Bayerische Staatsoper Announces Ensemble Saturday, Independent Sunday and More

The Bayerische Staatsoper takes a further step towards opening its doors and, from the first weekend in June, Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 June, invites you to the stage of the Nationaltheater - still with a greatly reduced number of visitors and following the guidelines for museums and church services. "We want our audience to participate in the work and preparation process of our musicians for autumn," says General Manager Nikolaus Bachler about the new dates.

"The Bayerische Staatsoper is currently taking the first step towards the cautious opening of the opera house with the Wednesday Strolls. We now want to continue on this path in June. We see it as our responsibility to be a role model for smaller institutions, to try out various concepts, to gather and pass on experience; after all, it is also part of our cultural mission to be there for our audience in a completely 'analogue' way," says Nikolaus Bachler.

In June, monodramas with musicians of the Bayerisches Staatsorchester and singers who are members of the ensemble or have close ties to the Bayerische Staatsoper are performing on the Ensemble Saturday. The Bayerische Staatsballett is also working on new creations. With Independent Sunday, the Staatsoper supports the independent scene, which is particularly affected by the closure of the theatres, and offers artists from the fields of dance, performance and musical an opportunity to perform.

The works on show take up the experience of loneliness, isolation and death, thus showing on stage what theatre can do: reflect on the limits of life. Frank Martin's Jedermann Monologe will kick off on 6 June at the Ensemble Saturday I. Baritone Michael Nagy and Sophie Raynaud on the piano will perform. Andreas Weirich is responsible for the setting in a pure and sparse scenery on the front stage. General Manager Nikolaus Bachler reads from Philip Roth's Everyman.

For the Independent Sunday I on 7 June, Munich choreographer Moritz Ostruschnjak, inspired by current events and the drawings and illustrations of Scottish artist David Shrigley, will create a solo for "little man and big space" (Ostruschnjak). Daniel Conant dances at this world premiere.

The stage situation will be similar for all June weekends: The performance will take place on an 8 by 4 metre platform on the front stage of the Nationaltheater, with the audience facing the empty auditorium in this rehearsal situation. The programme for the remaining weekends will be announced at a later date.

Advance ticket sales for 6 and 7 June start on Thursday, 4 June at 10.00 am (CEST) on www.staatsoper.de.