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Focus
Discover
Season 2023/24
Richard Strauss Days
From 27 March to 7 April 2024, the Semperoper will once again host a festival with a Strauss focus.
Our tip
Opera and Ballet 2023/24
Variable Package
Der Freischütz
La bohème
La Cenerentola / Cinderella
La sonnambula
La traviata
L’elisir d’amore/ The Elixir of Love
Les Contes d’Hoffmann / Tales of Hoffmann
L’Orfeo
Die tote Stadt
Don Carlo
Elektra
Pique Dame / The Queen of Spades
Dornröschen / The Sleeping Beauty
Benvenuto Cellini
A Swan Lake
Plot Point
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
White Darkness
Katja Kabanowa
Welcome
Dear audience members
We are deeply shocked by the news and images arriving from Israel since October 7th. The world has witnessed an unprecedented terrorist attack by Hamas on a country to which Germany feels a special connection and obligation. I would particularly like to remind you of this obligation on a day in which we look back to the anti-Semitic violence of the Nazi Kristallnacht pogrom of 9 November 1938.
I am writing these lines in my capacity as Artistic Director of the Semperoper. Myself a Swiss citizen, I have for the past decades been closely involved in Germany’s cultural life and have always felt that the Federal Republic’s solidarity with Israel has never before been called into question: there seemed to be a consensus, especially among artists and those working in the cultural sector. Yet now, the vastly different reactions of this same group of people to the greatest mass murder of Jews since the Second World War are deeply disturbing. It is not just that many – too many – remain silent, or that the crime is relativised by means of »contextualisation«; there is also naked anti-Semitism and hostility towards Israel on display.
The terrorist attack on Israel, the massacre of young revellers at a music festival, the kidnapping, rape and murder of hundreds of innocent people are barbaric acts for which there is simply no justification. Our sympathy and solidarity go out to those directly affected: the victims and their families.
Together with the organisations Bündnis gegen Antisemitismus and Bündnis Weltoffenes Dresden as well as the Saxon Association of Jewish Communities, the Saxon State Theatres are supporting the »Kidnapped From Israel« campaign. Under the motto »Nie wieder ist jetzt« (Never again is now), this campaign aims to spotlight the fate of the hostages and increase pressure on negotiations for their release.
Our thoughts are also with our friends from the Jewish communities here in Dresden as well as our Jewish and Israeli colleagues and guests, for whom the events of October 7th marked a profound turning point in their lives.
Of course, it must be recognised that the legitimate defence of the state of Israel against the terrorist attack by Hamas is also leading to countless civilian victims on the Palestinian side. Here all parties must urgently comply with international law and ensure the free passage of humanitarian aid. As a cultural institution that thrives on the work of international artists, our doors must always remain open to people from all over the world. To this end, we maintain an unwavering belief in the power of understanding and dialogue.
We sincerely hope that the conflict will soon come to an end and that the forces of moderation will prevail in the region.
Your
Peter Theiler
Intendant of the Staatsoper Dresden

About the Semperoper
Semperoper
History of the Semperoper
A house full of tradition
The history of opera in Dresden goes back to the opening of the city’s first opera house in 1667.