The young Berlin director Anna Weber, who works across genres both in the independent scene and in established theaters, is particularly passionate about operetta and brings an essentially topical work to the stage with Eduard Künneke's Der Tenor der Herzogin.
This includes questions such as: Are career and family compatible? How far do I have to betray myself to get ahead in life? Together with set designer Stella Lennert and costume designer Christina Geiger, she takes an unconventionally fresh look at Ernestine's duchy as an autocratic matriarchy that pointedly reflects the mechanisms of the present day. The team brings the story into the here and now with a great love of music, humor and the gesture of operetta. The stage opens up into the auditorium and the real space becomes part of a crazy game.
The opera tenor Rudolf and his partner Hilde try to make ends meet together, after all, they have Bubi, their young child. But somehow success doesn't quite work out for Rudolf. There is an interesting opportunity for male singers at the matriarchal theater under the patronage of dowager duchess Ernestine: a new tenor is signed every season, which brings him international fame and money - but at a considerable price. Because Ernestine's own rules apply: The chosen singer must be single, as a tenor in a contract does not only mean satisfaction for the ears. A relationship with a man on an equal footing is strictly forbidden in the matriarchy, so Hilde and Rudolf pretend to be brother and sister and hide their child in the wardrobe. Let the comedy begin!
Premiere January 27, 2024
Further performances: February 25, March 1, 16 and 24 and April 12, 2024
