An opera from Brazil?! Claudio Franco de Sá Santoro (1919–1989) and his only opera, „Alma“, from 1984?! What curious opera lover, filled with boundless joy at the rediscovery of rarities, wouldn’t sit up and take notice? This truly exotic opera will receive its European premiere at the Anhaltisches Theater Dessau in February 2026. So let’s go!

Opera is a living art form. The fact that it is often said these days to have merely a “museum-like” character is due to certain opera houses that have devoted themselves to a kind of celebrity culture - a strategy that, however, earns them the most media attention. This creates the illusion of a “museum.” The majority of opera houses and institutions are also committed to celebrating the richness of opera as an art form beyond the masterpieces that promise high attendance. And for composers who have not strayed into the dead end of atonality - who can still convey their art, emotions, and catharsis through harmonies and melodies … and there are still many of them today! One of them is Imants Kalniņš.