International May Festival Wiesbaden 2023
International May Festival Wiesbaden 2023
The Hessian State Theater in Wiesbaden is again presenting a diverse program for young and old as part of the International May Festival from April 30 to May 31, 2023. All categories of performing arts are represented at the festival: opera and concerts, dance, performance and drama.
The Wiesbaden International May Festival 2023 is dedicated to political prisoners from all over the world.
Opera
The May Festival opens with the Janáček double "The Makropulos Case" and "From the House of the Dead" under the musical direction of Johannes Klumpp and staged by Nicolas Brieger. The two operas deal with the life and death of modern man. "The Makropulos Affair" is a Kafkaesque metaphor about the longing for immortality. "From a House of the Dead" tells the story of a Russian prison camp.
Another highlight on May 5th and 7th are the two concert performances of Giuseppe Verdi's "Nabucco", in which the opera soprano Anna Netrebko and the opera baritone Željko Lučić will make their role debuts. Michael Güttler is the musical director. The Hessian State Orchestra Wiesbaden plays and the opera choir of the Hessian State Theater in Wiesbaden and the opera choir of the State Theater in Darmstadt sing.
This year, the Hessian State Theater in Wiesbaden will once again be presenting opera productions by the greatest composers from various eras: the heroic tenor Andreas Schager and opera soprano Anja Harteros will be singing the main roles in Richard Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde". Alexander Joel will be the musical director.
Another production directed by artistic director Uwe Eric Laufenberg is Giacomo Puccini's "Il Trittico" with, among others, Olesya Golovneva, who can currently be seen as Rusalka in Wiesbaden, in three roles. Albert Horne is responsible for the musical direction of the three scenes. A melodrama in three acts is Giuseppe Verdi's masterpiece "Rigoletto". The soprano Cristina Pasaroiu, who last performed convincingly in Wiesbaden in Verdi's "Don Carlo", will take on the role of Gilda in this production.
Also singing are Željko Lučić as Rigoletto and Piero Pretti as the Duke of Mantua. Will Humburg, who already celebrated a great success with "Fidelio" in the 2022.2023 season, is now once again the musical director of the 2023 International May Festival.
The baroque opera "Polifemo" by Nicola Antonio Porpora, which has already been shown at the Salzburg Festival, has a guest performance. The leading baroque singers such as Julia Lezhneva and Max Emanuel Cenčić can now be seen at the 2023 International May Festival.
Concerts
In addition to the music theater, the International May Festival 2023 will again offer concerts of a wide variety of music genres. Highlights are "The Four Seasons in Climate Change" with star guest Harald Lesch and the Merlin Ensemble Vienna, "A Midsummer Night's Dream" with the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra and the RIAS Chamber Choir Berlin under the direction of Pablo Heras-Casado and the "7th Symphony Concert" with compositions by Mussorgsky , Tchaikovsky and Janáček with Michael Barenboim on the violin. Fans of danceable sounds will get their money's worth with "Wildes Holz" and "Super Natural". The "Pussy Riots" are new to the program and will perform on May 24 with their program "Riot Days". This is based on the book of the same name by front singer Maria Alyokhina.
Play
This year, the Berliner Ensemble is represented with three drama productions. Tilo Nest, Constanze Becker and Fine Arts Big Band will start on May 1st with "Big Brecht". On May 16, the "BE" is showing the production "Der Theatermacher" directed by Oliver Reese and the much-praised Stefanie Reinsperger in the title role.
The musical drama "It's Britney, Bitch!" will follow on May 18th. by Lena Brasch and with Sina Martens. Thorsten Lensing is also a welcome guest at the International May Festival. His production "Crazy for Consolation" with Ursina Lardi and Devid Striesow, who many already know from last year, can be seen this year. The Thalia Theater Hamburg is coming to Wiesbaden with a classic by the French author Molière. Leander Haussmann directed the comedy "The Miser". With "Eurotrash", the Vienna Burgtheater is showing a novel adaptation of Christian Kracht's bestseller of the same name. Burgtheater ensemble member Itay Tiran staged.
Ballet / Performance
This year, high-ranking visitors come from South Korea in the field of dance, the Korean National Ballet is a guest in Wiesbaden and shows "Le Corsaire" as a new production by Marius Petipas in the choreography of Jungbin Song. This means that one of the great classical ballets is a guest in Wiesbaden. An in-house production by the Hessian State Ballet will also celebrate its world premiere as part of the International May Festival. Under the joint title "straight NOW" the double "Midnight Raga" by Marco Goecke and "Of Prophets and Puppets" by Martin Harriague comes to the stage.
The Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève presents a thrilling dance double evening with "Faun" by its world-famous director and chief choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and the new creation "VÏA" by Fouad Boussouf. Another highlight is the performance »Love Death« by the Spanish artist Angelica Liddell, which is about the legendary torero Juan Belmonte, but also includes a piece of Liddell's own biography. An evening of extremes, presented together with the Mousonturm Frankfurt.
Project grants from the city of Wiesbaden
The International May Festival project grant was advertised again because the collaboration between the Hessian State Theater in Wiesbaden and the Wiesbaden Cultural Office has proven effective in strengthening and making the independent scene visible. In order to allow further scope in terms of content, a specific motto was dispensed with. Alternatively, a new, permanent title was added: "Open Spaces - International May Festival Project Grant". Exciting projects from the fields of theatre, dance, visual arts, performance and music await the audience.
Young May Festival
The Young May Festival also has an extensive program to offer with guests from a wide variety of countries. The Young May Festival kicks off on May 1st between 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. at the big "opening party" for the whole family. As part of the International May Festival, Hannah Biedermann's participatory project "A fish is only as big as its aquarium" will premiere on May 13. The Marabu Theater will also be there with their performance "SPLASH!" and Ayşe Bosse with a reading of her book »Pembo«. At another reading, which both theater fans and bookworms can look forward to, Germany's most frequently performed contemporary dramatist, Roland Schimmelpfennig, will present his book "Die Biene im Kopf".
About the International May Festival Wiesbaden
The Internationale Maifestspiele Wiesbaden (International May Festival, IMF) is a theater festival in Wiesbaden, Germany. Established in the late 19th century after the Bayreuth Festival, the festival is one of the most distinguished international theatre and music festivals in the world. It is presented annually in May at the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden, the State Theatre of Hesse in the capital Wiesbaden.
The festival currently features performances of operas, ballets, plays and musicals. Visiting companies, mostly from European theaters, present their recent productions along with performances of the Theater Wiesbaden. Concerts from a wide array of music genres are featured as well as artistic circus acts and modern dance presentations. Lectures, recitals, cabaret performances, art showings and readings are also part of the program.
Founded in 1869, 20 years after Wagner's Bayreuth Festival, the Maifestspiele (May Festival) in Wiesbaden has a proud German tradition. The very first festival was initiated and directed by Georg von Hülsen – then the director of the Wiesbaden theatre – who managed to secure the support of Emperor Wilhelm II in his endeavours. This was in stark contrast to the Emperor’s father, Wilhelm I, who remarked to Wagner at the opening of the Bayreuth Festival, “So, you’ve actually managed to get it done”, and did not offer his support in any way. Wilhelm II, on the other hand, was more inclined to follow the example of King Ludwig II of Bavaria, and fully supported the idea of the first “Kaiserfestspiele” (Imperial Festival), to coincide with his regular visits to the Wiesbaden spas during the month of May. At the time of its conception, the festival itself was also largely influenced by Wagner's presence in the area; the composer had temporarily taken up residence in Biebrich to work on his famous "Meistersinger".
And so the idea of the festival began to flourish in Germany, with Bayreuth and Wiesbaden at the forefront of the developments. However, the end of the German Empire was to spell doom and bring uncertainty to Wiesbaden: the May Festival closed for the duration of the World War. It resurfaced again at the end of the late 1920s as “Mai-Festwoche” (Festival Week in May), only to later end up as part of the now rather inglorious “Gaukulturwochen” under Nazism until 1939. With the fall of the Third Reich, this chapter of the Wiesbaden May Festival also came to a close.
In 1950, the winds of change began to blow. The first festival after World War II featured a new name and an international vision. Now known as “Internationale Maifestspiele” (International May Festival), the festival is still known by this name to this day and continues to hold true to its original vision. An annual highlight on the cultural calendar of the city of Wiesbaden, the International May Festival opens its doors to the world, attracting international artists and audiences alike, and offers a unique opportunity to explore the State of Hesse and its capital city in all its glory.
During its long history, the International May Festival has, of course, experienced crises. After all, as an almost Elysium-like city, Wiesbaden sometimes has the tendency to isolate itself from the international context. However, a very strong circle of committed friends and citizens have always stood firmly against these crises and managed to ensure a bright future for Wiesbaden's beloved International May Festival.
