Video: Trump-Inspired Opera MONSTER'S PARADISE at The Hamburg State Opera
Olga Neuwirth and Elfriede Jelinek’s new opera runs in Hamburg through February 19 before transferring to Zurich Opera in March.
By: Joshua Wright Feb. 05, 2026
Get a first look at Hamburg State Opera's world premiere of Monster's Paradise, a new opera by Austrian composer Olga Neuwirth with a German-language libretto by Nobel Prize-winning author Elfriede Jelinek. The production, directed by Tobias Kratzer, opened in Hamburg this week and is scheduled for a six-performance run through February 19, 2026.
Inspired by Alfred Jarry’s 1896 satirical play Ubu Roi, the opera centers on a gluttonous President-King, a character intended as a lampoon of U.S. President Donald Trump. The role is performed by baritone Georg Nigl.
The cast also includes Sarah Defrise and Kristina Stanek as Vampi and Bampi, two vampire figures who frame the opera’s scenes, along with countertenors Andrew Watts and Eric Jurenas as Mickey and Tuckey, the President-King’s adjutants. Additional featured performers include Anna Clementi as Gorgonzilla, a monster created by nuclear disaster, and actress Charlotte Rampling, who appears in projected video sequences as a character called The Goddess.
Neuwirth’s score is written for a Mozart-sized orchestra with added electric guitar and drum kit, and the Hamburg performances are conducted by Titus Engle.
Following its Hamburg engagement, Monster’s Paradise will transfer to Zurich Opera, running March 8 through April 12, with an additional staging planned next season at Austria’s Oper Graz. An audio recording of the opera is also planned.
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