US Edition'Monster's Paradise,' lampooning US President Donald Trump, has world premiere at Hamburg Opera
The satirical opera critiques authoritarianism using grotesque imagery and characters modeled on prominent figures, with a six-performance run at Hamburg State Opera, ending Feb. 19.
- On Jan. 28, 2026, the Hamburg State Opera staged the world premiere of 'Monster's Paradise', featuring a President-King mocking U.S. President Donald Trump in a six-performance run through Feb. 19.
- Elfriede Jelinek, 79, collaborated with Olga Neuwirth on a German-language libretto, inspired by Alfred Jarry's 1896 Ubu Roi, staged as a Grand Guignol satire.
- Set and costume designer Rainer Sellmaier dressed the President-King in an oversized costume amid a gilded Oval Office, while Titus Engle conducted Neuwirth's orchestra with electric guitar and Sprechstimme.
- It moves to the Zurich Opera from March 8 to April 12, and creators said they fear backlash, with Neuwirth vowing `I'm never going to write an opera again.'
- Georg Nigl said the plot stages Gorgonzilla opposing and devouring the President-King while Mickey and Tuckey, adjutants patterned after Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, highlight satire of tech power.
13 Articles
13 Articles
Associated Press News
'Monster's Paradise,' lampooning US President Donald Trump, has world premiere at Hamburg Opera
Tobias Kratzer unveils his world premiere production of “Monster's Paradise,” a satirical opera lampooning U.S. President Donald Trump.
Intendant Tobias Kratzer stages the opera by Elfriede Jelinek and Olga Neuwirth at the Hamburg State Opera as a shrill Polit-Groteske.At the Hamburg State Opera, the new Artistic Director Tobias Kratzer premiered "Monster's Paradise" on Sunday with a deliberately overdrawn opera on current challenges of our time.The music comes from Olga Neuwirth, who, together with Nobel Prize winner Elfriede Jelinek, also wrote the libretto.In the music theatr…
The gags might have let the young Otto pass, but little was laughed. Elfriede Jelinek's Trump satire "Monster's Paradise" premiered at the Hamburg State Opera on Sunday - with an intoxicating soundtrack by Olga Neuwirth.
On Sunday, the Hamburg State Opera premiered "Monsters Paradise" by Elfriede Jelinek and Olga Neuwirth – the first joint opera by the Austrian artists for over two decades. In their grotesque, the alter egos of the two as vampires are taming through a dystopian world that can only save Monster Gorgonzilla from the triumphant tyrant king.
Artistic director Tobias Kratzer staged the world premiere of "Monsters Paradise" at the Hamburg State Opera. Much was great. But not everything.
Coverage Details
Bias Distribution
- 67% of the sources are Center
Factuality
To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium
