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The Spectre’s Bride
THE SPECTRE’S BRIDE is a gripping ghost story that unfolds between longing, hope, despair, and terror—until the redeeming dawn. An orphaned girl waits for years for the return of her missing beloved, who finally appears to her as a bridegroom from hell, forcing her on a nocturnal ride to the cemetery. Passing decayed marshes, surrounded by will-o’-the-wisps and the howling of wild beasts, they race through the darkness until the first crow of the rooster and the first rays of the sun put an end to the haunting and set the bride free.
Antonín Dvořák’s operatic cantata THE SPECTRE’S BRIDE (1884) is based on the dark legend Svatební košile (literally: “The Wedding Shirts”) by Czech poet Karel Jaromír Erben. For the first time, this powerful work—rarely heard on stage—can now be experienced at Theater Hof in a concert performance featuring soloists, the opera chorus, and the Hof Symphony Orchestra. As a special highlight, internationally acclaimed sand artist Lana (Svetlana) Telbukh will bring the imaginative and emotional world of the legend to life through live sand animation.
Music Director: Peter Kattermann
Artistic Concept: Lothar Krause
Sand Animation: Lana (Svetlana) Telbukh
Chorus Master: Ruben Hawer
Dramaturgy: Alena Pardatscher
Assistant Conductor: N.N.
The Girl — Inga Lisa Lehr
The Dead Man — Minseok Kim
The Narrator — James Tolksdorf
Opera Chorus of Theater Hof
Hof Symphony Orchestra
Next show
The Whisper of Flowers
The Whisper of Flowers is a poetic 45-minute concert blending live piano music, sand animation, and narration into an immersive visual and musical experience.
Inspired by the 70-year history of the iris gardens, the performance unfolds like a living story: each flower reveals its hidden secrets as images appear and dissolve in real time, shaped from grains of sand while the piano accompanies their journey.
Three artists unite to bring this universe to life — a pianist, a narrator, and sand-art virtuoso Lana Telbukh (Sand Elf).
Production: Lunidea (lunidea.ch)
Piano: CarolynWoods-Jardine
Sand Animation: Sand Elf – Lana Telbukh
Narration: Victoria Giorgini
New Year’s Concert Stories in Sand
The art of sand painting, which brings magnificent visual panoramas to life on a sandy surface projected onto a screen, has long captivated audiences. Ukrainian sand artist Svetlana Telbukh will transform the music performed by the Philharmonic Orchestra into stunning sand paintings during the New Year’s concert.
For instance, the Witches’ Sabbath at midnight on the Bald Mountain and the enchanted forest from Shakespeare and Mendelssohn’s *A Midsummer Night’s Dream* will come alive through both sound and imagery. Additionally, the broomstick from Goethe’s *The Sorcerer’s Apprentice* will playfully emerge on the screen while being musically depicted in Paul Dukas’s symphonic poem.
School Concert The Little Mermaid
Experience the enchanting tale of “The Little Mermaid” brought to life through mesmerizing sand animation by Svetlana Telbukh, in collaboration with the Theater Altenburg Gera. Under the direction of conductor Changmin Park, the orchestra will perform Benjamin Britten’s “The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra,” with narration by Ruth Ohlmann. This performance blends music and visual storytelling, immersing the audience in the Little Mermaid’s journey of love and curiosity in the human world.
