Deutsche Oper Berlin - Queen of Spades

„What is our life? A game! Good and evil are merely dreams; work and honesty, nothing but lies,“ Hermann reflects fatalistically in The Queen of Spades as he faces his end at the gaming table. Based on Pushkin’s novella, Tchaikovsky’s work depicts a world dominated by economic disparities and the law of the strongest. Hermann is determined to match the social standing of his beloved Lisa at any cost, pinning his hopes for wealth on the Countess’s cursed secret of the cards. Yet, the hope for happiness dissolves into a spiral of obsession that drags Hermann into the abyss. Doris Soffel returns as the Countess in Sam Brown’s production. Elena Guseva takes on the role of Lisa, while Arsen Soghomonyan—making his house debut—appears as Hermann; both artists have performed these roles on stages ranging from Milan to New York. Two of today’s great baritones, Stéphane Degout and Alexey Markov, appear as Prince Yeletsky and Count Tomsky, respectively. The musical direction is in the hands of Ukrainian conductor Kirill Karabits.

age recommendation: from age 14

duration: approx. 3 hours 20 minutes / including an interval after approx. 100 minutes

program

Pique Dame

Oper in drei Akten von Pjotr Tschajkowski

Libretto von Modest Tschajkowski nach der gleichnamigen Erzählung Alexander Puschkin

In russischer Sprache mit deutschen und englischen Übertiteln

Place

On September 24, 1961 the Opernhaus that had been inaugurated in 1912 and destroyed during the War was reopened as Deutsche Oper Berlin. Ever since it has been Berlin´s largest and Germany´s second largest music theatre, featuring among the most modern institutions in Europe. The straightforward and elegant building that was realized by architect Fritz Bornemann (he also conceived the America Memorial Library and the Haus der Berliner Festspiele, a. o.) seats 1.859 and guarantees a maximum viewing and hearing experience for every visitor.