the director responsible for a memorableLady Macbeth of Mtsensk (Shostakovich)in 2006.A new production of Richard Strauss’Salome directed by Peter Konwitschnyand conducted by Stefan Soltesz, aswell as a new production of Puccini’sLa fanciulla del West directed byNikolaus Lehnhoff and conducted byCarlo Rizzi, promise to shed new lighton works central to the operatic repertoireof the 20th century. A century alsorepresented by a revival of Puccini’sTurandot (with Luciano Berio’s speciallycomposed finale) to be conducted byYannick Nézet-Séguin and by a coproductionwith Teatro alla Scala Milan:Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle and LuigiDallapicolla’s Il prigioniero. This doublebillis directed by Peter Stein, responsiblefor DNO’s Moses und Aron bySchönberg and Henze’s The Bassarids,and conducted by Adam Fischer.The 21st century is strongly featuredwith brand-new works. AlexanderRaskatov is one of the foremost Russiancomposers of his generation. DNOhas commissioned his first opera. Thelibretto of A Dog’s Heart is based on theshort story by Mikhail Bulgakov. It is ablack comedy set in Russia in the 1920sthat could well remind us of the Russiaof today. This opera promises to bea fitting follow-up to the legendaryLife with an Idiot by Alfred Schnittke,premiered by DNO in 1992. It is directedby Simon McBurney, one of Europe’smost talented theatre directors, makinghis operatic debut here. The conductoris Martyn Brabbins.Another major voice on the internationalopera scene today is Kaija Saariaho.The Opéra national de Lyon brings toHet Muziek theater her new opera on alibretto by Amin Maalouf, Emilie. It is amonodrama written for and performedby the renown ed Finnish soprano KaritaMattila, who makes her Dutch operaticdebut. The production is directed byFrançois Girard and conducted byKazushi Ono.DNO will perform Michel van der Aa’ssuccessful opera After Life (premieredin 2006) in Lyon in exchange for thisproduction. After Life is being shownfirst in Amsterdam and adapted to thestage of the Muziektheater at the beginningof the season. This revival affordsthe composer, who also directs, theopportunity to revise his work, but alsooffers a larger audience the chance toexperience one of the most fascinatingnew operas of recent years.As usual, the Netherlands PhilharmonicOrchestra, DNO’s closest artisticpartner, is responsible for the majorityof pro ductions. The season features, inaddition to the three period-instrumentensembles mentioned above, Asko|Schönberg, the Radio Kamer Filharmonie,the Rotterdam PhilharmonicOrchestra and The Hague Philharmonic(Residentie Orkest).<strong>De</strong> <strong>Nederlandse</strong> <strong>Opera</strong> operates in aninternational network of opera housesand festivals that is mirrored by theimpressive list of co-producers: thisseason DNO collaborates with partnersin Paris, Vienna, Tokyo, Milan, Lyon,56
Luxemburg, Innsbruck and Gothenburg.An international event will mark thebeginning of the season when theNexus Institute will hold its annual conferencein Het Muziektheater inspiredby our opening production La Juive.The strong ties with our Dutch radioand television partner NPS will be continuedin this season. All our productionswill be broadcast on the Dutch radioand three of them will also be recordedfor Dutch television with the possibilityto further exploit them via for exampledvd and cinema.After two seasons of stable ticket prices,it is necessary to increase our pricesby an average of five percent. On theother hand we have abolished the tenpercent surcharge for the prestigiouspremiere subscription series. It alsoremains our policy to offer our generalaudience tickets for €15,- for everyperformance of <strong>De</strong> <strong>Nederlandse</strong> <strong>Opera</strong>.Students can still buy tickets for allremaining seats for €15,- ninety minutesbefore curtain up.We cordially invite you to come on ajourney with us and to share yourexpe riences.Truze M. Lodder and Pierre Audi57