We are delighted to share that the 2025/2026 season at Oper Leipzig will feature the world premiere of Bernd Franke’s opera Coming Up for Air in March 2026, conducted by Matthias Foremny. The creative team consists of Florentine Klepper, director, Dirk Becker, stage design, Anna Sofie Tuma, costumes, and Philipp Ludwig Stangl, video.
The libretto by Jessica Walker is based on the novel “Coming Up for Air” by Sarah Leipciger which tells the story of three lives across the flow of time: In the present time there is Anouk, a writer who suffers from cystic fibrosis and fights for every breath. Anouk comes across the story of L'Inconnue de la Seine (The Unknown from the Seine) which is the mysterious death of a woman in the river Seine in 1899. And then there is a Norwegian puppet maker whose son has drowned in a tragic accident in the 1950s. The book received critical acclaim for its sensitive portrayal of the human experience.
Coming Up for Air is a touching opera about three fascinating characters, about the flow of time, the air we breathe and the blessing of life.
For more information see Oper Leipzig.
