Spring!

As spring gathers apace in May, the Komische Oper presents one of the twentieth century’s pivotal masterpieces: Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring. A ballet depicting a springtime sacrificial ritual, it’s still one of the modern repertoire’s most imposing works, featuring intricate rhythms and bold melodies.


The American conductor Tito Muñoz is also bringing us a fascinating work from across the Atlantic. While Stravinsky was scandalizing early twentieth-century Europe with his expressionist ballets, the Mexican composer Silvestre Revueltas—much less well known in Germany—was crafting his own orchestral masterpiece, Sensemayá , likewise inspired by ancient dance rituals.


In addition, the soprano Josefine Mindus returns to the Komische Oper with Brett Dean’s contemporary Shakespearean meditation And Once I Played Ophelia.

• And what better way to conclude the evening than with Charles Ives’ existential inquiry, The Unanswered Question ?