Kazushi Ono announces NNTT opera season

Kazushi Ono and New National Theatre, Tokyo, have announced their 2025–26 season, which will include Ono conducting new productions of Berg's Wozzeck and Richard Strauss's Elektra.

In his introduction to the season, Ono explains why he has programmed Wozzeck: 'Marking the 90th anniversary of Berg's death in 2025, we present Wozzeck, the only opera he completed. The original play by the writer Georg Büchner, who died prematurely, was based on a true story of a man from the lower class who suffered mentally and murdered his common-law wife.'

Wozzeck will be directed by Richard Jones, with whom Ono worked on The Fiery Angel and Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk. He says: 'I was extremely impressed by his ability to draw the viewer into the psychological drama in the theatrical space with precision but also with exceeding amounts of energy. I am very much looking forward to seeing how he will portray Wozzeck, another psychological drama on the theme of madness.'

Elektra will be directed by Johannes Erath, making his NNTT debut. Ono explains: 'Richard Strauss's opera Elektra was first performed nearly 15 years before the premiere of Wozzeck. Based on Greek tragedy, the opera is about Elektra's terrible revenge on her mother and her lover who murdered her beloved father.'

Ono says of working with Erath: 'I had the opportunity to collaborate with him on the world premiere of Der Mieter, a contemporary opera by a German composer at Oper Frankfurt, and his approach to the production, based on a meticulous reading of the score as a professional musician, demonstrated his boundless abilities in staging opera as Gesamtkunstwerk.'

The season opens with La Bohème, and also includes Orfeo ed Euridice, Die Fledermaus, Rigoletto, Don Giovanni, La Traviata, L'elisir d'amore and Werther.