Organization

Singer

Soprano

Sara Jakubiak

Heliane

Baritone

Josef Wagner

Ruler

Tenor

Brian Jagde

Stranger

Contralto

Okka von der Damerau

Messenger

Bass

Derek Welton

Porter

Burkhard Ulrich

Blind Judge

Gideon Poppe

Young Man

Andrew Dickinson

Judge No.1

Dean Murphy

Judge No.2

Thomas Florio

Judge No.3

Clemens Bieber

Judge No.4

Philipp Jekal

Judge No.5

Stephen Bronk

Judge No.6

Sandra Hamaoui

1. seraphische Stimme

Meechot Marrero

2. seraphische Stimme

Conductor

Marc Albrecht

Stage director

Christof Loy

Set designer

Johannes Leiacker

Costume designer

Barbara Drosihn

Lighting designer

Olaf Winter

Chorus master

Jeremy Bines

Dramaturge

Dorothea Hartmann

Thomas Jonigk

Deutsche Oper Berlin

Orchestra

Orchester der Deutschen Oper Berlin

German

Das Wunder der Heliane -  (The Miracle of Heliane)

Berlin

Germany

Die Tischlerei

In his new production of Korngold’s Das Wunder der Heliane (The Miracle of Heliane)—voted Revival of the Year in Opernwelt—director Christof Loy sets the action in a strikingly lit wood-panelled hall early in the twentieth century. In period costumes, the stars evoke the dreamlike quality of Korngold’s music and Hans Müller-Einigen’s libretto, a delicate balance between religious and erotic undertones. The leads boast the combination of Wagnerian power and studied restraint that the music requires, with Brian Jagde’s (The Stranger) dynamism and stunning low notes a perfect complement to the vocal agility and rich timbre of Sara Jakubiak (Heliane).

With the world-class Orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Dutch conductor Mark Albrecht’s impressive interpretation of Korngold’s score brings out its Mahlerian influences—notably at the end of Act I, inspired by Des Knaben Wunderhorn. This triumphant production (the first audiovisual recording of the opera!) should reinvigorate interest in this undersung work that Korngold considered his finest, one of the final masterpieces of Viennese Romanticism.

Performance credits (Cast & Crew )

Cast

Crew

Ensemble