Dmitry Bertman is producing "Der Rosennkavalier" in Sweden

21.04.2014

Dmitry Bertman is producing "Der Rosennkavalier" by R. Strauss in Sweden

Swedish premiere of the opera "Der Rosenkavalier" by Richard Strauss in Dmitry Bertman will be held on April 26, 2014 at the Opera House in Malmö.

At the moment the Artistic Director of "Helikon-opera" Dmitry Bertman is producing "Der Rosennkavalier" by R. Strauss in Malmö opera theatre (Sweden). This is one of the main Scandinavian venues and one of the biggest halls in Europe, the only one built in 1944 during the II World Warm upon the project of famous architects Sigurd Lewerentz, Erik Lallerstadt and David Helldén. The auditorium is a closed form of an amphitheater, the theater lobby is famous for its marble staircase and Murano chandeliers, brought from Italy. Still it remains a mystery how they got there. According to one version chandeliers were taken across by a submarine.

"The performance of "Der Rosenkavalier" is my sixth production in Sweden. I started to work with great enthusiasm. Malmö is a mirror image of Copenhagen, the city is located on the other side of the river, in front of "The Mermaid", in the southern administrative region of Sweden. Malmö Opera House is an important cultural European venue, a great space for creativity with deep theatrical traditions. This is the theater, that had been directed by Ingmar Bergman for many years.

"This is my first production of Richard Strauss. The task is difficult and interesting at the same time, as the libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal is filled with a huge number of characters, situations, storylines, and the opera itself is considered to be enough difficult for making among the directors. The opera is about the age difference between lovers, the insight of women, men inconstancy, the story of our illusions, which can result in a loneliness. "Der Rosenkavalier" is full of mysteries, the mysteries that we are trying to open with a world-class team of soloists: The Marschallin is performed by Charlotte Larsson (Sweden), soloist of the Vienna State Opera Dorothea Lang (Hungary) acts as Octavian, baritone Fredrik Zetterström as Faninal, Sophie is the debut of a young Swedish singer Sophie Asplund. And Rooney Brattaberg (Faroe Islands, Denmark), who is a well-known performer of that party in the leading opera houses like Metropolitan Opera, theaters of Bremen, Amsterdam, Lübeck and Cincinnati, acts as Baron Ochs

For the first time I have worked with an outstanding conductor Leif Segerstam, and for many years we have been working together with choreographer Edvald Smirnov. I’d like to say individual words about the art director Ene-Liis Semper, together with her I produced Gounod’s "Faust" and also an antifascist opera “Wallenberg” by Erkki-Sven Tüür in Estonia, and I’d like to mention famous American lighting designer Thomas Hazeh, I have worked with him in Canadian opera". Dmitry Bertman

This is my first production of Richard Strauss. The task is difficult and interesting at the same time, as the libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal is filled with a huge number of characters, situations, storylines, and the opera itself is considered to be enough difficult for making among the directors. The opera is about the age difference between lovers, the insight of women, men inconstancy, the story of our illusions, which can result in a loneliness. "Der Rosenkavalier" is full of mysteries, the mysteries that we are trying to open with a world-class team of soloists: The Marschallin - Charlotte Larsson (Sweden), Octavian – a soloist of the Vienna State Opera Dorothea Lang (Hungary) , Faninal - baritone Fredrik Zetterström, Sophie - the debut of a young Swedish singer Sophie Asplund. Baron Ochs - Rooney Brattaberg (Faroe Islands, Denmark), who is a well-known performer of that party in the leading opera houses like Metropolitan Opera, theaters of Bremen, Amsterdam, Lübeck and Cincinnati.

For the first time I will work with an outstanding conductor Leif Segerstam, and for many years we are working together with choreographer Edvald Smirnov. I’d like to say individual words about the art director Ene-Liis Semper, together with her I produced Gounod’s "Faust" and also an antifascist opera “Wallenberg” by Erkki-Sven Tüür in Estonia, and I’d like to mention famous American lighting designer Thomas Hazeh, I have worked with him in Canadian opera".