Das Wunder Der Heliane – Aalto Theatre, Essenbach

About this event

With Das Wunder der Heliane, Erich Wolfgang Korngold presented his second opera in 1927. At the center is Heliane, an unusual and multifaceted female character who spans the archetypes of femme fatale, Mary Magdalene, and child-woman. She embodies profound empathy and humanity in a world where both have been lost. Korngold’s score is marked by exuberant richness, beauty, and intensity, written for a massive late-Romantic orchestra. The artistic team led by Faust Award-winning director Elisabeth Stöppler sets the opera in a dystopian world where light and water—essential sources of life—are nearly exhausted. In this bleak environment, only Heliane and the Stranger can conjure a vision of utopia and hope. General Music Director Andrea Sanguineti brings Korngold’s boundary-pushing, bewitching score to life, with scenography by Katja Haß (set), Nicole Pleuler (costumes), and lighting by Ulrich Eh.