The Bavarian State Opera's second season of free live-streams on www.staatsoper.tv starts this Sunday at with Andreas Kriegenburg's production of Berg's Wozzeck, Simon Keenlyside in the title role, Angela Denoke as Marie, conducted by Lothar Koenigs. The webcasts are the company's new productions, programmed by the new general Music Director, Kirill Petrenko, successor to "our own" Kent Nagano.
Six evenings of opera and two of ballet will be telecast live from Munich:
Dec. 1: Die Frau ohne Schatten, conductor: Kirill Petrenko, director: Krzysztof Warlikowski; with Johan Botha, Adrianne Pieczonka, Deborah Polaski, Wolfgang Koch, Elena Pankratova.
Dec. 28: La forza del destino, conductor: Asher Fisch, director: Martin Kušej; with Anja Harteros, Jonas Kaufmann, Ludovic Tézier.
Feb. 15: La clemenza di Tito, conductor: Petrenko, director: Jan Bosse; with Kristi-ne Opolais, Toby Spence, Tara Erraught.
March 15: La Bayadère, choreography: Marius Petipa / Patrice Bart, music: Ludwig Minkus; with Lucia Lacarra (Nikiya) and Marlon Dino (Solor). [Lacarra was a principal dancer with the San Francisco Ballet, 1997-2000.]
May 31: Die Soldaten, conductor: Petrenko, director: Andreas Kriegenburg; with Barbara Hannigan, Michael Nagy, Endrik Wottrich.
June 21: Les Ballets Russes — Les Biches / L'Après-midi d'un faune / Shéhérazade, choreography: Bronislawa Nijinska / Vaslav Nijinsky / Mikhail Fokine, music: Francis Poulenc / Claude Debussy / Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.
June 28: Guillaume Tell, conductor: Dan Ettinger, director: Antú Romero Nunes; with Michael Volle, Bryan Hymel, Günther Groissböck.
July 27: L'Orfeo, conductor: Ivor Bolton, director: David Bösch; with Christian Gerhaher, Anna Bonitatibus.
Citing a record of over a million viewers from 55 countries during the last season, General Manager Nikolaus Bachler says four to six cameras in the auditorium will broadcast the performances, with 40 microphones in the orchestra pit and on stage. Bachler or Ballet Director Ivan Liška will provide an introduction to the work before every live stream; in the intervals, the Bayerische Staatsoper will offer a glimpse into the theater's backstage areas. Subtitles in German and English will be offered.
The Linde Group, making the telecasts possible, has been a major supporter of the company since 2008.