Triumphant season opening with Puccini's Turandot

To mark the centenary of Giacomo Puccini's death, the Stadttheater Bremerhaven is opening its season with his last work, the unfinished opera Turandot. Directed by Philipp Westerbarkei and conducted by Marc Niemann, the work has now had a celebrated premiere that has set new standards.

"What conductor Marc Niemann and the Philharmonic Orchestra modelled out of Puccini's voluminous, often pompous, crashing, sometimes jazzy, sometimes airy, floating harmonies in terms of instrumental sound colour finesse is dreamlike, yet even in the most powerful orchestral tutti, the dynamics remain so balanced that it does not paste over the singers, but leaves them room to shine," writes Susanne Schwan in the Nordsee-Zeitung.

Markus Wilks commented in the Kreiszeitung: "Almost like at a “normal” premiere, you could experience a first-class orchestra (many great solos, special praise for the softly playing brass), which Marc Niemann, still muisc director, was able to lead in a differentiated and skilful manner. The impressionistic sounds were realised just as excellently as the dissonant climaxes and the beautiful Puccini melodies. Do the artistic director and the responsible politicians realise which pearl is up for grabs here?"

Wolfgang Denker adds in the Weser Kurier: "And Marc Niemann on the podium of the Bremerhaven Philharmonic Orchestra makes music that is so powerful on the one hand and so finely differentiated on the other that nothing is left to be desired. His dynamic and harmonious interpretation makes it clear once again what top performances a small orchestra like Bremerhaven is capable of."

Further dates here