At 7:00 p.m., at the Semperoper:

PLOT POINT – BALLET

Tom Seligman: Conductor

Serenade

George Balanchine:  Choreographer

Pjotr I.Tschaikowsky: Music

Nanette Glushak: Director

Plot Point

Crystal Pite: Choreographer

Bernard Herrmann: Music

Erik Beauchesne: Director

Sandra Marín García: Director

Jiři Pokorný: Director

In the Upper Room

Twyla Tharp: Choreographer

Philip Glass: Music

Plot Point is a unique and innovative creation by the Semperoper, with the ambition of transcribing the three acts of a cinematic plot through three works associated to create a coherent artistic whole. This creation presents three choreographies, all linked by the neoclassical aesthetic of 20th century symphonic ballets. The show opens with George Balanchine‘s memorable Serenade, choreographed to a composition by Tchaikovsky. Through his creation, Balanchine opens up new horizons for bodily expression and offers a moving and striking choreography. The work continues with the ballet Plot Point, conceived by the talented Canadian choreographer Crystal Pite and set to music to compositions by Bernard Hermann. Crystal Pite’s unique style allows her to create a true story through body expression, challenging body movements and playing with the shimmering colors of costumes. The final act of this show comes from dancer Twyla Tharp, an icon of 20th century dance who choreographed The Upper Room in 1986. Set to music by composer Philip Glass, the work unfolds in nine vibrant and poetic scenes, mixing ballet, yoga, tap dancing and boxing, to close a truly singular and abundant work.

At 7:30 p.m., at the Deutsche Oper Berlin:

Madama Butterfly, by G. Puccini

Orchestra and Choir of the Deutsche Oper Berlin

Yi-Chen Lin: Conductor

Pier Luigi Samaritani: Director

Asmik Grigorian: Cio-Cio-San

Irene Roberts: Suzuki

N.N.: Kate Pinkerton

Joshua Guerrero: Benjamin Franklin Pinkerton

Dong -Hwan: Lee Sharpless

Gideon Poppe: Goro

Patrick Cook: Prince Yamadori

Byung Gil Kim: Le Bonze

Christian Simmons: The Imperial Commissioner

Youngkwang Oh: The Registrar

Seungeun Oh: Cio-Cio-San’s Mother

Sin-Ae Choi: Cio-Cio-San’s Cousin

Asahi Wada: Cio-Cio-San’s Aunt

Puccini literally fell in love with the story of this fifteen-year-old Japanese girl, the victim of a cheap marriage with an American lieutenant, to the point of enthusiastically studying the customs and language of the Land of the Rising Sun. The first performance took place on 17 February 1904 at La Scala in Milan: a resounding failure, the opera being immediately withdrawn from the bill, before a drastic reworking carried out by the composer himself, which was performed a year later in Brescia. The world then discovered a relentless peak of dramatic tension, a shattering opera that would become one of the most popular pillars of the entire operatic repertoire. The figure of Cio-Cio-San – an overwhelming role on stage, for most of the duration of the opera – will be interpreted here by the great Lithuanian soprano Asmik Grigorian, with a voice of sumptuous bronze. As for Pier Luigi Samaritani‘s staging, it has been delighting the eyes (and ears!) of Deutsche Oper audiences for many years, thanks to its visual splendor and respect for the libretto.

At 7:30 p.m., at the Deutsche Oper Berlin:

TOSCA, by G. PUCCINI

Orchestra and Choir of the Deutsche Oper Berlin

Andrea Battistoni: Conductor

Boleslaw Barlog: Director

Camilla Nylund: Floria Tosca

Vittorio Grigolo: Mario Cavaradossi

Erwin Schrott: Baron Scarpia

Samuel Dale Johnson: Cesare Angelotti

Padraic Rowan: The Sacristan

Andrew Dickinson: Spoletta

Christian Simmons: Sciarrone

Byung Gil Kim: A Jailer

Premiered on 14 January 1900, Tosca was greeted with a mixture of fear and incomprehension. This adaptation of a drama by Victorien Sardou was perhaps too brutal and violent for a Roman audience, still accustomed to Verdi’s operas. With its action condensed into 3 characters, Tosca, Scarpia and Cavaradossi, its unleashing of passions, and its abrupt end, Puccini composed the first modern opera, which can be seen as a cinema film. The composer’s concern for realism was such that he strolled through the various churches of Rome, for the magnificent prelude of the third act, or used language of incredible audacity from the first vehement bars, earning the admiration of a composer like Schönberg. And then there are the sublime freeze frames, where Puccini suspends time with magical arias like “Vissi d’arte, vissi d’amore” (“I have lived by art, I have lived by love”) or “E lucevan le stelle”, Mario’s final farewell to Tosca while the sky glows with stars. This absolute masterpiece of the operatic repertoire will be performed here in Boleslaw Barlog’s mythical staging. To interpret the three roles of the score, the Deutsche Oper in Berlin offers an exceptional trio: Camilla Nylund as Tosca, Vittorio Grigolo as Mario and the charismatic bass-baritone Erwin Schrott in the role of the diabolical Scarpia.