Photo: Hugo Thomassen New production at Dutch National Opera Opera in two acts Sung in multiple languages Libretto Alexander W. Medvedev Musical direction Adam Hickox Stage direction Tobias Kratzer Set and costume design Rainer Sellmaier Lighting design Michael Bauer Video design Manuel Braun, Jonas Dahl Dramaturgy Christopher Warmuth Lisa Jenny Carlstedt Walter Nikolai Schukoff Marta Sylvia D’Eramo Tadeusz Gyula Orendt Old Lisa Sibylle Maria Dordel Netherlands Philharmonic Chorus of Dutch National Opera Chorus master Edward Ananian-Cooper Production of the Bayerische Staatsoper Munich Premiere 17/4/2026 Subsequent performances: 20, 23, 26*, 29 April, 2 May 2026 | Curtain-up: 20:00 / *14:00 | Ticket sales start on: 28 August 2025 | Price Category: C | Location: Main Stage, Dutch National Opera & Ballet Mieczysław Weinberg’s music is one of the hidden gems of the twentieth century. In the 1930s, the Polish composer Weinberg fled the Nazi regime and settled in Russia, where, as a Jew, he once again faced vehement antisemitism. His opera Die Passagierin (1968) was praised by his good friend Dimitri Shostakovich for its “beauty and grandeur” but did not have its world premiere until 2006 (in concert). The opera – with its dark musical idiom interspersed with moments of exceptional tenderness — has gained increasing recognition among international opera companies since then. Guilt and complicity Weinberg based Die Passagierin on a radio play and novel by the Polish writer Zofia Posmysz. As an Auschwitz survivor, she wrote one of the first literary works about the reality of the concentration camps as seen through the eyes of the perpetrators. Rather than presenting the horrific acts humans are capable of, the opera is chiefly concerned with fundamental questions about guilt, complicity and facing up to the past, rather than suppressing it. Opera of the Year This new production by director Tobias Kratzer was crowned ‘Production of the Year’ by the opera magazine Opernwelt in 2024. The up-and-coming young conductor Adam Hickox will take the Netherlands Philharmonic through Weinberg’s haunting score. Mezzo-soprano Jenny Carlstedt, who made an impression previously in Amsterdam in Kaija Saariaho’s Innocence, will sing the multi-layered role of Lisa, while lyrical soprano Sylvia D’Eramo will perform the poignant role of Marta. Opera about a dark chapter in history The German Lisa is travelling with her husband to Brazil on an ocean steamer. It is 1960 and the couple are looking forward to the future. But when Lisa believes she recognises the Polish Marta among their fellow passengers, she is confronted with a past she had hoped to forget: Lisa had been an SS guard in Auschwitz concentration camp where Marta was one of her prisoners. “ A masterpiece of musicaldramatic storytelling: gripping and intense” Süddeutsche Zeitung As part of a large-scale participation project, around a hundred people will have the unique opportunity to take the stage during Die Passagierin. They will experience first-hand how this production comes to life. In addition, a comprehensive context programme will be organised, which will take place around National Remembrance Day on 4 May. More information will be published in due time on operaballet.nl/en 57
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