Malina

Opera by Karola Obermüller and Peter Gilbert
Libretto by Tina Hartmann
Based on the novel "Malina" by Ingeborg Bachmann
World premiere
In German with German supertitles

Few poets have woven their literature so deeply with music, opera and film, or reckoned with patriarchy so unflinchingly. To mark the centenary of Austrian writer Ingeborg Bachmann, composers Karola Obermüller and Peter Gilbert, together with librettist Tina Hartmann, create the first musical-theatre adaptation of her novel, exploring how closely Bachmann's poetic language is interwoven with song. In her only completed work, we encounter an unnamed narrator who lives with her male alter ego Malina, while with Ivan she experiences an apparent happiness marked by conformity and artistic silence. Haunted by nightmares embodying patriarchy in the figure of her father, she vanishes at the end into a crack in the wall: "It was murder" sounds the novel's famous final sentence. But what ends here? And how can the silence of the female voice be elevated in song? Composed for Theater Aachen, the opera - directed by Franziska Angerer - has its world premiere as part of the prestigious Schwetzinger SWR Festival, before the performance series continues in Aachen on the exact date of Bachmann's birthday.

We celebrate Ingeborg Bachmann's 100th birthday with a special programme

Commissioned by Theater Aachen, the first opera based on Ingeborg Bachmann's only novel "Malina" has been created. On 25 June 2026, we celebrate together the centenary of the most significant German-language writer of the 20th century with a special programme before the evening performance.