Natalie removes the blindfold, what began as a dream becomes reality.

Whereas for Kleist the battle, obedience and punishment are the central themes, Henze focuses on the dream, love, the garden and the play-ful characters in his opera. He has created a moving musical drama of love, liberty and responsibility that was premiered in Hamburg in 1960. “What play is there that is accused in equal measure of possessing the spirit of servitude and the spirit of liberty?” wonders Henze’s librettist and friend, Ingeborg Bachmann. This dramatic ambivalence is also re-flected in the music: Henze brilliantly combines serial elements, twelve-note technique and tonality and by so doing creates a balance between lyrical and dramatic moments.

Der Prinz von Homburg

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O

Il mondo della lunaJoseph haydn

5 December 20097 / 9 / 11 / 13 / 22 December 2009

o Luna lucente, di febo sorella, che candida e bella risplendi lassù. O shimmering moon, sister to the sun, how clearly and beautifully you shine up there. (Ecclitico)

Dramma giocoso in three acts (1777)

MUSIC By JOSEPH HAyDNlIBRETTO AFTER CARlO GOlDONI


Conductor Nikolaus HarnoncourtDirector Tobias MorettiSet designer Renate Martin & Andreas DonhauserCostume designer Heidi HacklDramatic advisor Sebastian Huber

Buonafede Dietrich HenschelEcclitico Bernard RichterErnesto Vivica GenauxClarice Christina landshamerFlaminia Irena BespalovaiteLisetta Maite BeaumontCecco Markus Schäfer

Concentus Musicus Wien


Premiere: Saturday, 5 December 2009, 7 p.m.Performances: 7, 9, 11 & 22 December 2009 , 7 p.m.,13 December, 4 p.m.Introduction: Sunday, 22 November 2009, 11 a.m.

ave you ever flown to the moon thanks to nothing more than the power of your own imagination? In the summer of 1777, Joseph Haydn sent the guests at the prince’s wedding in Esterházy Palace into the fantastic universe with the aid of their imagination, some 190 years be-fore the first moon landing. For Il mondo della luna he turned to a sour-ce that had already been successfully used for a number of operas and was written originally by the Italian comic poet Carlo Goldoni. Haydn created a work focusing on human longings, the fabled moon and a world turned on its head.

Ecclitico is in pursuit of Clarice while Ernesto loves her sister Flaminia. But Buonafede, the father of the two young ladies and an amateur astronomer, is strictly opposed to these matches. He is also suspicious of the growing affec- tion his servant Cecco is showing towards the maid Lisetta, especially since he has his own designs on her. But the young lovers refuse to give in to pres-sure. They trick the moonstruck Buonafede into believing he has been trans-ported to the moon. A journey of discovery into outer space and the joys of love merge in the family garden into an increasingly manic muddle. The result: a bull’s eye! At the end a triple wedding is in the offing!

In Haydn’s musical evocation of the surface of the moon, there are frag- rant flowers and lush woodland instead of rocks and dust, birdsong and lyrically brilliant arias instead of silence. Haydn was international-ly renowned for his operas all his life and was even invited to undertake spectacular journeys to England. No wonder, because this score by the wittiest composer of Viennese classical music is simply bursting with creativity and is perfect for becoming “moonstruck”!

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Il mondo della lunaH

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WeihnachtsoratoriumJohn neumeier.

18 December 200919 & 20 December 2009

schließe, mein herze, dies selige Wunder fest in deinem Glauben ein!Enclose, my heart, this blessed wonder firmly in your faith ! (Weihnachts-Oratorium)

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Ballet to the Weihnachts-Oratorium, BWV 248 (1734), Cantatas I-III

BAllET By JOHN NEUMEIERMUSIC By JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH

Conductor Erwin OrtnerChoreography,Costume & Light designer John NeumeierSet designer Ferdinand Wögerbauer

Hamburg Ballett

Evangelist & Tenor Christoph PrégardienSoprano Sunhae ImAlto Marie-Claude ChappuisBass Hanno Müller-Brachmann

Wiener KammerorchesterArnold Schoenberg Chor (Chorus master: Erwin Ortner)

Coproduction with Hamburg Ballett / Staatsoper Hamburg

Reopening: Friday, 18 December 2009, 7.30 p.m.Performances: 19 & 20 December 2009, 7.30 p.m.

n music of reverence, God with his grace is always present.” This is one of the notes that Johann Sebastian Bach made in his three-volu- me luther Bible. The opening words of his Weihnachts-Oratorium, “Jauchzet, frohlocket” (“Rejoice, exult”) set the tone for the joyous out- pouring of exuberant anticipation that follows. It is the incarnation of Christ that is being celebrated. This is how it must have sounded during the 1734/35 Christmas season in leipzig when the coming of Christ was announced with great fanfare – “At St. Nicholas’ in the morning and at St. Thomas’ in the afternoon on the 1st feast day of the holy Christmas season,” as the programme leaflet tells us.

John Neumeier has made ballet history, not only with his sense of the aesthetic but also with his outstanding choreographic and philosophi- cal interpretations of major religious works. Following on from Hän- del’s Messiah, Bach’s Magnificat, Mozart’s Requiem and Bach’s Matt-häus-Passion he has created another ballet based on religious music with his choreographic treatment of the Weihnachts-Oratorium. The first three parts of Bach’s Weihnachts-Oratorium will be performed, those that deal with the story of Jesus’ birth as told in St. luke’s Gospel. Mary and Joseph, the babe in the manger, the shepherds and the heavenly host form the outer circle of characters that then leads to fundamental questions relating to faith, hope, doubt and devotion. In this way the biblical story becomes a story for us all.

John Neumeier’s Weihnachtsoratorium, this “marvellous combination of joy, jubilation, happiness and exuberance coupled with reflection, despondency, hesitancy and uncertainty. light and darkness. Companion- ship and loneliness...“ was premiered in December 2007 at the Theater an der Wien. Now this moving evening of ballet returns for three performances.

Weihnachtsoratorium„I

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L’incoronazione di Poppea Claudio monteverdi

21 January 201023 / 25 / 27 / 29 / 31 January 2010

oggi in un sol certame, l’un e l’altra di voi da me abbattuta, dirà, che’l mondo a’ cenni miei si muta. Even today I vanquish you both in a single contest, and you will have to concede that I shape the way of the world. (Amore)

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Opera in two acts and a prologue (1642)

MUSIC By ClAUDIO MONTEVERDIlIBRETTO By FRANCESCO BUSENEllO


Conductor Christopher MouldsDirector Robert CarsenSet designer Michael levineCostume designer Constance HoffmanLight designer Robert Carsen & Peter van Praet

Ottone lawrence zazzoPoppea Juanita lascarroNerone Jacek laszczkowskiOttavia Anna BonitatibusDrusilla Ingela BohlinSeneca David PittsingerArnalta Marcel BeekmanNutrice Jeffrey Francis

In further roles: Ruby Hughes, Renate Arends, Trine Wilsberg lund, Michael Dailey, Nicholas Watts, Andreas Wolf, Beate Ritter, Cornelia Horak, Dominik Köninger

Balthasar Neumann Ensemble

Coproduction between Glyndebourne Festival Opera and Opéra National de Bordeaux

Premiere: Thursday, 21 January 2010, 7 p.m.Performances: 23, 25, 27, 29 & 31 January 2010, 7 p.m.Introduction: Sunday, 17 January 2010, 11 a.m.

ne would be hard-pressed to find a more immoral story: what the 74- year-old Claudio Monteverdi and his librettist Francesco Busenello came up with over 350 years ago with their drama of characters and in-trigue L’incoronazione di Poppea undermined every moral code. In one of the first works to be written for a public theatre rather than the court, Monteverdi abandoned the mythological tradition in favour of an authentically historical subject: the story of the Roman emperor and ty- rant Nero.

Nerone has fallen for Poppea’s seductive charms. Poppea’s husband, Otto- ne, knows about his wife’s intimate relations with the emperor. Nerone’s wife, Ottavia, also bemoans the loss of her marital harmony and asks the philosopher Seneca to help her through the people and the senate. Seneca points out to Nerone the difference between power and the abuse of power. But Nerone, who removes anyone who stands in the way of his illegal love affair, drives the philosopher to suicide. For her part, Poppea stops at no calumny and exploits Nerone’s weakness to her own advantage. Following a failed as- sassination attempt on Poppea, Ottone and his accomplice Drusilla are banished. Nerone, obsessed by his love of the power-hungry Poppea, drives Ot-tavia out and, in flagrant disregard of reasons of state, makes Poppea his new empress. The prophecy in the prologue, which says that reason and mo- rality are powerless in the face of power and love, proves true.

The musical text of Monteverdi’s last opera L’incoronazione di Poppea was believed lost for many years and was not rediscovered until the end of the 19th century in Venice. This work places the lust for power and feelings of helplessness in close proximity to each other. Monteverdi, one of the inventors of opera as an art form, set these human emotions and passions to music with depth and perceptiveness. Poppea and Ne- rone’s closing lovers’ duet in particular is of supernatural beauty despite the horror by which the lovers are joined.

L’incoronazione di Poppea

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19 February 201021 / 23 / 25 February 2010

Die BesessenenJohannes Kalitzke

den Kopf hast du mir abgebissen und es tut gar nicht weh. you bit my head off and it doesn’t hurt at all. (leszczuk)

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Opera (premiere)

MUSIC By JOHANNES KAlITzKElIBRETTO By CHRISTOPH KlIMKE BASED ON THE NOVEl By WITOlD GOMBROWICz

Performed in German

Conductor Johannes KalitzkeDirector Kasper HoltenSet designer Steffen AarfingCostume designer Marie í DaliLight designer Jesper Kongshaug

Frau Ocholowska, Majas Mutter Noa FrenkelCholawicki leigh MelroseMaja Hendrickje van KerckhoveLeszczuk Benjamin HulettFürst Holszanski Jochen KowalskiSkolinski Manfred HemmMaliniak Rupert Bergmann

Klangforum Wien

World premiere commissioned by the Theater an der Wien

Premiere: Friday, 19 February 2010, 7 p.m.Performances: 21, 23 & 25 February 2010, 7 p.m.Introduction: Sunday, 14 February 2010, 11 a.m.

ild characters, smouldering passion, avarice, a fateful towel and, to cap it all, a murder: these were the ingredients with which the Polish author spiced up the novel Possessed: The Secret of Myslotch that he wrote in in-stalments for the Polish newspapers Morning Express and Red Courier in 1939. For decades, the novel was believed lost due to the war. But in 1967 it was rediscovered and translated into many languages. Now the German author Christoph Klimke has turned Gombrowicz’s work into a libretto dramatisation and concentrated on individual plot lines.

The egocentric, young and beautiful Maja is engaged to Cholawicki, the sup- posed heir to an old, dilapidated castle that nevertheless contains numerous art treasures. With this inheritance, Maja believes he will also make her rich and save her mother from bankruptcy at the same time. These materialistic plans are thwarted by Leszczuk, however, a young tennis player who falls in love with Maja. Both of them are unscrupulous egotists who share the blame for the self-destruction of society that is marked by morbid decay. The only person who really does anything to secure the future and preserve the country’s culture is the art historian Skolinski who carries out a valuation of the collection in the castle. On the other hand, the old prince and lord of the castle is obsessed not only with material possessions but also by his missing son. The possessed are ultimately driven to destruction – all that remains at the end is disillusionment.

The music of Die Besessenen was written to suggest on the one hand the relation between the various different periods that the characters live in or feel they belong to, and on the other, the image of this bizarre ghost- ly apparition, the towel, that plunges the characters into confusion. Ele-ments of old music and commercial media combine with composer Johannes Kalitzke’s own tonal language to form a web of structural re- lationships that, like the folds of a towel or a fan that slowly closes lea- ving a pictureless shaft, contracts as the plot progresses to form a com- pact centre that sucks everything into it.

Die BesessenenW

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14 March 201016 / 18 / 20 / 23 March 2010

Iphigénie en TaurideChristoph Willibald Gluck

Il ne se fera pas, ce sacrifice abominable, impie... No longer will I make this abominable, ungodly sacrifice…

(Iphigénie)

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Tragédie opéra in four acts (1779)

MUSIC By CHRISTOPH WIllIBAlD GlUCKlIBRETTO By NICOlAS-FRANÇOIS GUIllARD

Performed in French with German surtitles

Conductor Harry BicketDirector Torsten FischerSet designer Vasilis TriantafillopoulosCostume designer Andreas JanczykLight designer Diego leetz

Iphigénie Véronique GensThoas Andrew SchroederOreste Stéphane DegoutPylade Rainer TrostPrêtresse Petra SimkováFemme grecque Teresa Gardner

Wiener SymphonikerArnold Schoenberg Chor (Chorus master: Erwin Ortner)


Premiere: Sunday, 14 March 2010, 7 p.m.Performances: 16, 18, 20 & 23 March 2010, 7 p.m.Introduction: Sunday, 7 March 2010, 11 a.m.

he story of the curse on the family of Tantalus and its tales of vengean- ce, hatred, sacrifice, deadly entanglements and murder has lost none of its macabre fascination over the centuries. Countless dramatists, authors and composers have chosen to work with the ancient, bleak family dra-ma of the military commander Agamemnon, his wife Clytemnestra and their children Iphigenia, Orestes and Electra. The French libretto written by Nicolas-François Guillard for Christoph Willibald Gluck’s opera Iphi-génie en Tauride and based on Euripides contains great conflict and emo-tional turmoil.

Iphigenia has been saved from being sacrificed by her father. She now lives on the island of the Taurians and has the task of killing any foreigner that co-mes to the island seeking refuge. Her dreams are plagued by memories of the bloody destruction of her family. She does not know that her brother Orestes was able to escape the massacre. Years later she sees him and his friend Pylades who have been taken prisoner by the Taurians, but brother and sister fail to recognise each other. However, the unknown prisoner reminds Iphi- genia of Orestes, so she decides to save him. Orestes, though, prefers to face death instead of Pylades. During the sacrifice, brother and sister recognise each other. Just as Thoas, the king of the Scythians, is about to kill Orestes, Pylades suddenly appears and murders the king. The people sing in praise of the coming peace and the end of the wars on Tauris.

The premiere of Iphigénie en Tauride in Paris in 1779 gave Gluck the grea-test success of his life. It was in this work that the ambitious composer succeeded in executing his ideas for reform in every respect and in gi- ving musical theatre greater authenticity again. His approach to the an-cient myth is an appeal for the values of humanity; at the same time, Gluck paved the way for modern musical drama with this work.

Iphigénie en TaurideT

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3Adieuxanne teresa de Keersmaeker

Jérôme Bel

28 & 29 March 2010

Wohin ich geh? Ich geh, ich wandre in die Berge.Ich suche ruhe für mein einsam herz.

Where am I going ?I’m going, wandering into the mountains.I’m looking for peace for my lonely heart. (Farewell)

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Ballet by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker and Jérôme Bel

MUSIC By GUSTAV MAHlERTRANSCRIBED By ARNOlD SCHOENBERG

Conception Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker Jérôme Bel

Dance Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker Voice Sara FulgoniConductor Georges-Elie Octors

Ictus Ensemble

A commissioned production by RosasCoproduction with Théâtre de la Monnaie Bruxelles, Opéra de lille and Sadler’s Wells Dance House london

Premiere: Sunday, 28 March 2010, 7.30 p.m.Performance: 29 March 2010, 7.30 p.m.

he dance evening 3Adieux sees an encounter between two original and exceptionally talented artists: the mathematical and at the same time ex-pressive choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker and the French choreographer Jérôme Bel, creator of controversial performances such as The Show Must Go On. The two found common ground for a joint pro-ject during the course of conversations about their work. This common ground consists primarily of their boundless curiosity to find out what the human body is capable of expressing, portraying and producing on stage.

The source of 3Adieux is the final part of Gustav Mahler’s Lied von derErde, the six-part cycle he composed in the fateful years 1907-09 based on ancient Chinese poetry rendered into German by Hans Bethge. At first sight, the complex and mysterious score stubbornly refuses to al-low the kind of physical expression pursued by Anne Teresa De Keers- maeker and Jérôme Bel. In 3Adieux only the final section of Mahler’s work is heard, the parting, repeated three times. 3Adieux is a work about silence, reticence and surprise, translated into the reality of a physical stage performance.

“Precisely because of the risk of being caught up in repetition, as the title itself indicates, we will infuse this piece with our lifeblood. We will try to understand it and grasp it. It will not disclose itself to us readily, but like Gustav Mahler, who was not afraid when confronted by death, we will not be afraid, either.” (Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker and Jérôme Bel)

3Adieux

MUSIC THEATRE | 41

T

19 april 2010 21 / 23 / 26 / 29 April & 3 May 2010

misera me! non posso aver quiete mie pene anche nel sonno. Ich Unglückliche! Mein Schmerz findet keine Ruhe, nicht einmal im Schlaf. (Ginevra)

Der FreischützCarl maria von Weber

für welche schuld muss ich bezahlen? Was weiht dem falschen Glück mein haupt? What is the guilt that I must pay for ?Why is my head fated to ill luck ? (Max)

44 |

he marksman (Freischütz) has scored a bull’s eye,” wrote Carl Ma-ria von Weber to his librettist Johann Friedrich Kind in 1821 in the after- math of the opera’s dazzling premiere. He was to be proved right, becau-se it was not long before Der Freischütz began packing one theatre after another. In fact, following further performances, it even turned into so-mething resembling an acoustic epidemic. Conceived immediately after the Napoleonic Wars, this romantic opera about fear of failure, crumbling conventions and woodland enchantment conjures up a fantasy world rich in symbols and eerie apparitions.

Max loves Agathe, the daughter of the ranger Kuno. In order to be able to marry her he must first pass a difficult shooting trial. But luck seems to have deserted Max of late, he keeps missing the target and fully expects to be a laughingstock before very much longer. In desperation he turns to Kaspar, whom he believes to be his friend. Kaspar lures him into the fearsome Wolf ’s Glen at night to cast magic bullets. Six of these bullets will hit any target the marksman chooses, but the seventh will strike an innocent vic- tim. At the shooting contest in front of the assembled foresters, Max unsus- pectingly trusts to the accuracy of the seventh bullet. He shoots and Agathe drops to the ground. Miraculously, she is saved and Kaspar dies instead of her. Max confesses to the swindle. He is not expelled from the company but has to undergo another trial year before he can marry Agathe. After this ad- ditional year, no shooting trial will be necessary.

“Do not fail to see how, with this sinister main character, I am aided by the circumstance that half the opera is played in the dark,” said Weber, who uses tremendous melodic creativity, a rousing orchestra and moti-vic references in Der Freischütz to portray the victory over the powers of darkness.

sponsored by

Der Freischütz

MUSIC THEATRE | 45

Romantic opera in three acts (1821)

MUSIC By CARl MARIA VON WEBERlIBRETTO By JOHANN FRIEDRICH KIND

Performed in German

Conductor Bertrand de BillyDirector Stefan RuzowitzkySet designer Renate Martin & Andreas DonhauserCostume designer Nicole FischnallerDramatic advisor Anton Maria Aigner

Agathe Elza Van den HeeverÄnnchen Mojca ErdmannKaspar Falk StruckmannMax Simon O’NeillKuno Martin SnellKilian Dominik KöningerEremit Artur KornOttokar Henk NevenSamiel Karl Markovics

ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester WienArnold Schoenberg Chor (Chorus master: Erwin Ortner)


Premiere: Monday, 19 April 2010, 7 p.m.Performances: 21, 23, 26, 29 April & 3 May 2010, 7 p.m.Introduction: Sunday, 18 April 2010, 11 a.m.

„T

Orlando misteriosonadja michael

23 & 25 June 2010

Ich möchte dir mein ganzes Innre zeigen,allein das schicksal will es nicht. I wish to show you all I have inside,But fate will not allow it. (Mignon)

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A journey through song

MUSIC By RICHARD WAGNER, ROBERT SCHUMANN, HUGO WOlF, GUSTAV MAHlER, RICHARD STRAUSS

Idea, concept, soprano Nadja MichaelPiano Miku Nishimoto-Neubert

Light design & Technical advisor Carsten WankMake-up & Props Kathrin WergerSound & Effects Thomas BerlinChoreography Ophélia Volker MichlArtistic advisor Franz Winter

Premiere: Wednesday, 23 June 2010, 7.30 p.m.Performance: 25 June 2010, 7.30 p.m.

song recital? The evening conceived by the soprano Nadja Michael is much more than that. The singer and artist of exceptional talent takes the audience on an emotional, musical and visual journey that, like the one undertaken by Orlando, passes through different epochs. A jour-ney that begins with the stately pomp of a Mary, Queen of Scots and increasingly turns inward through the various characters and changes of sex. Irrespective of the transformations of the outer shell, “Orlando” finds himself repeatedly confronted by the same vital issues, albeit from widely differing perspectives.

The answers that the composers find with their protagonists Mary, Queen of Scots, Ophelia, and Mignon, but also with the journeyman, are as varied as those who ask the questions. Consequently, it is not the characters who take centre stage during this evening, but the con-stant transformation of a psychological state that has to find the answers to these questions.

To this end, Nadja Michael has chosen songs by Richard Wagner, Robert Schumann, Hugo Wolf, Gustav Mahler and Richard Strauss that trace this path of change and transformation, of evolution and maturing.

Orlando misterioso

MUSIC THEATRE | 49

A

Die FledermausJohann strauß.

15 July 201017 / 20 / 22 / 25 / 27 / 29 July & 3 / 5 / 8 August 2010

verlang nicht zu schaun, was hier verhüllt, erbeben würdest du vor diesem Bild ! Don’t demand to see what is hidden here,you would tremble at this image ! (Rosalinde)

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Operetta in three acts (1874)

MUSIC By JOHANN STRAUSSlIBRETTO By CARl HAFFNER AND RICHARD GENéEAFTER HENRI MEIlHAC AND lUDOVIC HAléVy

Performed in German

Conductor Cornelius MeisterDirector Philipp HimmelmannSet designer Johannes leiackerCostume designer Gesine VöllmLight designer Thomas Roscher

Gabriel von Eisenstein Kurt StreitRosalinde Nicola Beller CarboneAdele Juanita lascarroDr. Falke (Frosch) Florian BoeschPrinz Orlofsky Jacek laszczkowskiAlfred Rainer TrostFrank Markus ButterDr. Blind Erik Årman

ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester WienArnold Schoenberg Chor (Chorus master: Erwin Ortner)


Premiere: Thursday, 15 July 2010, 7.30 p.m.Performances: 17, 20, 22, 25, 27, 29 July & 3, 5, 8 August 2010, 7.30 p.m.Introduction: Sunday, 11 July 2010, 11 a.m.

t tickles the ear and trickles through the blood all the way to the legs, and even the most sluggish person in the auditorium cannot help but nod his head, rock his body and shake his feet. One can now be afflic- ted by the most pleasant sea-sickness in a box at Theater an der Wien, such is the swaying movement in the stalls on account of the en- chanting sounds that Johann Strauß extracts from the orchestra with his baton.” This description of Strauß’s mixture of waltzes and galops ap-peared in the Morgenpost following the triumphant premiere of Die Fle-dermaus on Easter Sunday, the 5th of April, 1874 at Theater an der Wien.

Rosalinde falls for the dulcet tones of Alfred’s tenor voice, while her husband, Gabriel von Eisenstein, covets the ballet pupils, Adele the maid dreams of a career as a diva, the prison governor Frank turns himself into a French cheva- lier, his assistant Frosch drowns his last vestige of sense in slivovitz, Prince Or- lofsky hopes to be entertained and Dr. Falke takes delight in wreaking ven- geance – in a single night, they all surrender to these sensual temptations. In a maelstrom of betting, flirting, drinking, and dancing, inhibitions are cast aside to the extent that the night rings to the sound of avowals of eternal friendship: “For all eternity, just as today, if we think about it tomorrow!” Ah yes, tomorrow: that is when the truth is revealed, and what a sobering effect it has! But who is to blame? The champagne, of course!

Strauß found the cryptic joke underlying this story so appealing that he finished the score in only 42 days. The sensational international success that followed made Die Fledermaus the ultimate in Viennese operetta. At the Theater an der Wien the work was performed 49 times in the first 65 days following the premiere alone. To date, the number of perfor-mances totals a remarkable 445. In the summer of 2009 the eternally fresh, night-loving Fledermaus returns to Theater an der Wien, the place where it was performed for the very first time.

MUSIC THEATRE | 53

Die Fledermaus„I

Opera in Concert

25 September 200926 September 2009

22 October 200915 November 2009

24 February 201022 April 2010

L’anima del filosofo Joseph Haydn

agrippina Georg Friedrich Händel

armida al campo d’Egitto Antonio Vivaldi

Ezio Georg Friedrich Händel

farnace Antonio Vivaldi

Giove in argo Georg Friedrich Händel

Opening night 2009/10susannaThursday, 10 September 2009, 7 p.m.

georg Friedrich händel (1685-1759)SusannaOratorio in three acts (1749)

WIllIAM CHRISTIE conductorlES ARTS FlORISSANTS CHœUR ET ORCHESTRE

Susanna Sophie KarthäuserJoacim Max Emanuel Cencic First Elder William BurdenSecond Elder Alan EwingDaniel David DQ leeAttendant Emmanuelle De Negri

54 |

56 | OPERA IN CONCERT | 57

agrippinaSaturday, 26 September 2009, 7 p.m.

Dramma per musica in three acts (1709)

Music by georg Friedrich händel (1685-1759)libretto by Vincenzo grimani

Concert performance in Italian

AlAN CURTIS conductorIl COMPlESSO BAROCCO

Agrippina Alexandrina PendatchanskaNerone Tuva SemmingsenPoppea Klara EkOttone Iestyn DaviesClaudio Umberto Chiummo Pallante Raffaele Costantini Narciso/Giunone Antonio GiovanniniLesbo Matteo Ferrara

L’anima del filosofoFriday, 25 September 2009, 7 p.m.

Dramma per musica in four acts (1791)

Music by Joseph haydn (1732-1809)libretto by carlo Francesco Badini


PAUl GOODWIN conductorKAMMERORCHESTERBASEl WIENER KAMMERCHOR

Euridice, Genio Simone KermesOrfeo Paul AgnewCreonte, Pluto Jonathan lemalu


EzioSunday, 15 November 2009, 7 p.m.


Music by georg Friedrich händel (1685-1759)based on a libretto by pietro Metastasio


ATTIlIO CREMONESI conductorKAMMERORCHESTERBASEl

Fulvia Veronica CangemiEzio lawrence zazzoValentiniano Sonia PrinaOnoria Kristina HammarströmMassimo Vittorio PratoVaro Antonio Abete

armida al campo d’EgittoThursday, 22 October 2009, 7 p.m.


Music by antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)libretto by giovanni palazzi


RINAlDO AlESSANDRINI conductorCONCERTO ITAlIANO

Califfo Furio zanasiArmida Sara MingardoOsmira Monica BacelliErminia Raffaella MilanesiEmireno Marina ComparatoAdrasto Romina BassoTisaferno Martin Oro


Giove in argoThursday, 22 April 2010, 7 p.m.

Composizione drammatica in three acts (1739)

Music by georg Friedrich händel (1685-1759)Based on the libretto Giove in Argo by antonio Maria lucchini


AlAN CURTIS conductorIl COMPlESSO BAROCCO

Iside Ann HallenbergDiana Theodora BakaCalisto Karina GauvinArete Topi lehtipuuErasto Vito PrianteLicaone Gianluca Buratto

farnaceWednesday, 24 February 2010, 7 p.m.


Music by antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)libretto by antonio Maria lucchini


STEFANO MOlARDI conductor & cembaloJONATHAN GUyONNET first violinI VIRTUOSI DEllE MUSE

Farnace Sonia PrinaBerenice Maria Grazia SchiavoSelinda lucia CirilloGilade Sabina PuértolasPompeo Anders J. DahlinAquilio Robert GetchellTamiri Marina de liso

Concertsthe othello syndromeTuesday, 20 October 2009, 7.30 p.m.

Music by Uri caine based on the opera by giuseppe Verdi

URI CAINE ENSEMBlEBunny Sigler, Josefine lindstrand, Sadiq Bey voiceUri Caine keyboardChris Speed clarinetRalph Alessi trumpetTim lefebvre basszach Danziger drumsNguyen le guitar

mozart piano concerti IFriday, 13 November 2009, 7.30 p.m.

STEFAN VlADAR piano & conductorWIENER KAMMERORCHESTER

Wolfgang amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

Piano concerto A major K 414

Piano concerto A major K 488

Le nozze di Figaro K 492 – Overture

Piano concerto A major K 537 Krönungskonzert

64 | CONCERTS | 65

Edita GruberovaSaturday, 12 December 2009, 7.30 p.m.

EDITA GRUBEROVA soprano

WIENER KAMMERORCHESTERANDRIy yURKEVyCH conductor

Arias by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Gaetano Donizetti and Vincenzo Bellini

new Year’s EveConcluding the Haydn anniversary year 2009

Thursday, 31 December 2009, 7.30 p.m.

Joseph haydn (1732-1809)Die SchöpfungOratorio in three parts (1799)

ADAM FISCHER conductorFREIBURGER BAROCKORCHESTERARNOlD SCHOENBERG CHOR

GENIA KüHMEIER sopranoMICHAEl SCHADE tenorHANNO MüllER-BRACHMANN bass

La Grande-duchesse de GerolsteinFriday, 8 January 2010, 7.30 p.m.

Opéra-bouffe in three acts (1867), concert performanceMusic by Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880)libretto by henri Meilhac and ludovic halévy

HERVé NIQUET conductorKAMMERORCHESTERBASEl

With ANNE SOFIE VON OTTER, AGATHA WIlEWSKA, ROlF ROMEI, ANDREW MURPHy, KARl-HEINz BRANDT a. o.

handel-arias & concertiSunday, 24 January 2010, 7.30 p.m.

DANIEllE DE NIESE soprano

GIOVANNI ANTONINI conductorIl GIARDINO ARMONICO

mozart piano concerti IIThursday, 28 January 2010, 7.30 p.m.



Idomeneo K 367 – Ballet music

Piano concerto G major K 453

Don Giovanni K 527 – Overture

Piano concerto B major K 595

66 | CONCERTS | 67

mozart piano concerti IIIWednesday, 17 March 2010, 7.30 p.m.



Piano concerto E flat major K 271

Die Zauberflöte K 620 – Overture

Piano concerto E flat major K 482

Goran BregovicMonday, 22 March 2010, 7.30 p.m.

WEDDING AND FUNERAl ORCHESTRA

Best of Goran Bregovic – A birthday concert for and with Goran Bregovic.

osterKlang 2010From Saturday, 27 March to Easter Monday, 4 April 2010

The festival programme will be announced in December 2009.

Beethoven at the premiere venueSunday, 11 April 2010, 11 a.m.

CHRISTIAN THIElEMANN conductorWIENER PHIlHARMONIKER

ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

Symphony No. 6 F major Sinfonia pastorale Symphony No. 5 C minor Schicksals-Symphonie

schubert IFriday, 30 April 2010, 7.30 p.m.

JUlIAN RACHlIN violinITAMAR GOlAN piano

Sonatas D major D 384, A minor D 385, G minor D 408, A major D 574

schubert IISunday, 2 May 2010, 7.30 p.m.

JUlIAN RACHlIN violin, violaITAMAR GOlAN piano

Sonata A minor D 821 for arpeggione and pianoRondo B minor D 895Fantasie C major D 934

These two concerts present Franz Schubert’s (1797-1828) entire works for violin and piano.

| 6968 |

tanz der BlindenIn the autumn of 1906 Siegmund and leopold Natzler opened a ca-baret company in the cellar of the Theater an der Wien: the Hölle (hell). The aim was to provide intelligent and popular entertainment. Good in- house writers, a crowd-pulling leading lady and a programme cleverly tailored to the audience’s wishes made the Hölle one of the most dura-ble cabaret theatres to be founded during the pre-war years. The stars of the Hölle were Fritz Grünbaum, Béla lászky and his wife, the acclai-med diseuse Mela Mars, Ralph Benatzky, and Josma Selim. Music was provided by Franz lehár who parodied his own successful works in the Hölle, leo Fall, Edmund Eysler, and a young Robert Stolz. The acts in-cluded chansons, ingeniously humorous monologues, solo numbers, sketches, risqué songs, one-act plays, and small-scale operettas. Guest performers and variety numbers made the programme still more varied. A modern restaurant in a Jugendstil ambience took care of the audience’s gastronomic wishes. The greatest names of the Viennese caba-ret scene helped make the Hölle a success: Heinrich Eisenbach, Hans Moser, Karl Farkas and Egon Friedell. In the 1920s the popularity of the Hölle reached new heights thanks to Hugo Wiener, Fritz Heller, and Stella Kadmon.

Marie-Theres Arnbom and Georg Wacks mark the theatre’s 104th an-niversary with a programme that takes audiences down into the depths of the Hölle and presents highlights from twenty years of cabaret in au-thentic costumes and with magnificent sets.

Director, programme compiler, and conductor: Georg WacksWith Christoph Wagner-Trenkwitz, Elena Schreiber, Stefan Fleischhacker, Martin Thoma, and Georg Wacks

The music is provide by the “Albero Verde” ensemble led by Christina Renghofer.

premiere: saturday, 6 March 2010, 8 p.m.Performances: 9, 10, 11 & 13 March, 8 p.m.

Philemon und BaucisPuppet theatre to the opera by Joseph Haydn

A land in the grip of a crisis: the coffers are empty, the mood has hit rock bottom, despondency and despair are rife – what a miserable existence! Even the slightest luxury, every paltry banquet – be it for a mere 1,000 guests – is greeted with envy! Even the state carriage is resented, while the servants have been reduced to the bare minimum of a few hundred. As for the holiday residences, well, one hardly dares set foot there any more… So the monarch Maria Theresa sets out to travel across the country. But she finds no sign of true happiness. With the aid of Joseph Haydn she descends into the catacombs of the city. Here, it is said, she can find what she seeks!

premiere: tuesday, 3 november 2009, 8 p.m.Performances: 6, 8, 25, 26, 28 & 30 November, 8 p.m.

haydn bricht aufor: 7 Tage die die Welt veränderten

Music by Bernhard lang (reopening)

That “the ambivalence of the myth of creation” with its negative elements of temptation, the Fall of Man and expulsion from Paradise is complete- ly ignored in Haydn’s popular oratorio, that everything is so “wholesome and beautiful” in it and ends in an idyll hard to stomach in this day and age, presented Bernhard lang with a challenge. By “painting over” the Creation to a libretto by Kabinetttheater director Thomas Reichert he in-tends to allow the Devil at least a fraction of the role of adversary that he is entitled to so he can create the tension and conflict necessary for seeing Haydn’s perfect world from a contemporary perspective.

premiere: tuesday, 12 January 2010, 8 p.m.Performances: 14, 16 & 18 January, 8 p.m.

Kabinetttheater The new “Hölle”

„In der Oper ist alles falsch:das Licht, die Dekorationen,

die Frisuren der Balleteusen, ihre Büsten und ihr Lächeln.

Wahr sind nur die Wirkungen, die von ihr ausgehen.“

Edgar Degas

Und Kulturengagement wirkt: Förderer und Partner tragen ideell und finanziell zur Realisierung unserer Opernproduktionen bei, profitieren vom positiven Image des neuen Opernhauses Theater an der Wien und genießen durch ihr Engagement viele Vorteile. Unser Circle-System mit Silver-, Golden- und Platin-Circle bietet eine ideale Plattform für gemeinsames Wirken.

Das Theater an der Wien dankt:

Vereinigte Bühnen Wien

ein Unternehmen der Wien holding

Kontakt: Mag. Ulrike Spann Leitung Development Department [email protected], 0043/01/58830-224

AGRANAHauptsponsor

AUSTRIAN AIRLINESGolden Circle

TELEKOM AUSTRIAGolden Circle

| 71

Guided ToursTheater an der Wien is one of the most beautiful theatres in Vienna and has one of the richest musical traditions. Now it offers you the uni- que opportunity to sample the theatrical atmosphere in a building that has enchanted audiences for over two centuries with its outstanding acoustics and its authentic and intimate setting.

Groups taking part in guided tours are limited to thirty people. The meeting point is the main entrance where the group will be picked up; the visitors then enter the theatre through the foyer. Tours are in Ger-man with English available on request and last approximately one hour.

The tour includes the foyer, the auditorium, the stage, the cellar down- stage, and the dressing-room area. Visitors will hear about the building’s history, its programme of performances, the way it is organised, and the technology used.

It is of course also possible to book private tours (in other languages, for example, or at other times). If you require such a tour, please be sure to book your appointment beforehand, either in writing or by phone.

For the dates and times of guided tours, see the website of Theater an der Wien (www.theater-wien.at), the theatre’s magazine, and the bimonth- ly folder.

Information: Philipp Wagner, Tel. +43 (0) 1 58830-664 E-mail: [email protected]

Theater an der Wien thanks:

agranaGeneral sponsor

austrian airlinesGolden Circle

telekom austriaGolden Circle

“In opera, everything is fake: the light, the decorations, the coiffures of the ballerinas, their busts and their smiles. only the effect

that opera has upon us is real.”

Edgar Degas

“Our commitment to culture is collaborative. Sponsors and partners contribute – both conceptually and financially – to the realization of our productions, they profit from our positive company image, and they en-joy the many advantages that result from their commitment. Our Circle System with its Silver, Golden, and Platinum Circles provides an ideal platform for artistic cooperation.”

Contact: Ulrike SpannHead of Development [email protected], +43 (0) 1 58830-224

72 |

No tickets are on sale for the boxes in the second balcony at any concerts or

concert performances of operas.

Dienstsitze

TAW 2009/10: Musiktheater

12

2

21 4 53 45 2 13

2

34

Seating PlanPricesmusic theatre & ballet Prices in ¤

Il MONDO DEllA lUNA | DER FREISCHüTz

a 140 b 120 c 95 d 85 e 64 f 45 g 23

DEATH IN VENICE | TANCREDI | l’INCORONAzIONE DI POPPEA IPHIGéNIE EN TAURIDE | DIE FlEDERMAUS

a 130 b 105 c 79 d 63 e 49 f 34 g 18 WEIHNACHTSORATORIUM (HAMBURG BAllETT) DER PRINz VON HOMBURG | DIE BESESSENEN

a 115 b 96 c 75 d 59 e 46 f 28 g 12 3ADIEUx | GORAN BREGOVIC | ORlANDO MISTERIOSO

a 78 b 65 c 53 d 42 e 32 f 23 g 11

Concerts & opera in concert12 December 09: Edita Gruberova | 31 December 09: New year’s Eve 11 April 10: Beethoven at the premiere venue

a 96 b 85 c 72 d 59 e 46 f 28 g 12

10 September 09: Opening night 2009/10

a 86 b 74 c 60 d 49 e 38 f 25 g 11

25 September 09: l’anima del filosofo | 26 September 09: Agrippina 22 October 09: Armida al campo d’Egitto | 15 November 09: Ezio 8 January 10: la Grande-Duchesse de Gerolstein | 24 February 10: Farnace | 22 April 10: Giove in Argo

a 62 b 52 c 40 d 32 e 26 f 18 g 11

20 October 09: The Othello Syndrome | 13 November 09, 28 January 10, 17 March 10: Mozart – piano concerti I, II & III | 24 January 10: Handel-Arias & Concerti | 30 April 10, 2 May 10: Schubert I & II

a 55 b 48 c 40 d 32 e 24 f 17 g 11

Kabinetttheater 3, 6, 8, 25, 26, 28 & 30 November 09: PHIlEMON UND BAUCIS 12, 14, 16 & 18 January 10: HAyDN BRICHT AUF 18

the new “hölle” 6, 9, 10, 11 & 13 March 10: TANz DER BlINDEN 18

Introductions 5

student ticketsStudent tickets are available at the evening box office at the earliest half an hour before the performance starts. A valid photo ID must be presented. Price opera: ¤ 15,- / Price concert: ¤ 10,-

Guided tours (see p. 71 for details)

Prices: regular: ¤ 7,- / reduced: ¤ 5,-/ schools: ¤ 3,- Children under 6: free.Registration: Tel. +43 (0) 1 588 30-664, E-Mail: [email protected]

Low-priced parking opportunities for visitors near theater an der WienAt the WiPark Garage of the Technical University of Vienna, visitors of the Theater an der Wien have the possibility of low-priced parking only 2 mi-nutes from the theatre (first 5 hours ¤ 6,90,- instead of ¤ 16,-). This benefit is valid from 5 p.m. to 8 a.m., as well as on Sundays and public holidays. The required commutation ticket is available at the box office at the Theater an der Wien. Adress of the WiPark Garage: Operngasse 13 | 1040 Vienna

Ö1 ClubÖ1 Club reductions of 10% for at most 2 tickets are obtainable at the Theater an der Wien box office. The reduction is valid for our own pro-ductions only, except standing room. Ö1 Club ID must be presented.

Wiener festwochenTickets for the performances of the Wiener Festwochen in May/June 2010 are only available at the Wiener Festwochen: www.festwochen.at, festival service hotline (+43/1) 589 22 22.

InformationProcessing charges (outside Austria)

telephone¤ 6,- incl. postage with payment via credit card or bank transfer

internet¤ 6,- incl. postage with payment via credit card.

Group bookingsFor group bookings (8 PAx and more) please contact the sales department of the Theater an der Wien at +43 (0) 1 588 30-651 or [email protected]

Gift vouchersGift vouchers to the value of ¤ 10, 20, 50 und 100 can be obtained by pho-ning +43 (0) 1 588 85 and are also available at the Theater an der Wien box office. For performances of the Wiener Festwochen at the Theater an der Wien these vouchers are not valid.

Wheelchair spaceshandicapped personsWheelchair spaces (incl. one person for escort) can be booked up to one week before the respective performance by phoning +43 (0) 1 588 85. Price: ¤ 10,-We point out that the Theater an der Wien does not have an elevator. Handicapped persons are advised to choose tickets at the ground floor.

standing roomTickets are available at the evening box office at the earliest 1 hour before the performance starts. Price: ¤ 7,-

BookingsTickets for 2009/10 are available at the ticket agencies (box office at the Theater an der Wien, Vienna Ticket Pavillon) and can also be ordered by telephone and via internet.

Box officeTheater an der Wien, linke Wienzeile 6, 1060 Vienna, AustriaOpening hours: Monday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

vienna ticket PavillonTickets (except discounted tickets) are also available at the Vienna Ticket Pavillon at the Karajan-Platz next to the Vienna State Opera.Opening hours: Monday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

telephoneTickets (except discounted tickets) can also be booked by phone: Monday to Sunday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Internetwww.theater-wien.at (orders only payable by credit card)

Written bookingsBookings can be done in written form by filling out the booking form,which is enclosed in this programme.

INFORMATION | 7776 | 75 |

78 |

vErEInIGtE BühnEn WIEn GEs.m.B.h.Managing Director Thomas Drozda

thEatEr an dEr WIEnIntendant Roland Geyer Assistant to Intendant Sylvia Hödl | Artistic Planning Sebastian Schwarz, Claudia Stobrawa, Axel Schneider Production Management Petra Haidvogel, Anja Meyer | Dramaturgy Nora Schmid, Petra AichingerArtistic Administration Renate Futterknecht | Assistant to Artistic Administration Edith GutmaierTicketing & Subscriptions Philipp Wagner, Markus Schemmel | Public Relations Sabine Seisenbacher Marketing Tina Osterauer | Youth Projects Catherine leiter | Art Direction Anna Graf | Technical Director Kurt Schöny | Head of Costume Department Doris Maria Aigner | Technical Production Gerald Stotz | Technical Office Rainer Kulczycki, Ulrike Ranft | Lighting Franz Vochoska | Sound Robert Macalik | Makeup Wilhelm Honauer | Dresser Andreas Schaffler | Facility Management Erich Skrobanek

PhotoGraPhIC matErIaLCover image © spot.ag / michael huber . thomas riegler (art direction: thomas riegler) Photo Theater an der Wien © Vereinigte Bühnen Wien | Inside cover © Wolfgang Simlinger p. 3 Intendant Roland Geyer © Priska Ketterer

Illustrations: p. 6 Death in Venice © yann Bagot / yannbagot.com / ensaders.over-blog.com p. 10 Tancredi © Edward McGowan / colagene.comp. 14 Der Prinz von Homburg, S. 18 Il mondo della luna © Emmanuel Polanco / colagene.comp. 22 Weihnachtsoratorium © Mikyung Hwang / mkh.ultra-book.com / [email protected]. 26 L’incoronazione di Poppea © Virginie Douay / picnicparty.net/virginie-douayp. 30 Die Besessenen © Hélène Rajcak / helenerajcak.netp. 34 Iphigénie en Tauride, S. 38 3Adieux © Caroline Gamon / carolinegamon.ultra-book.comp. 42 Der Freischütz © Sketch by Marc Bellini for Theater an der Wienp. 46 Orlando misterioso © Cécile de Beauvoir / pianocktail.infop. 50 Die Fledermaus © laura Rodriguez / laurarodriguez.ultra-book.comp. 62 Concerts © Anette Renz / arenzette.com

PuBLIshInG dEtaILsTheater an der Wien – Intendant Roland GeyerPublisher & Proprietor: Vereinigte Bühnen Wien Ges.m.b.H. – Managing Director Thomas DrozdaTheater an der Wien, linke Wienzeile 6, 1060 WienTel. (+43/1) 588 30-660 | [email protected] | www.theater-wien.atResponsible for content: Intendant Roland GeyerEditorial office: Petra Aichinger, Anna Graf, Sylvia Hödl, Catherine leiter, Tina Osterauer, Nora Schmid, Axel Schneider, Sebastian F. Schwarz, Sabine Seisenbacher, Claudia Stobrawa, Philipp Wagner, Michael yashinskyEnglish translation: wordworksArt Direction Theater an der Wien: Anna Graf Printing: Walla Druck Subject to change | July 2009 | DVR 0 187 1

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Intendant Roland Geyerand death, Britten composed an extremely suggestive score and used a small, transparent orchestra, percussion and a piano. Death in Venice premiered in 1973 at