Rare showing of German operatic classics

Thanks to the Beijing Music Festival, the Deutsche Oper Berlin has given Chinese opera fans the rare opportunity to appreciate two impressive productions directed by the renowned Gotz Friedrich (1930-2000), who startled Bayreuth and Covent Garden with the Marxist tone of his stagings of Wagner.

Last Friday and Sunday at the Poly Theater, Deutsche Oper Berlin performed Friedrich's 1993 production of Richard Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier, and tonight and Friday they will perform Wagner's Tannhauser that Friedrich directed in 1992.

The East Germany born Friedrich - rated by some to be among the most powerful creative influences on opera in recent times - was at the forefront of those seeking to establish the central role of the director in European opera houses during the 1970s and 1980s.