GIUDITTA

Declarations of love, smacking kisses, hot lips ... As duly required for operetta, Octavio and Giuditta forsake all for love. But their dream of love is smashed as reality comes crashing in. Octavio goes to the military and Giuditta to other men.
The world premiere of Lehár’s last operetta, Giuditta, staged with such musical opulence, was so enthusiastically celebrated that it was broadcast live on 120 radio stations around the world. The mass diffusion of entertainment music was born and Lehár’s musical brilliance unfurled its intoxicating effect once again. Giuditta’s clichéd-innocuous content is starkly contrasted by the social reality of the 1930s. Hitler had been in power for a year in Germany, the Austrian parliament had been dissolved a few months previously, and Europe was between two wars. Director Christoph Marthaler stages a performance that confronts Giuditta with music by contemporary composers – fragile, doubtful and therefore open to a critical social discourse.