A forest full of fairies, poets and lovers - in The Fairy Queen by Henry Purcell we encounter magic and humanity at the same time when mythological figures and earthly emotional worlds flow into one another in the St. Gallen Concert and Theater House.
"The Fairy Queen" is no ordinary opera - it is a baroque kaleidoscope of song, dance and drama that Purcell wrote in 1692 as a semi-opera based on motifs from A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare. In five acts, the action wanders through a forest in which fairy queen Titania and fairy king Oberon struggle for power, as do the lovers Hermia, Lysander, Helena and Demetrius for their feelings. Purcell's music is rich in colors, rhythms and melodies - an interplay of delicate sound and powerful expression.
In this production, the Konzert und Theater St. Gallen stands for the revival of this rarely performed masterpiece. Under the musical direction of Robert Howarth, the St. Gallen Symphony Orchestra unfolds the sound world of the Baroque with vocal conviction and scenic power. Director Anna Bernreitner manages to combine the play's network of characters - poets, fairies, humans - with contemporary vibrancy, so that the fantastic and moments of reality stand side by side.
The result is a performance in which the boundaries between stage and dream become blurred. Dance scenes, choruses, solos and scenes full of magic invite you to let yourself be guided - through the forest of wishes, power and love. And when the sun rises at the end, not only is the reconciled order of the fairy world revealed, but also the quiet realization that we ourselves are part of a great game.
Premiere February 7
Further performances: February 15, March 1, 2 and 24, April 12, 2026
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