George Benjamin
Picture a Day like this
Events and tickets
Picture a Day like This

German Premiere

Opera in seven scenes, Libretto by Martin Crimp

Commissioned and co-produced with: Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Opéra National du Rhin, Opéra Comique de Paris, Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg, Teatro di San Carlo

Description

The opera begins like a mysterious fairy tale. A woman mourns her child, another consoles: "Find a happy person in this world and cut a button off his sleeve." Do it before night, and your child will live. A happy person. You have time until night. Finding a happy person seems easy. However, one disappointing encounter follows another. Happiness is like a mask that quickly falls when you look more closely. Then the path leads to the threshold of a wondrous and charming garden. PICTURE A DAY LIKE THIS is the new work by composer George Benjamin (*1960) and playwright Martin Crimp (*1956), who, since the triumphant premiere of WRITTEN ON SKIN, are considered among the most important authors of contemporary opera internationally. After two large-scale works, Benjamin and Crimp return to chamber opera with their fourth joint work. PICTURE A DAY LIKE THIS develops a story as touching as it is surprising about human nature. This creates a fine mosaic of music and narration. The production of the world premiere at the 2023 Festival Aix-en-Provence by Daniel Jeanneteau and Marie-Christine Soma alternates between realism and dreamlike fantasy and has since captivated audiences in France and England. Now the co-production with the Cologne Opera can be experienced as a German premiere at the Staatenhaus. "PICTURE A DAY LIKE THIS addresses the most existential questions in just one hour." […] George Benjamin's music is on point in every beat, with every note, and from the tightly held ensemble, he conjures a richness of colour that is astonishing. [...] To this end, Daniel Jeanneteau and Marie-Christine Soma create a subtly crafted Gesamtkunstwerk with enchanting lighting direction as well as high scenic density and elegance." (BR-Klassik)

Participants

Musikalische Leitung
Inszenierung, Bühne, Dramaturgie, Licht-Design
Szenische Einstudierung
Kostüme
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*Die tagesaktuelle Besetzung entnehmen Sie bitte den jeweiligen Terminen

cast

Zabelle
Lover 1 / Composer
Lover 2 / Composer's Assistant
Artisan / Collector
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Events and tickets

May 2026

10 / 05
Picture a day like this
George Benjamin
Sun, 6.00 PM to 7.15 PM, StaatenHaus Saal 2

Premiere

Pre-sale starts on 05 November at 10 am. 

More info and cast
14 / 05
Picture a day like this
George Benjamin
Thu, 6.00 PM to 7.15 PM, StaatenHaus Saal 2

Pre-sale starts on 05 November at 10 am. 

More info and cast
17 / 05
Picture a day like this
George Benjamin
Sun, 4.00 PM to 5.15 PM, StaatenHaus Saal 2

Pre-sale starts on 05 November at 10 am. 

More info and cast
Show more
Find one happy person in this world and cut one button from their sleeve.

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