Hot Topic

A participatory discussion format that invites teenagers and young adults to discuss current issues relating to opera.

The upcoming issue of Hot Topic picks up where the exciting discussions of the past season left off. One of the central questions that arose there takes center stage this time: How does contemporary musical theater direction deal with works from the opera canon? 

The focus is on examining the interest and intentions with which musical theater directors approach works which are often several centuries old and seem very familiar to the audience. What does “actualization” mean in this context? Is it even an issue—or do completely different questions come to the fore for the director? And how do directors actually work in concrete terms: how do they find their approach to a work, what happens in the preparatory phase, what happens during rehearsals?

The starting point of the discussion is the new production of Beethoven's only opera Fidelio at the Vienna State Opera. Together with you, we would like to discuss the challenges this work poses for directors, how these have been met in the past and what new paths can be thought of for the future.