Lady Magnesia / Twice Alexander

Black comedies, crime plays, or opera parodies? The one-act plays Lady Magnesia (composed in 1975) and Zweimal Alexander (Alexandre Bis, composed in 1937) defy categorization just like their two versatile creators, Mieczysław Weinberg and Bohuslav Martinu. The premise in both works is the same: a husband accuses his wife of infidelity and takes what he believes are appropriate measures. However, soon the plans go awry: George wants to murder Magnesia but gets drawn into a conversation with her. Alexandre, on the other hand, stages a comedy of errors to test his wife's fidelity—yet this very act leads her to start dreaming of an affair. Where Mozart’s Così fan tutte drops the curtain, these works truly pick up speed: Does the men's mistrust lead to a happy ending? Does a demanded proof of fidelity bring the desired clarity, or even a purification, or does it simply cause the relationship to fall apart? The two operas ultimately provide different answers, which both Weinberg and Martinu express with ironic twists, jazzy interludes, and absurd imagination.

In German with German and English surtitles

Introduction to the works 30 minutes before the performance begins

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