The Fiery Angel at Komische Oper Berlin

Ever since childhood Renata has been passionately in love with her closest playmate Madiel – an ethereal, angelic figure. But when Renata begs him to reward her with physical love, Madiel becomes enraged and vanishes from her life. She then devotes herself to the search for the human reincarnation of Madiel, with the help of the knight errant Ruprecht, becoming his mistress. Finally, her search for Madiel brings her to the attention of the Inquisition…

A symbolic, densely structured opera about a lonely woman who is full of longing for sexuality. The young Australian director Benedict Andrews, whose celebrated production of Botho Strauss’ Big and Small with Cate Blanchett in the year 2012 featured at numerous festivals throughout Europe, will direct Cate Blanchett and Isabelle Huppert in Jean Genet’s The Maids in June 2013 for the Sydney Theatre Company; here he makes his debut at the Komische Oper Berlin with this work, which is so seldom performed today. The musical direction is in the hands of the company's General Musical Director, Henrik Nánási.