Schedule - Deutsche Oper Berlin














Der Zwerg - performance cancelled
Alexander von Zemlinsky (1871 – 1942)
Opera in one act
Libretto by Georg C. Klaren, based on Oscar Wilde's „The Birthday of the Infanta“
First performed on 28th May, 1922 in Cologne
Premiered at the Deutsche Oper Berlin on 24th March, 2019
As a prologue
Arnold Schönberg (1874 – 1951)
Begleitungsmusik zu einer Lichtspielscene für Orchester op. 34 (1930)
recommended from 14 years on
1 hour 30 mins / no interval
In German language with German and English surtitles
Pre-performance lecture (in German): 45 minutes prior to each performance
recommended from 14 years on- Conductor
- Director
- Stage design, Costume design
- Light
- Chorus Director
- Donna Clara
- Ghita
- Der Zwerg
- Der Zwerg (actor)
- Don Estoban
- Maid 1
- Maid 2
- Maid 3
- 1st Companion
- 2nd Companion
- Alma Schindler (Pianist)
- Alexander von Zemlinsky (Pianist)
- Chorus
- Orchestra
- Conductor
- Director
- Stage design, Costume design
- Light
- Chorus Director
- Donna Clara
- Ghita
- Der Zwerg
- Der Zwerg (actor)
- Don Estoban
- Maid 1
- Maid 2
- Maid 3
- 1st Companion
- 2nd Companion
- Alma Schindler (Pianist)
- Alexander von Zemlinsky (Pianist)
- Chorus
- Orchestra
Due to an infection within the ensembles of the production DER ZWERG, the performances have to be cancelled - all ticket buyers will be contacted. We ask for your understanding!
It’s Princess Donna Clara’s 18th birthday and she’s getting showered with presents from all sides, but one gift in particular, from the Turkish Sultan, stands out from the crowd: a real-life dwarf! Amidst all the splendour and beauty the misshapen man attracts her special attention, charming her with his singing and fascinating her all the more for seeming to be blissfully unaware of his physical appearance. The dwarf falls madly in love with the princess and is blind to the coquettish game that she is playing. But then he comes face-to-face with his reflection for the first time in his life. Realising the truth of his situation, he falls down dead. Alexander Zemlinsky’s THE DWARF is based on Oscar Wilde’s fairy tale “The Birthday of the Infanta” and received its world premiere in 1922. Following Zemlinsky’s death in 1942 in American exile the work quickly slipped from public awareness, not to be rediscovered until the 1970s. Since then it has been drawing crowds as a subtle, vibrant seismogram of a highly complex and psychological constellation.