Komische Oper Season 2025/2026 – from Jesus Christ Superstar to Gustav Mahler

Komische Oper Berlin is undergoing a major renovation and modernisation project that includes structural improvements and a new building extension. This project will bring the existing 1882 building up to contemporary standards and add new rehearsal rooms, offices, and a public area. While the main building is under construction, performances are taking place at the Schillertheater.

It’s not the first time the Schillertheater has been a refuge, The Staatsoper remained there for seven years, during a much needed renovation of their own house at Unter den Linden and now the Komische Oper may spend about the same time there.

The Schillertheater has a small stage making it difficult to show really grand productions. So the Komische Oper made use of countless other interesting and strange venues Berlin has to offer and started their season 2023/2024 with a fabulous production of the contemporary opera The Raft of the Medusa, staged in hangar 1 of the now defunct Tempelhofer Flughafen – the airport was built in the middle of the city during the Nazi era.

Once the largest building in the world, it is now used as a home and for various events like the Berlin Fashion week or Kite flying festivals on the tarmac or even as a vaccination and test centre during Covid. That made the location perfect for such a unique production. Waiting for a show to start while sipping a drink looking out on the old airfield and the huge building – the audience lapped it up and it was a smashing success!

So much so, that we are now in year three of opera or musical theatre productions in this particular venue.

The season 2025/2026 had two bangers to show, making ample use of that vast hangar.

Jesus Christ Superstar, the rock opera from the ’70s made total sense, as the industrial charm of the building is a perfect fit for the somewhat old fashioned rock music. And the dimensions of the stage or play area gave returning director Andreas Homoki the chance to think big. I saw this musical in New York on a stage that fitted only about 20 people. Nice, but only so-so.

This production ramped up the numbers by adding disciples and followers in the hundreds for ravishing mass scenes. I can imagine how the actors/singers must feel when faced with this crowds to play off. It was grand in the best sense and had the audience in the palm of their hands. The hit music, the game performers and the fun staging made for a fab evening and I loved it unreservedly!

Jesus Christ Superstar

komische-oper-berlin.de/jesus-christ-superstar/

On two dates the Komische Oper used the same setting to stage the rarely seen 8th Symphony of Gustav Mahler. The so called Symphony of a Thousand is such a massive undertaking, that there are not that many chances to see it live anywhere in the world. A few years back I saw it at the Royal Albert Hall during the Proms and it was breathtaking. This time around it seemed even larger in scale and while the acoustics of an airport hangar can’t compare to a full fledged opera house, the impression of it all was mind boggling. The music and singing of these many voices had such a power, that the audience left the hangar gobsmacked and fully satisfied. It might not be a staging for the sophisticated opera connoisseur, but as an introduction for new audiences to what classical music can spark in people, it is the perfect idea in the perfect venue.