The Vampire at Komische Oper Berlin

Heinrich Marschner's The Vampire is viewed as the epitome of German Gothic romance. Drawing on Carl Maria von Weber's The Marksman, Marschner goes in search of a musical language for the dark and the demonic, and in doing so paves the way for Richard Wagner. The young director Antú Romero Nunes uses Marschner's grand romantic opera as the starting point for a captivating journey into the eerie realm of the pale, bloodsucking seducer of women. Warning: you may get goosebumps!

In the summer of 1816, during a rainy week by Lake Geneva, two of the most famous horror stories in world literature were written: Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and The Vampyre by John Polidori, Lord Byron's personal physician. Polidori's novella (wrongly attributed to Lord Byron) quickly found fame throughout Europe, initiating a fascination transcending all social divides – a fascination with the undead, which until then had been predominantly found in folk tales. Various different kinds of vampire story were published in the years that followed, culminating in what is probably the most famous literary treatment of the subject: Bram Stoker's Dracula, published in 1897. It's no wonder, then, that vampire mania is also to be found within the medium of opera...

In recent years, director Antú Romero Nunes has above all made a name for himself with imaginative and unconventional treatments of classics such as Schiller's The Robbers at the Maxim Gorki Theatre, and Don Juan. Last Party and Moby Dick at the Thalia Theater Hamburg. In his engagement with Marschner's opera, he works together with Dessau's general music director, Antony Hermus, as the Master of Ceremonies in order to explore the heart of the vampire myth in all its various iterations – and the audience's enjoyment of the thrill provided by fear!