Montezuma

About

The Theater Lübeck production of Graun’s Montezuma, conducted by Takahiro Nagasaki and staged by Ingo Kerkhof, is conceived as an operatic collage. While presenting Graun’s score and Frederick II’s libretto, the staging adds dramatic texts (reviewers cite Heiner Müller) and explicit references to Frederick II to frame the work as a critique of colonialism and monarchical propaganda. Anne Neuser’s economical stage design and Britta Leonhardt’s concise costumes avoid exotic pastiche, supported by atmospheric lighting credited to Karl Wiedemann. The Philharmonisches Orchester der Hansestadt Lübeck underpins the baroque musical language with clarity, and casting choices—including female voices in historically castrato/contralto territories—create a reflective distancing effect. The overall approach emphasizes political context and historical critique over period spectacle.