The Semperoper Dresden premieres the sixth new opera production of the season with a thrilling and highly topical piece of music theatre: Kaija Saariaho’s “Innocence”
Dresden, 27 February 2025. Director Lorenzo Fioroni has been commissioned by the Semperoper Dresden to restage the opera Innocence by Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho, which originally premiered in Aix-en-Provence (France) in 2021. Following the German premiere in 2024, Dresden audiences can now enjoy the work in its third new production from Saturday, 15 March 2025.
The opera Innocence by Kaija Saariaho tells the story of a mass shooting in a school in Helsinki and its repercussions on the survivors, the perpetrator’s family and the victims’ families as well. Ten years after the tragedy, a dark secret is revealed at the wedding of the shooter’s brother, forcing all of those involved to face up to their past. With the intensity of an ancient tragedy, the composer Saariaho explores the boundaries between guilt, complicity and innocence.
Through the means of musical theatre, Kaija Saariaho successfully portrays the unspeakable suffering following traumatic events in an empathetic and sensitive way. Without visualising the killings, the composition and the libretto (in nine languages) unpick the cryptic story by means of overlapping flash-forwards and flashbacks. At the end, the characters undergo a moment of catharsis, finding themselves inhabiting the ruins of their imaginary worlds.
Celebrated in 2019 as the “greatest living composer” by BBC Music Magazine, Kaija Saariaho died in 2023. She created her final opera together with the author Sofi Oksanen and Saariaho’s son, the French-Finnish dramaturge, translator and writer Aleksi Barrière. The result of this collaboration is a psychologically and musically intricate “masterpiece”, as the New York Times described Innocence. The enormously atmospheric score creates a deep well of emotion, characteristic of Kaija Saarihaho’s metaphorical style, whereby the composer draws landscapes of the soul with an eleagic quality.
The premiere evening will feature two Dresden debuts, namely the Swiss director Lorenzo Fioroni and the French maestro Maxime Pascal, who will conduct the Staatskapelle Dresden. The cast of singers includes Rosalia Cid, Paula Murrihy, Anu Komsi, Mario Lerchenberger and Markus Butter. They are joined by the multi-award-winning singer, composer and Finland’s only professional beatboxer, Venla Ilona Blom, who specialises in extended vocal techniques, vocal percussion and traditional singing styles. She will bring to Innocence her unique vocal artistry, which has its roots in Scandinavian and Finno-Ugric folk music.
To celebrate the premiere of this new production of Innocence, the Semperoper is offering a diverse programme of accompanying events. After the performances, there will be follow-up discussions in the opera cellar with experts and those involved in the production. Before this, on Monday, 10 March 2025, Andreas Berger, head of the culture department at MDR Sachsen, and his studio guests –Nora Schmid, Intendant of the Semperoper Dresden, Aleksi Barrière, translator of the libretto, and trauma expert Dr. Georg Pieper – will discuss the Dresden creation of Saariaho’s opera in the podcast Aufgefallen, produced by MDR Sachsen. And at 11 am on Sunday, 16 March 2025, the Semperoper Dresden dramaturge Dorothee Harpain, the translator of the libretto, Aleksi Barrière, and academicians Prof. Franz Martin Olbrisch (composer) and Holk Freytag (stage director) will gather for a public discussion at Dresden’s Academy of the Arts. Aelrun Goette’s film Ein Jahr nach morgen will be shown at 7 pm on Tuesday, 18 March 2025, in the Zentralkino cinema in Kraftwerk Mitte, Dresden. This exclusive screening will be followed by a panel discussion.
Innocence by Kaija Saariaho
Staged by Lorenzo Fioroni
Premiere at 7 pm on Saturday, 15 March 2025, in the Semperoper.
Additional performances on 19, 23, 26 & 31 March 2025 as well as 4 & 11 April 2025.
Follow-up discussions after each performance in the opera cellar.
With Rosalia Cid, Paula Murrihy, Anu Komsi, Fredrika Brillembourg, Mario Lerchenberger, Markus Butter and Jukka Rasilainen as well as Venla Ilona Blom, Jessica Elevant, Nusch Batut, Simon Jensen, Carlo Nevio Wilfart and Olga Heikkilä. The Staatskapelle Dresden will be conducted by Maxime Pascal.
The production is generously supported by the Semperoper Foundation.
Tickets for Semperoper events can be purchased from the Schinkelwache box office on Theaterplatz (+49 (0)351 4911 705). Alternatively, book your tickets and reserve seats via our online ticket shop, which offers a 3D-seating plan.
Events to accompany the premiere:
Aufgefallen – podcast with Andreas Berger and his guests Nora Schmid, Aleksi Barrière and Dr. Georg Pieper
to broadcast on Monday, 10 March 2025, on MDR Sachsen radio (also available in the ARD media library).
Matinee event on the opera Innocence – Academy discussion
at 11 am on Sunday, 16 March 2025, in the Saxon Academy of the Arts, Palaisplatz 3, 01097 Dresden.
With Dorothee Harpain, Aleksi Brarrière , Prof. Franz Martin Olbrisch and Holk Freytag.
Ein Jahr nach morgen Aelrun Goette (Ger, 2012).
Film screening followed by a panel discussion. Film begins at 7 pm on Tuesday, 18 March 2025, in the Zentralkino cinema, Kraftwerk Mitte, Dresden.
Tickets for this event can be booked from the cinema (T +49 (0)351 3107375) or online at zentral-kino.de.
Please send any requests for review tickets (along with details of the editorial brief and likely publication dates) to presse@semperoper.de. High-quality photos and other press materials can be downloaded from our dedicated press page at semperoper.de/presse.