The Three Riddles - Premiere - Schedule, Program & Tickets
The Three Riddles - Premiere
Opera in two acts for children and adults
Libretto by Carlo Pasquini in the German translation by Erdmuthe Brand
World premiere on October 12, 2003 at the Halle Opera House
Premiere at the Deutsche Oper Berlin on October 11, 2025
2 hours / One intermission
In German with German and English surtitles
Recommended for ages 9 and up
Lasso didn't choose his childhood. His mother, Popa, is a single mother and constantly on edge. But ultimately, she not only has to take care of her son, but also her pub, where there are regular troubles. Therefore, Lasso decides to try his luck and venture out into the world when he learns about Princess Scharada and her three riddles. You have to ask Scharada three questions. If she can't answer them, you can marry her—and with her the entire kingdom. If you fail, you must die. But even then, Lasso would have finally seen the world, encountered robbers and wild boars, astrologers, clairvoyants, scheming politicians, and strict ladies-in-waiting, but he would also have finally found a good friend and companion. In a wild mix of fairy tale and social drama, road movie and grand opera, composer Detlev Glanert's THE THREE RIDDLES tells a witty, whimsical, and a little creepy story about two very different children who ultimately come together to assert themselves against the adult world and forge their own path.
THE THREE RIDDLES was created for the Cantiere Internazionale d'Arte, the summer academy in Montepulciano, Italy, which to this day serves as a model for collaborative artistic work between professionals and amateurs, children, adolescents, and adults. In THE THREE RIDDLES, the two main roles are played by children, who perform on stage alongside adult soloists, the children's choir, and the youth choir – and the orchestra is also composed of members of the opera orchestra, children, and young people. It is directed by Brigitte Dethier, the grande dame of German children's and youth theater and long-time director of the Junges Ensemble Stuttgart, who made her debut at the Deutsche Oper Berlin in 2019 with THE SNOW QUEEN at the Tischlerei.
Spotlight
THE THREE RIDDLES is a piece for all young people and those young at heart, ages nine and up, and will be staged together with children and young people. The Deutsche Oper Berlin is collaborating with the City West Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf Music School and the Berlin State Youth Orchestra, so that more than half of the almost 100 musicians in the orchestra pit will be children and young people. They study their parts in instrumental lessons and then work in joint workshops with Dominic Limburg, the production's conductor, and members of the Deutsche Oper Berlin orchestra. And during the performance, they sit alongside the professionals at shared desks in the orchestra pit when the curtain rises on the premiere of THE THREE PUZZLES.
Subject to change.
Libretto by Carlo Pasquini in the German translation by Erdmuthe Brand
World premiere on October 12, 2003 at the Halle Opera House
Premiere at the Deutsche Oper Berlin on October 11, 2025
2 hours / One intermission
In German with German and English surtitles
Recommended for ages 9 and up
Lasso didn't choose his childhood. His mother, Popa, is a single mother and constantly on edge. But ultimately, she not only has to take care of her son, but also her pub, where there are regular troubles. Therefore, Lasso decides to try his luck and venture out into the world when he learns about Princess Scharada and her three riddles. You have to ask Scharada three questions. If she can't answer them, you can marry her—and with her the entire kingdom. If you fail, you must die. But even then, Lasso would have finally seen the world, encountered robbers and wild boars, astrologers, clairvoyants, scheming politicians, and strict ladies-in-waiting, but he would also have finally found a good friend and companion. In a wild mix of fairy tale and social drama, road movie and grand opera, composer Detlev Glanert's THE THREE RIDDLES tells a witty, whimsical, and a little creepy story about two very different children who ultimately come together to assert themselves against the adult world and forge their own path.
THE THREE RIDDLES was created for the Cantiere Internazionale d'Arte, the summer academy in Montepulciano, Italy, which to this day serves as a model for collaborative artistic work between professionals and amateurs, children, adolescents, and adults. In THE THREE RIDDLES, the two main roles are played by children, who perform on stage alongside adult soloists, the children's choir, and the youth choir – and the orchestra is also composed of members of the opera orchestra, children, and young people. It is directed by Brigitte Dethier, the grande dame of German children's and youth theater and long-time director of the Junges Ensemble Stuttgart, who made her debut at the Deutsche Oper Berlin in 2019 with THE SNOW QUEEN at the Tischlerei.
Spotlight
THE THREE RIDDLES is a piece for all young people and those young at heart, ages nine and up, and will be staged together with children and young people. The Deutsche Oper Berlin is collaborating with the City West Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf Music School and the Berlin State Youth Orchestra, so that more than half of the almost 100 musicians in the orchestra pit will be children and young people. They study their parts in instrumental lessons and then work in joint workshops with Dominic Limburg, the production's conductor, and members of the Deutsche Oper Berlin orchestra. And during the performance, they sit alongside the professionals at shared desks in the orchestra pit when the curtain rises on the premiere of THE THREE PUZZLES.
Subject to change.