MASKERADE

For the rich burgher Jeronimus from Copenhagen, masquerades are the devil's work: identities get mixed up and the old order is overturned. His son Leander, who found the love of his life at a masquerade, takes a completely different view. With the help of his shrewd servant Henrik, he is not deterred by the imposed house arrest. Jeronimus' wife Magdelone wants to be young again - and also secretly goes to the masquerade, where she gets involved incognito with Jeronimus' business friend Leonard. His daughter Leonora, as it turns out in the end, is Leander's beloved and therefore exactly the bride his father had intended for him. Until this realisation, however, a crazy game of hide-and-seek rages, which also draws Jeronimus into its vortex: At the masquerade, anyone can be anything! Carl Nielsen's comic opera from 1906, which was celebrated as a "national opera" in Denmark but is virtually unknown here, boasts unconventional harmonies, Mozartian elegance and marvellous cantilenas. The music harmonises perfectly with the comedy of the situation. The new German translation by Martin G. Berger, which was created especially for this production, plays an important role in Tobias Kratzer's production.