Overview
- New intendant Tobias Kratzer engaged Hungarian directors Alexandra Szemerédy and Magdolna Parditka to lead the Hamburgische Staatsoper’s new production of Glinka’s opera.
- The staging shifts the action to a U‑Bahn world to trace how a power apparatus hardens into an oppressive regime and pushes culture into subcultures.
- Queer imagery features prominently, with wedding guests waving a rainbow flag and a “Love is Love” banner, alongside a stylized tableau of police violence against partygoers.
- Conductor Ilia Kazakov leads a restrained reading with the Philharmonic State Orchestra and Chorus that steers clear of triumphalist nationalism.
- Reviews describe an almost euphoric premiere reaction, and Kratzer reports a 24% rise in attendance among under‑30s.