May 18, 2013, Mieczysław Weinberg’s opera THE PASSENGER will receive its German premiere in a new production at the Baden State Theater. Coming after the celebrated original production in Bregenz, this will offer the first opportunity to experience Weinberg’s stage composition, considered his seminal work, from a new perspective.

The Baden State Theater was awarded the 2012 “German Theater Publishers Prize” for its adventurous music theater program for the current season 2012/13, and the programming of THE PASSENGER must certainly have been a factor, since this work falls into several important categories at once. In this instance, we look forward to a political opera, a masterpiece of the 20^th century and a premiere.

Alexander Medvedev wrote his libretto based on the novel of the same name by the Polish Auschwitz survivor Zofia Posmysz. In the process, he made some changes out of deference to the exigencies of the stage and the constraints of the political climate of the time. As the German translation of this riveting novel, first published in the GDR, has recently become available again, an opportunity for comparison also presents itself here. Educators are invited to request informational materials from the theater after the premiere to prepare their students for a visit to the opera. Additional performances: 05.22, 06.01, 06.13, 06.19, and 07.14.2013. 

Further Performances:

• May 22, 2013
• June 01, 2013
• June 13, 2013
• June 19, 2013
• July 14, 2013

Links

• More about Mieczysław Weinberg
• Website Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe