Deutsche Oper Berlin, season 2025/2026
“FEDORA”
Opera in three acts
with a libretto by Arturo Colautti, based on Victorien Sardou’s play ‘Fédora’
Music by Umberto Giordano
Princess Fedora Romazov VIDA MIKNEVIČIŪTĖ
Count Loris Ipanov JONATHAN TETELMAN
Countess Olga Sukarev JULIA MUZYCHENKO
De Siriex, a diplomat NAVASARD HAKOBYAN
Désiré, a servant MATTHEW PEÑA
Dimitri, a servant ARIANNA MANGANELLO­
Baron Rouvel MICHAEL DIMOVSKI
Cirillo, a coachman ARTUR GARBAS
Borov, a doctor VOLODYMYR MOROZOV
Gretch, a police inspector TOBIAS KEHRER
Lorek, a surgeon MICHAEL BACHTADZE
Nicola, a servant BENJAMIN DICKERSON
Sergio, a servant SIMON GRINDBERG
Peasant Boy FRANCOIS BADER
Boleslao Lazinski, a pianist CHRIS REYNOLDS
Michele, a doorman ANDREA SPARTÀ
Doctor Müller HANNO JUSEK
Basilio, a servant MAXIMILIAN REISINGER
Ivan, first police constable NIALL FALLON
Second police officer KORAY TUNA
Chor der Deutschen Oper Berlin
Orchester der Deutschen Oper Berlin
Conductor John Fiore
Chorus Master Thomas Richter
Director Christoph Loy
Scenic rehearsal Anna Tomson
Stage design, costumes Herbert Murauer
Light design Olaf Winter
Video Velourfilm AB
Berlin, 27 November 2025
Fedora by Umberto Giordano is a verismo opera par excellence, not as popular as his Andrea Chenier, shorter, more compact, perfect for an entertaining evening at the opera, where the lead singers can showcase their skills. Like Puccini’s Tosca, it is based on a play by French dramatist Victorien Sardou, whose two heroines were once created by Sarah Bernhardt. Both plots oscillate between crime thriller, political intrigue, romantic tragedy and captivating psychological portrait, providing all the ingredients for veristic flights of fancy. The Russian princess Fedora falls in love with her fiancé’s murderer Count Loris Ipanov, and subsequently becomes the murderer of his brother and mother. But that’s not all: Loris murdered Fedora’s fiancé because he had an affair with Loris’ wife Wanda while he was already engaged to Fedora. All this is further heightened by the political events in the background, in this case the assassination of Tsar Alexander II of Russia, which perfectly reflects the spirit of Verismo. Unlike Puccini’s box office hit Tosca, Fedora did not even catch on in Italy, despite great performers such as Callas, Tebaldi and Olivero. It was last performed at today’s Deutsche Oper Berlin in 1930. Following premieres at the Royal Swedish National Opera in 2016 and the Frankfurt Opera in 2022, Christoph Loy’s production is now coming to Berlin – all good things come in threes! The director focuses on condensation by foregoing intermissions, allowing the plot to be told continuously in a single set, even though the three acts take place in very different locations.  Herbert Murauer’s proscenium stage, reduced in size on both sides, is closed off at the back in Act 1 by a gold-framed, large-patterned canvas wallpaper onto which short film scenes or live close-ups of the actors are projected to illustrate the dialogue-heavy criminal investigations and show what is happening in adjacent rooms. Thus, the wounded fiancé dies in black-and-white silent film aesthetics with close-ups of Fedora’s emotions. In the second and third acts, the golden frame reveals a music salon and Fedora’s Swiss chalet. The costumes by Herbert Murauer range from Russian-style ball gowns to classic suits and modern clothing. Loys’ staging supports the singers and does not hinder the rapidly unfolding plot of this opera thriller. What’s sauce for the director is sauce for John Fiore, who conducts the Orchester der Deutschen Oper Berlin in such a way that the singers are never drowned out in the first act for the sake of clearly understandable lyrics. In the second, he steps it up a notch, presumably because Jonathan Tetelman receives the first round of applause with the tearjerker Amor ti vieta, which once launched Caruso’s international career. The spinto tenor has recently sung his way into the front row of opera stars worldwide and is one reason to hear him as Loris. The other is the equally captivating Vida Miknevičiūtė in the title role. Unlike Tetelman, she may not have a genuine Italian voice, but her soprano has a beautiful vibrato in the colourful middle register. The two are an absolute dream couple, crowning the end of the second act with a high note ad libitum. This is exactly how opera should be live! Julia Muzychenko’s agile soprano is perfectly suited to the lively and naive Countess Olga Sukarev. Navasard Hakobyan sings the diplomat De Siriex with an impressive, somewhat dry-sounding baritone. Tobias Kehrer, with his sonorous bass voice, is almost a luxury casting for the policeman Gretch. Artur Garbas turns the appearance of the coachman Cirillo into a little tour de force with his beautifully timbred and smooth baritone. The numerous other roles are also cast in line with the theatre’s high standards, bringing the Deutsche Oper a success that is suitable for its repertoire. Photos Bettina Stöß